Tag Archives: pop culture

Bollywood Melodies – Book Review

Passion and enthusiasm are uplifting and contagious traits. And it is the warmth of these qualities that you bask in as you read Bollywood Melodies by Ganesh Anantharaman.

In the introduction to the book, the author confesses that he set out to write a book about the Bollywood music he truly loved – the music of the 1950s and 1960s – and had to be convinced by his editors to expand the scope to cover a much broader timeline form 1935 to 2005. As you read the book, the author’s bias becomes obvious and strangely, it is this bias that makes the book fascinating. We share the excitement and the sense of discovery of the songs of a bygone era with the author and we experience his disappointment at an entire decade (the 1980s) during which music did not matter in Bollywood.

The book has three sections and each section has several chapters describing the careers of music directors, lyricists and singers in chronological order. The book does include some personal details of the artists but only in the context of their careers. The author describes their career milestones through the songs they were involved in and this makes for fascinating reading. The book is a treasure trove of trivia like this:

  • C. Ramachandra received the lyrics for Dheere Se Aaja Ri Akhiyan Mein (Albela) at 4 pm. He composed the music for this song in the car on the way to the studio because the recording was scheduled at 6 pm.
  • Lata never sang for OP Nayyar due to an early misunderstanding between the two.
  • The been sound in Man Dole Mera Ta Dole (Nagin) was actually produced by a keyboard instrument called claviolin played by Kalyanji (of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo).
  • Sahir Ludhiyanvi had written “Tadbeer Se Bigadi Hui” as a ghazal and was shocked when he heard SD Burman’s frothy composition for it. He apparently protested but eventually gave in.
  • Although playback singing was prevalent by then, KL Saigal insisted on singing Babul Mora Naihar Chooto Hi Jaaye as he walked on the streets while a truck behind him recorded the song live!
  • Lata boycotted the Filmfare Awards till 1957 because they did not have a category for singers. Finally, Filmfare relented and gave her the award for Best Playback Singer for Aaja Re Pardesi (Madhumati) in 1958. Lata convinced Filmfare to institute separate awards for male and female singers next year.

This book is a must-read for all Bollywood music lovers. After the first few chapters, I realized that the best way to enjoy this book is to actually listen to the songs being described in the book while reading. Through listening the song, you become a part of the story behind it.

Rare Songs Should Remain Rare?!

Of late, I have been following a Google group called rec.music.indian.misc (popularly referred to as RMIM). Although the platform is dated, it is a very good forum for Indian (specially Hindi film) music lovers. I think it should move to Facebook, but that’s not the reason I write this post.

The reason for this post is an exchange in this group in which one of the members says

“….rare songs are rare by no accident. They were definitely not worth listening else they would not be rare and would have seen light of the day”.

I vehemently disagree with this person. Songs can become rare because of a number of reasons – a) they appeal to a small population of music lovers, b) they are not played a lot on radio, TV, etc. c) they are not stocked in stores, d) there were not packaged and marketed well at the time of release and therefore did not make it to a “hit” list, e) there are no means of easily discovering them (and this by the way, is one of the problems we, at Mavrix, are trying to solve).

Two examples:

1)   Why did Saagar Kinare (Saagar) become a hit and got Kishore Kumar a Filmfare Award while Humein Raaston Ki Zaroorat Nahin (Naram Garam), which was released 4 years earlier, got relegated to obscurity despite the two songs’ almost identical mukhda?

2)   In an interview with Rajeev Masand (starting at 4:54), Asha talks about the most-requested songs in her concerts. Apparently, these four songs even come to haut her in her dreams. She then goes on to list her favorite songs. One of them is a song that’s not heard much – Chain Se Humko Kabhi (Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye). Why are the four most-requested songs more popular than Asha’s own favorite song?

Here’s what I believe:

  • Popular songs are not necessarily the best songs. Conversely, “rare” songs (i.e. song that are not heard a lot) are not necessarily bad.
  • A good song does not automatically become popular
  • It is unlikely that a bad song will become popular

The Making Of A Fan

We like a song because of the feelings it creates in us. But does one song alone endear us to the artist? It may, but in rare cases. What if the artist creates many amazing songs over a few years – would we become fans? Possible, but not necessarily.

