MOHAMED RAFI -HOMAGE

31sJuly 2010 was the 30th anniversary day of the passing away of the legendary singer Mohammed Rafi. As my homage to this great singer,who continues to give us immense pleasure through his songs even after three decades of his passing away, I took out a few of his exclusive LP Albums and devoted a few hours for listening to them once again and to immerse myself in those soulful songs.Volumes have been written about him, his prowess as a singer,his qualities as a fine human being and the way he enthralled generations of music lovers. There is nothing more for me to add except saying thank you to him once again.

The first album I listened to is HMV's Homage to the Immortal voice of Mohd, Rafi.Dec,24,1924 - July 31, 1980.' with a nostalgic black and white photo of Rafi in front and, on the reverse side, a rare photo of Rafi with his family.The album contained twelve songs including the immortal ones like 'Yahan badla wafa ka'(Jugnu), 'Bapuki amar kahani','Man tarpat hari darshan'(Baiju Bawra),Ab kya misal hoon'(Aarti),O door ke musafir'(Uran Khatola), 'Yeh zindagi ke mele'(Mela) and,yes, 'Chaudwin ka Chaand', from the film with the same title, one of my top ten favourite songs. Rafi had immortalised this song by his warm, brilliant singing.The album is a true homage to Rafi.

Another album I did listen to was,'Ghazals from Films- Mohd.Rafi'.It has a few of the gems from Rafi, like 'Dil men chupake'(Deedar), Husna wale tera jawab'(Gharana-Ravi), 'Hum ko tumhare(Ek Musafir ek haseena- O.P.Nayyar),'Zindagi bhar nahim'(Barsat ke raat-Roshan) and the evergreen,'Tere pyare pyare (Sasural- Shankar Jaikishan),the last two being the number one songs in Binaca Geet Mala for the years 1960 and 1961 respectively.

The album,'An Evening with Mohd. Rafi',is another exclusive album containing some of his celebrated songs like,'Diljo na kah saka'(Bheegi Raat),'Khoya Khoya Chaand'(kala Bazar),'Kahan jaa raha hai'(Seema) and the most popular song of 1962 in Binaca Geetmala,viz., 'Ehsan tera hoga mujhpar'(Junglee). Besides these, there is,of course, the song.'Man re tu kahe na dheer dhare' penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and composed by Roshan for film,'Chitralekha'. In 2007, the OUTLOOK magazine had conducted an elaborate survey to select the best ever 20 songs of Hindi films. The survey was done by an expert panel of 30 eminently suitable persons on the basis of well defined terms. The song,'Man re' was adjudged the top of the 20 songs so selected!! Yes, it is Rafi at his soulful best.

Another album,'Top Film Hits from Mohd .Rafi', has in it songs from films like 'Mere Husoor', 'Tum sa nahin dekha',Dosti, Guide, Brahmachari, Laat Saheb,etc.The cover shows the photo of Rafi proudly posing in front of the innumerable trophies and awards he had won.

The album, 'Forever Yours' is special as it is presented by Rafi himself to his fans with a letter signed by him. Released by Polydor, it contained 8 songs of live recordings in stereophonic sound. The songs are, Suhani Raat, Tere Mere Sapne, Choudwin ka chand,O Duniya ke rekhwale,Ye Duniyaaa Mere kaamki Nahin, Baharo Phool Barsao(No.1. in Binaca Geet Mala for the year 1966), Madhuban me Raadhika and Kya hua tera wada. All these great songs in one LP makes it a valuable collectors' item. The back cover also shows several tributes from his collegues .The most poignant of them came from none other than Naushad thus: "He helped me to enhance my reputation by singing many of my songs in a manner only he could sing. Of the seven notes in music one is no more."

There was also an album of two LPs titled,'Mohd.Rafi.We Remember' containing 24 popular songs, of different music directors, including 'Tasveer Banaata hoon'(Diwana-Naushad) and 'Wadiyan Mera Daaman (Abhilasha- R.D.Burman)An excellent photo of Rafi is a bonus.

