The king is dead. Long live the king. Baradwaj Rangan remembers MS Viswanathan.
At 7:59 am, last Tuesday, I got this sms from a friend: You have to write a great tribute. I hadn’t looked at news sites yet, but I knew who the tribute was for. We’d been hearing news about his hospitalisation and the word “critical” was being thrown around a lot. It wasn’t surprising, that sms. What surprised me, though, was my reaction. I misted up. I usually don’t do this. There’s some sadness when you hear such news, certainly, but when people have lived a long life and when they’ve produced an immortal body of work, their own mortality doesn’t seem as calamitous. Tears are for the family, for those who knew him personally. For fans, for those who knew him only through his music, MS Viswanathan will always manifest himself at will. In a song on the radio. On YouTube. From the pen drive of an auto driver with roof-blasting speakers. Why, then, this surge of emotion?
I guess it’s because another link to my past is gone. When you’re young, you absorb pop culture intensely. Your mind is a blank slate, and gradually songs and stars and movies begin to leave their mark on it. These songs and stars and movies become… home. Then you grow up and, at some point, there’s no more room on that slate. Thereon, you still listen to music or watch a movie, but because your mind has more to do, more to process, with work and family and other things that make up life, pop culture no longer becomes personal. Thereon, it’s a kind of disengaged participation. Luckily for me, MSV was around when the slate was still being filled. And at least some of the tears were due to an image, however fuzzily recalled, of me tying my shoelaces and making sure I had the right textbooks in my satchel while Kaatrukkenna veli played on the radio.
Around that time, the late 1970s, there was a programme on Doordarshan called Mellisai. As the name suggests, it featured light music – that is, music that is “lighter” than classical music. The title card for this programme had the name in Tamil (obviously), and behind it was this design: notes of music on a staff, except that the staff wasn’t a series of parallel lines. The lines undulated, like a wave, like a sine curve – the impression was that there was a breeze and the notes were flowing along. That’s the image I have as I read obituaries that refer to MSV by his appellation, Mellisai Mannar, the king of light music. Beginning to end, his songs just flowed.
It’s impossible to do more than scratch the surface in a space like this, but take Minminiyai kanmaniyai, from Kannan En Kadhalan. The melody line descends like steps – sharp, distinct notes, the kind given to beginner music students so that they learn to land on a note without the crutch of the preceding (or succeeding) note on the octave. You’d think such a tune would sound a little staccato. You think it wouldn’t flow. But it does. And a dizzy accordion flows around it. The beat is a waltz, but try figuring that out from the percussion, with at least two rhythm patterns flowing simultaneously. MSV did this over and over. He made songs whose constituents suggested one thing (say, if you read the music) when the outcome was entirely different.
MSV’s mind must have resembled a bottomless pot of spaghetti, with coiled loops of tunes that he kept pulling out for our consumption. So many songs today have four lines in the opening verse – the pallavi/mukhda– and these are usually four repetitions of the same melody line. But MSV would fashion four different tunes for each of the four lines. One of my favourite songs done this way is Madhana maaligayil, from Rajapart Rangadurai. And the stanzas – charanam/antara – too contain astounding variations. A rise here. A precipitous dip there. If there’s such a thing as a “Guess the Next Note!” competition, MSV’s songs would be the ones you’d play in the fiendish final round. And yet, this unpredictability never stood in the way of your being able to hum the number as you would a pop standard. And such style too. Velli kinnam dhaan could be something sung by Frank Sinatra. Only, this isn’t a song meant to be sung so much as crooned, caressed, made love to.