After analyzing my own “fanhood”, I have concluded that people become fans of artists not just because of great songs (although that certainly helps!), but because they associate personal memories or experiences with the artist. In many cases, the memory is very specific and does not even involve the artist’s best work. Take my example:

  1. Kishore Kumar – I can trace my love for Kishore da to a cassette with a dozen or so Kishore da songs. It was a gift from sister for my 15th or 16th birthday. It was a nice enough collection but what made it remarkable was that it was the first cassette I owned. The first song on that cassette – “Phoolon Ke Rang Se” from Prem Pujari – remains one of my favorite Kishore Kumar songs.
  2. Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik – I appreciated romance for the first time in my life through Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and its beautiful songs. Alka and Udit were the first voices I could relate to as my generation’s.
  3. Eagles – Till I heard Hotel California in college, I used to dismiss all “English songs” as noisy. Hotel California, with its melody and its amazing guitar riff, opened up a new world of pop/rock music for me. That one song and the fact that it was playing everywhere and all the time in college, made me an Eagles fan.
  4. Led Zeppelin – I had heard “Stairway to Heaven” many times when I went to a Jimmy Page concert with The Black Crowes. I would have returned home completely satisfied if they had played just that one song. Ninety minutes later, I left the concert under the spell of Page’s understated brilliance and terribly humbled by my ignorance.
  5. A.R. Rahman – I had always liked A.R. Rahman. Two things made me a fan. First, my marriage to a big Rahman fan. It’s hard not be be influenced when your spouse showers someone else with so much affection! Second, a packed London audience for “Bombay Dreams”, that went “Bravo! Bravo!” after every song. I felt proud to be an Indian.

Coke Studio In India?! Fingers Crossed

Anyone who has seen the delectable live show program from across the border will understand why I am so excited about the news that Coke Studio may come to India! Like most Indians, I have many misgivings about Pakistan and it’s attitude towards India but I can’t help admiring, even envying, their music scene. What do I like about Pakistani music, specifically Coke Studio?

  1. They have figured out a way of packaging local, folk music with western, modern music in a very pleasing manner. Purists may frown upon this approach but I think it makes folk music a lot more accessible and appealing to the younger crowd.
  2. A lot of music is produced for its own sake and not as a prop in a movie. Now that may be because the Pakistani movie industry sucks but in my opinion, this focus on music produces very good results.
  3. Live music always feels better. It has an element of magic that is somehow lost in the recording. Live music has a lot of engagement going on – amongst the artists, between the artist and the audience and within the audience – which make it a very personal experience unique to each individual in the audience. Finally, live music provides the artist freedom to improvise. If you have seen Hariharan or Shankar Mahadevan on stage, you’ll know how much fun that can be.

My only hope is that the Indian version remains true to the original format (live, non-mainstream music). Check out one of my favorite Coke Studio performances and you’ll know what I am talking about.

PS: Check out something one of the commenters on Youtube pointed out. See how Zeb and the drummer smile when the chorus kicks in at 1:45 and tell me if you don’t feel like smiling with them! That’s the edge of live performance!

Does Book Publishing Have A Better Future Than Music?

Paul Carr of TechCrunch thinks book publishing has a better future than music because there is no assumption amongst buyers that digital books will be free. He also implies that people don’t associate any value with music. He is wrong and his argument is ridiculous:

  1. People expect to pay for e-books – It is only a matter of time before this expectation changes. The expectation of “free” comes only if the content is already available for free. In the case of music and movies, this expectation comes from content that can be easily ripped and distributed for free and file-sharing sites that make it widely available. What will happen when (not if) someone figures out a way to rip e-books and share it with the rest of the world?
  2. People don’t value music – Almost everybody listens to music, but only some truly enjoy it. It is this set of music lovers that understands and appreciates the value of music. According to a poll Paul refers to in the video, young people believe digital music has zero value. I think the poll is just a reflection of the fact that there are far too many people who listen to music because it enhances another activity (like a workout) or because it makes an unpleasant activity (like a commute) more palatable and not because they truly enjoy the music. On the other hand, people read books only if they believe they will derive value from it because unlike listening to music, reading requires time and effort. Therefore, compared to music listeners, book readers are far more likely to associate value with the content they are consuming.