Polydor in their tribute said:"Life is limited. Death eternal life.Rafi lives through his golden,immortal voice incomparable, unsurpassed, inimitable. The voice that stirred millions the world over, will continue to do so till the end of time".


P.S. Please click on the photos to zoom them to see clearly.


Tail piece: A news item in Indian Express two years back is reproduced.

Portable Music, Mobile Music.

It is clear that the style and method of listening to music has changed completely during the last decade or so . Now for people, especially the young generation, music is portable music, mobile music, downloaded music, pocket music or ear-hole music or by whatever name you call it. iPods, MP3 players, mobile phones, USB flash drives, MM Cards, etc., are the coveted and widely used musical devices for them. Even at home more people now prefer to listen to these devices instead of listening to the big hi-fi music systems which they have in their drawing rooms.

The result of the change in style and approach to listening to music, caused, may be, by occupational pressures, is that the music systems etc. which were a rage since the late 90s, are being kept idle and may face the fate of Gramophones, valve radios and, more recently,Video Cassette Recorders. I also feel that the quality of sound produced by these portable devices is so poor and devoid of depth and Hi-Fi effect that listeners are being, undeservedly, deprived of sweet, sonorous music. Recent reports also suggest that using earplugs(ear phones) for listening to music even for short periods may adversely affect one's hearing.

Another reason cited by many for these systems falling into disuse is the perceived practical difficulty in attaching the devices to the music systems as their audio out put (outlets) sources (usually single) are not compatible with the audio input sources (usually double-L&R) of the music systems. The problem can be easily solved. There are simple suitable adapters available in the market by which the 'two pin' audio cords of the music system can be connected to the MP3 player or iPod or mobile phone. An adapter can be custom made also by attaching a stereo socket to two audio wires to the other ends of which two audio mono sockets suitable for the music system in use can be attached. The stereo socket can be attached to the portable device by common audio jack. There are adapters available for extending the length of the audio cords also.When these easy methods are available why should one sacrifice listening pleasure?

A hi-fi music system usually comes with a FM radio. It is easy to play music from a MP3 Player or iPod through the music system by a small wireless FM Stereo Transmitter which are available in different models at low prices.The transmitter attached to the MP3 player will transmit music which will be received by the FM radio of the music system and played through its speakers. The FM transmitters, also called FM Modulators, can be used in cars also through car radios.The price varies with the range(the distance up to which it can transmit) of the transmitter. A range of 10 or 15 metres should be sufficient for a normal house. Any available frequency from 88 to 108 can be selected to transmit and receive music. For persons, like me, having only a cassette player in their cars, there is the cassette adapter which can be attached to MP3 player or mobile phone and the cassette loaded as usual into the player to listen to the music from the MP3 player.

There are several useful accessories in the market with which we can improve the listening pleasure of iPods etc. Recently I got a small device(6"x4"x 2") called sound box.It has a radio and can play an USB flash drive, MM card and has line in facility to play MP3/iPod/Mobile phone and a CD Player. I could even play my gramophone through this!!The quality of sound is O.K with a sound output of 3x3 watts RMS.

Several cute, small portable speakers are available in the market known as iPod /MP3 docks. They come as a small composite unit of two speakers with built-in amplifier, connecting cord to attach the player and space for keeping the MP3 player . There are high end models costing several thousand Rupees and also ordinary ones costing around Rs.5oo/- I found these small ones very convenient and the sound quality quite good though not comparable to big music systems.But definitely they add to the listening value of ipod etc. which produce sharp/shrill sound from their built in speakers.

If one wants to enjoy music from a music system, without bothering others in a room, there is , of course, the wireless headphone consisting, mainly of a transmitter and a earphone receiver.This is similar to a FM transmitter in its function.

Yes, these are good, value for money devices to enhance the listening pleasure . But to me there is nothing to beat the age old gramophone.



Tail piece. Recently one of my loved ones brought me a T-shirt from U.S.A. There was a seller's free gift with the T-Shirt. A portable MP3 Speaker . It looked like a cricket ball when closed but when opened, though there is no resemblance, I was reminded of a familiar sight in my childhood days-a jack fruit cut into two.

P.S.Click on the photos to see them clearly.

ORUNAAL VARUM-FILM WITH BEAUTUFUL MUSICAL SCORE

I am delighted to hear the songs of recently released Malayalam film, 'ORUNAAL VARUM', a Mohan Lal film, directed by T.K.Rajiv Kumar. The music score is by famous playback singer M.G.Sreekumar, comparatively new in the field of music direction in films. The songs are highly refreshing with beautiful lyrics by Murukan Kattakkada and soulful singing by Sreekumar, Chithra and young singers , Swetha, Nishad and Preethi Warrier. Even on hearing them for the first time the tunes make one sit up and listen as the harmonious blending of the traditional and the modern notes in the background are that much compelling.

The song ,'Paadan ninakkoru', sung as a duet by Chithra and sreekumar and also as a solo by Chithra, is the best of the lot for its lyrical charm, simplicity of tuning, melody and the nuances of singing. The song, Maaavin chottile', sung separatively by Swetha and Sreekumar, will take one nostalgically and emotionally back to his/her childhood days. This song is an excellent example for lyrics, composing and involved rendering combining to make a song heartwarming and enjoyable.The song, 'Pranaya nilavu' by Nishad and Preethi Warrier is also outstanding.

Yes, this album offers a delightfully different listening pleasure. Congratulations to M.G.Sreekumar and his team.

NAZIA HASSAN-HINDI POP AT ITS BEST

While writing about 'Disco Dancer', I was reminded of another highly popular pop singer. Nazia Hassan, who again, like Vijay with the song, 'I am a disco dancer', was catapulted into the world of pop and play back singing, to capture the hearts of millions of music lovers of India and Pakistan, with her first song, 'Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye', from film ,'Qurbani'. Out of the six songs of the film, five were composed by music directors Kalyanji Aanandji and the song ,'Aap jaisa koi', was written and composed by Biddu, who later teamed with Nazia to produce a few highly popular albums millions of copies of which were sold in India, Pakistan and other Asian counties. Nazia Hassan, with her exceptional beauty, the girl next door image and sweet husky voice well suited for pop and melodies, became the darling of the masses with this one song. In fact the biggest single factor along with the glamour of heroine Zeenat Aman, for making the film,'Qurbani', a super hit, was the song ,'Aap Jaisa'.

Nazia Hassan went on to sing for several films like Star, Dilwala, Ilsam, Saaya etc. But the songs did not catch the attention of listeners. But when she released her Album, 'DISCO DEEWANE', in the year 1982, it became an instant hit and millions of copies were sold. The songs were composed by Biddu and the lyrics of some of the songs were by Nazia and her highly talented younger brother Soheb. Three duets in the album were sung by Nazia and Soheb. The title song, 'Disco Deewane', was the best of the lot.

Nazia went on to release a few more outstanding albums like,'Star-boom boom', Young Tarang,Camera Camera etc. Music lovers were expecting much more from her. But suffering from a dreaded disease and a difficult marriage, her life was cut short at the young age of thirty-five in the year 2000.

I am a Disco Dancer - The singer Vijay and the song.

There is one L.P. Record in my collection which contains, a few outstanding songs in the Disco Music category.The record is of the 1982 film DISCO DANCER starring Mithun Chakroborthy, Kim, Rajesh Khanna and Kalpana Iyer. The film was directed by B. Subhash and the enchanting music score was by Music Director Bappi Lahiri.

The music and songs of the film were big hits at that time when disco dancing and disco music were gaining a lot of popularity. It was the film which catapulted actor Mithun Chakroborthy. an average success since his award winning film 'Mrigya', as a hit dancing star, a guaranteed success for a long time. The songs of the film hit the top in popularity charts and were on the lips of a generation of young music lovers. The song 'Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja' sung by the famous pop star and singer, Parvathy khan, was hugely popular among disco music lovers. The song,Garon ki na kalon ki', by Suresh was also a noted melody.