The only redeeming thing in this video – Sarah Lacy disagrees with Paul and points out that Paul’s hypothesis is really just wishful thinking.

Official Song of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Another Bust

The official song of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (SEL), was released on Dec 31, 2010. In my opinion, it’s another miss, close on the heels of A.R. Rahman’s official song for the Commonwealth Games.

It’s easy to explain why you love a song or why you hate one, but really hard to describe why you think a song is just “so-so”. Still, here is an attempt:

  • Except for the De Ghuma Ke line, Manoj Yadav’s lyrics for the rest of the song feel contrived and do not really roll off the tongue
  • Except for the mukhda, the tune isn’t hummable.
  • I couldn’t figure out the second singer, other than Shankar Mahadevan, but I think the song might have been better off with someone else.

I think there is a lot of pressure on the public to like this song, specially after the CWG song debacle. Nobody wants to be a spoil-sport, specially one it comes to the work of hugely popular musicians like SEL (I am a big fan myself), and specially when India’s reputation on the global stage is involved. I really wanted to like the song, but I don’t!

Check it yourself and tell me what you think. [Update: The embedded video was removed from Youtube. The official video is being released on Feb 7. Will provide an update in due course.]

PS: And what is it with official ICC website’s lame domain name – http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/? It took me a while to figure out that it was actually ICC’s official site and not a Yahoo site. Free marketing advice for ICC – The “yahoo.net” domain is diluting your brand. Do yourself a favor and get your own domain name.

Quentin Tarantino songs

I watched Inglourious Basterds last night and, as with other Tarantino movies I have seen, loved the songs as much as the movie itself. There is a certain quality to Tarantino songs – off-beat, melodic, dark, retro – that sounds amazing in the movies but also make for great listening by themselves.

My original plan was to put together a Tarantino playlist but a bunch of people have already beaten me to it, so let me just point to them:

Happy listening!

Classical Music Is Dead! Long Live Classical Music!

Over the last few days, there has been a spate of news reports (like this and this) bemoaning the decline of classical music in India. The concern is understandable. Two things have changed over the years – a) Classical music faces a lot more competition from other music forms, b) Music itself faces more competition from other forms of entertainment.

That said, I am not sure if there is a need for the government to get involved as some musicians have requested. We have seen what government involvement in sports has resulted in (CWG, never-retiring committee chiefs, BCCI/IPL scandals). As someone who enjoys classical music occasionally, without “understanding” it (raga, taala, etc), here is my take on what might help:

  • Focus on the tribe – Classical music has never been for the masses. In fact, it has traditionally been elitist (played in kings’ courts). Instead of focusing on people who don’t appreciate classical music, musicians should focus on people who do – the tribe – and figure out ways of building stronger relationships with them.
  • Improvise to grow market – Coax new audiences into trying classical music. Here are some examples of what might work:
    • Fusion – Anyone who went to college in the 90s has to have heard of L Subramanian’s Conversations, a fusion music album in which L Subramaniam collaborated with jazz violinist, Stephen Grapelli. For a college kid, this kind of fusion music is a lot less intimidating and lot more cool than full-blown classical music. My guess is that Conversations made many of these college kids open to attending L Subramaniam’s classical concerts.
    • Crossover – Nobody had ever heard the kind of music an unknown duo called Shiv-Hari created for the movie Silsila. Turns out these guys were really two ace classical musicians, Shiv Kumar Sharma (santoor) and Hari Prasad Chaurasia (flute). Their work in Silsila and few other movies helped them win over a new set of followers who then crossed over to the duo’s classical work. Vishal Dadlani and his tribe does that crossover today when he juggles Bollywood, as part of Vishal-Shekhar, with what I suspect is his true passion – punk/hip hop/rock, as the frontman for Pentagram.
    • Classical music for dummies – This might be blasphemy to the purists but how about creating shorter, less complex, livelier classical compositions to at least get the new audience in the door? As a dummy myself, I can vouch that this approach would work with me.
  • Music education – The proposal made by musicians to strengthen music education in schools makes a lot of sense, as long as the focus of this education is not to produce musicians (that would be a nice by-product) but to help kids develop an appreciation for music.