But what made the album such a celebrated hit was the song, 'I am a disco dancer' by Vijay, till then not known much as a playback singer. This was a trend setter making disco music a rage among the young generation. The singer Vijay and the song gained cult status and there was no stage program without this song being sung in those days.This single song made Vijay famous and he went on to sing for about forty Hindi films. But at the height of success and popularity life took a tragic turn for him with the death of his brother and he vanished from the scene of playback singing. After years of trials and tribulations he reemerged as a Gospel singer, Vijay Benedict, and along with his family and kids, is now conducting numerous stage programs of Gospel music rendering solace and peace to millions.

The record of film, ' Disco Dancer', is preserved by me in memory of the song,and its singer Vijay.



Tail piece:- A successful Malayalam play back singer who followed a similar path to sing only
devoional songs Jolly Abraham.

O.P.Nayyar, Tonga Beats etc.

Recently I could get a rare O.P.Nayyar album, titled 'The Magnificent O.P.Nayyar, His Memorable Film Hits' through a contact from Pune. The album contains a few of Nayyar's very beautiful songs from lesser known films like Choo Mantar( Tumhin ne dard diya hai),Ustad, Qaidi, Do Ustad, Diya to Jala(Dhake ki malmal-C.H.Atma), Jali Note, etc. The album also contains the great Rafi hit,'Raat bhar ka hain mehman andhera'from film 'Sone ki Chidiya' and the film Bapre Baap number,'Piya piya piya mera jiya pukare'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxgA-d_DwJY&feature=related

Listening to this record and the 'piya piya' song, another of Nayyar's famousTonga(horse drawn carriage)beat songs, took my mind to his other similar songs like the 'Maang ke saat tumhara' from Naya Daur, the 'Tumsa Nahin dekha' song and the 'haule haule' song from film Sawan ki ghata','Lakhon hain nigahon mein' from Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon',and 'Deewana Huaa Baadal' from Kashmir ki Kali, Mujhe Mera Pyar de do' of film 'Humsaya' etc. All these songs have the sound of horse hooves in the background. It also made me make a mental search of songs, of other music directors, having the sound of horse hooves and the peculiar 'tonga beats' in the background.

One of the earliest of such songs was 'Chale pawan ki chal' by Pankaj Mullick from the 1941 film, 'Doctor'.There is also another song from this film again sung by Pankaj Mullick,viz., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NX6S3aw6bc " Aayi bahar aaj".These two beautiful songs are even now heard on Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation in its program 'Purani Geet' in the mornings.

Another music director who had used the sound of horse hooves and tonga beats beautifully in the background is Naushad. In film Kohinoor there is this very popular song,'koi pyar ki dekhe jaadugari'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ7ROcqGYCE (Lata-Rafi - Dilip Kumar- Meena Kumari) and in the film 'Ann', again a Dilip Kumar starrer , there is this haunting song, 'Dil mein chupake pyar (rafi)'. In these two songs and in several of his songs in films like Ram aur Shyam, Leader, Uran Khatola etc. Naushad had shown that he is as good as O.P. Nayyar in handling 'tonga beat songs'. Yes, there is one more song (Lata-Shamshad Begum)

,
'Bachpan ke din bhulana dena', in film Deedar, once again a Dilip Kumar starrer with Nargis, in which Naushad had shown his mastery over 'horse hooves'.

Music Director Ravi , like O.P. Nayyar, had given a lot of importance to rhythm in his music. The, 'Bar bar dekho, hazar bar dekho', song from film 'China Town'(Shammi Kapoor-Shakila starrer) is just one example. And Ravi does a Nayyar with the song 'Hamse na poocho hum kahan chale''(Rafi- Asha) in this film with the sound of trotting horse in the back ground. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEH86NVQ_yk&feature=fvw

That brings to my mind music diector Salil Chowdhury who also had the penchant for the 'tonga beats' as seen in the 'Dil tadap tadap' and the 'ghadi ghadi mere dil' songs from film Madhumati. Again just listen to the Lata-Talat song,'Itna na na mujh se' from film Chhaya and the Lata-Talat song, 'Aha rim jim ki ye pyare pyare' from film ,'Usne kaha tha,' to enjoy the beautiful blend of back ground music and the 'tak tak'of horse hooves. A pure 'horse hooves' song of Salil is in film, 'Tangawali,viz., 'Hal ke halke chalo saware', a beautiful duet by Hemanr Kumar and Lata. As in the music of O.P. Nayyar the strains of tonga beat is inbuilt in many songs of Salil Chowdhury also.