AR Rahman’s 2011 Golden Globe Nomination

Golden Globe announced the nominations for 2011 awards. The nominations for ” BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE” are as follows:

  1. Alexandre Desplat – The King’s Speech
  2. Danny Elfman – Alice In Wonderland
  3. A.R. Rahman – 127 Hours
  4. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – The Social Network
  5. Hans Zimmer – Inception

As a big AR Rahman fan, I was delighted to hear about his nomination. I am eagerly awaiting the movie’s release in India but based on the clips I heard on iTunes, my sense is that his work in “127 hours” might be better than the overrated “Slumdog Millionaire”.  Of course, a movie score has to be judged in the context of the movie, so I’ll just have to wait till I see it.

I may not have seen “127 hours” but I have seen three of the other four nominations – “Alice in Wonderland”, “Inception” and “The Social Network” and – and I think Rahman faces much stronger competition this time around. My pick would be Trent Reznor (he of the Nine Inch Nails fame) and Atticus Ross’ score in “The Social Network”. I think of three things when I think about the movie – smart, entertaining and dramatic. I think the movies is smart and entertaining because of the plot and dialogue, and dramatic because of it’s score. The music has almost a physical presence throughout the movie and one of the reasons why “The Social Network” is not just a good movie but a great movie.

Do you think the Danny Boyle-AR Rahman combination is going to win again? What’s your pick?

The Importance Of Cover Songs

In an interview with Rajeev Masand, Asha Bhonsle rips apart Sunidhi Chauhan’s rendition of ‘Duniya Mein’ in a song called ‘Parda‘ in ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai’. And she does it with a beatific smile lighting up her face. She’s a spirited old lady alright and I admire her verve and energy.

However, I disagree with her insinuation – the lady conveys a lot without saying much – that original songs should be left alone. As long as the following two conditions are met, I think cover songs are great:

  1. Credit – The original should be given credit and given credit prominently.
  2. Creative interpretation – It’s no good if the cover version tries to be just like the original.

Here is why I think cover songs are important:

  1. It helps listeners discover new artists and genres and it helps artists span across generations. I bought my first Bob Dylan album because I wanted to find out what the original ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ sounded like (I heard the Guns N’ Roses version first). Every time a new artist covers a Dylan song, a new generation discovers Dylan.
  2. Cover songs unearth hidden gems. My guess is that Asha Bhosle’s reaction would have been more favourable if one of her lesser-known songs had been covered. It took the cover version of ‘Kya Janoon Sajan‘ in “Dil Vil Pyar Vyar’ for me to discover the beautiful original sung by Lata Mangeshkar. (In fact, all songs in ‘Dil Vil Pyar Vyar‘ are wonderful covers of R.D. Burman songs.)
  3. Sometimes, just sometimes, the cover can improve on the original. If I say, ‘Black Magic Woman‘, ‘All Along the Watchtower’ and ‘The Man Who Sold the World’, do you think Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana; or Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and David Bowie? Can you think of a world without these cover songs?
  4. Cover songs help new artists stand their ground while they establish themselves. Not my personal favourite, but ever heard of a band called Boyzone?

We don’t have enough cover songs in India. I am not talking about plagiarized music (copying without permission/credit), renditions with no creativity (artists trying to sound like the original) or remixes that add gobbledygook (or jhankaar beats or whatever) to the original. We have plenty of those. I am talking about musicians taking an original with permission, imparting it their voice and style and making it their own.