One of the features of these songs is that most of them are duets where the hero and the heroine enjoy a tonga ride singing to their hearts' content!!That reminds me of the song of Mukesh in film Lal Bungla(Music Usha Khanna), 'Chaand ko kya maalooon', with Sujith kumar and shyama(if I remember correct) riding a tonga in a scene similar to the Dilip Vyjayanthimala song in Naya Daur.

Well, with the disappearance of costume dramas, films on kings and kingdoms, charming princes and princesses and horse riding sword swinging heros and villains, village belles, their lovers and feudal go-getters, music lovers are denied new songs in this genre since long. But memories about actors, who did such roles, like Ranjan, Mahipal, Premnath, Bharat Bhushan, Dilip Kumar, ,Jairaj, Ajith, Nimmi, Suraiyya, KaminiKaushal, Bina Rai, MeenaKumari, M.G.R, M.N.Nambiar,Veerappa and several others and their period films still enliven old timers. I still remember receiving the tragic news of the death of that highly popular and handsome singer actor Shyam, of film Dillagi fame, who died falling from the horse he was riding for the film Shibistan in 1951! Who can forget the duet, in film Dillagi, he sang with Suraiya, the heroine of the film, 'Too mera chaand mein teri chandini'?( The song and its tune appeared in Malayalm as 'Neeyen chandrane njan nin chandrika,ooh......Was it in film Navalokam?)



Tail piece:-Which is the best ever duet with the sound of horse hooves in the back ground?Undoubtedly the Filmfare Award winning Asha-Rafi song,'Maang ke saath tuhmara' from film Naya Daur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxn2mEP4tI

GOOD BYE, MY BROTHER.

I have been away from blogging and away from my gramophones and music records, not by option but by force of circumstances, for the last one month.

I lost my only brother on the 21st of May unexpectedly. He was taken from his office and admitted to a hospital on the evening of the 18th May with giddiness and he passed away after three nights on the 21st.afternoon. Loads of medicines, fluids, injections, tests, scans, a brain surgery and the continuous day and night vigil by us outside the ICU and the CCU did not help as he breathed his last on the 21st after a sudden cardiac failure as told to us by the doctors. The end came as a shock to all of us as his condition was stated to be continuously improving for about 34 hours after the surgery and we were all feeling slightly relieved.

On the 8th May we had lost our only uncle, aged 85 years but quite healthy, at Trichur. Myself and my brother along with our families had travelled together to Trichur to attend to uncle's last rites. My brother, a bit shaken, was overseeing the arrangements etc., for the funeral, he being the eldest nephew. Watching my brother, an unholy thought as to how I would face the situation in case something happened to him had crossed my mind. I had chided myself immediately for entertaining such a thought and soon forgot about it. As ill luck would have it, I have been forced to face the situation within two weeks. Of course the shock and panic are fading and all of us are limping back to normalcy.

Well, brother, you have been fastidious and well planned in everything you did. Your punctuality, sense of personal hygiene and appearance, planning and execution, meticulous book keeping and maintenance of records, your desire to go only for the best, your willingness to extend whatever help you could to others and, above all, your honesty and integrity made us all proud. Probably you had planned your departure also this way to avoid possible inconvenience to others!

You have left with me a lot of fond memories about our childhood, school days in our village, later our college days at Calicut and life thereafter. I remember how stoically you had faced personal tragedies and set backs in life. I have pleasant and glorious memories about your very successful professional career in banking in India and abroad. It was celebration time for us whenever you came home on leave.

First my mother, then my father and, thereafter, my uncle. And now, good bye my brother. We will meet again there.



Tail piece: Are our ICUs and CCUs trustworthy? How can we ensure that patients left by us in ICUs are in safe enough hands and that they are getting the expected attention in time? Have not the near and dear ones of the patients waiting round the clock outside the ICUs got the right to get information about the patients at frequent intervals from competent persons?