Writing comprehensively about MSV would mean writing a book. One chapter would deal with his early work with TK Ramamurthy (many of the songs people have been attributing to MSV in obits and remembrances are actually by the duo). Another would delve into his staggering mind-meld with the lyrics of Kannadasan. A third would discuss the genres he adopted (is there a better instance of Big Band jazz in Tamil film music than Ninaithadhai nadathiye mudippavan?), the instruments (bongos, the xylophone) he made his own, the great voices he had at his disposal (TM Soundararajan, P Sushila, LR Eswari, PB Srinivas). Then, a look at his exquisite latter-day work with SPB (pausing for many, many listens of Bharathi kannamma, Kanaa kaanum kangal mella, Enakkoru kaadhali irukkinraal, Nitham nitham en kannodu). And an appendix filled with “mad songs” like Kettukodi urumi melam, in which the Indian part is scored with Western instruments and vice versa. By “mad,” I mean out-of-the-box – then again, with MSV, there was no box at all to begin with.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Other songs mentioned in the piece above:
Anu Warrier
July 18, 2015
Grew up listening to MSV and Ilaiyaraja as much as Shankar-Jaikishen, Madan Mohan and Naushad; my father was actually a Tamilian in Malayali clothing.
Your introduction to this tribute was achingly beautiful, simple and touching. Thank you for that.
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cl
July 18, 2015
“tying my shoelaces and making sure I had the right textbooks in my satchel while ‘Kaatrukkenna veli’ played on the radio.”
‘Aayar paadi maalligayil ….’ was that song for me.
‘Engeyum Eppodhum…’ is my favourite from ‘Ninaithaale Inikkum’. Another chapter in that book would be on MSV’s songs in KB’s films.
‘Another would delve into his staggering mind-meld with the lyrics of Kannadasan’.
Vasantha Kaala Nadhigallile (Moondru Mudichu) instantly comes to mind.
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Hari E
July 18, 2015
Very nice article, but somewhat felt little bit underdone. Wish some one with more music sensibilities can bring technical analysis of MSV’s tunes, like few did on Raja’s music. Being born in the 70’s MSV songs came in to my life in my 20s after only growing up with Raja’s songs. But what a discovery it was! His 50’s and 60’s output with TKR imo, probably best period for consistently quality songs. He kept on changing and adopting the music sensibilities that he could score Ninathale innikum in 70’s or even in mid 80’s songs like ‘Ithu varai pattai pirintha’ with a heavy synthesized sound. Being a hard code IR fan, I could grudgingly accept that MSV handled the IR challenge better than how IR handled ARR challenge. Even when he accepted movies like sivagamiyan selvan (aradhana), Nallai Namathe (YKB), Engiruindtho vandhal (Khilona), he took the challenge of matching the original soundtrack’s popularity and reach and came up with a winner on his own terms. To me, one of his master pieice (with TKR) is Kalai Kovil.
Thanks for mentioning the Minimiyai kanmaniyai (my favorite song).
Most of the inconsequential movies in 70’s are still in people mind only because of MSV songs.
Sridevi Varam Ketkiraal
another gem from Muthana Muthuallavo (the popular song is Enakoru Kadahili irukirral)
Margazhi Paniyil
You had mentioned about Sashi Kapoor’s hand toss before, but what about the finger toss in this song (3:41 – 3:48).
Kathalin Ponveniyil ( Pookari).
List goes on.
But one thing defined him more than anything else is – his humbleness and his child like enthusiasm. There were so many stories of young and established music directors/singers receiving a appreciative call from MSV right until his death.
With TMS, PBS, TKR and now MSV – truly the end of a legendary chapter in TFM.
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Hari E
July 18, 2015
Correction – Wish some one with more music sensibilities can bring technical analysis of MSV’s tunes, like few did on Raja’s music.
Poorly worded. Apologize. Not against you – Rangan. What I meant was – in general, MSV music was not dissected technically like IR or ARR songs were. That was my gist.
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prakash
July 18, 2015
Ur generation is lucky brangan. Hearing to msv as kids. Raja in teens. Rahman in middle age. Look who we have now. One song wonders..
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Anuja Chandramouli
July 18, 2015
What a gorgeous tribute! It inspired me to spend the better part of Saturday night listening to the great man’s fine compositions. I am in heaven! Such an incredible body of work he has left behind and the sheer versatility of it all leaves me speechless with wonder. Here are my favourite MS songs in no particular order.
1. Nenjam Marapathilai (from the film of the same name)
2. Anubhavam Pudhumai (Kadhalika Neramilai)
3. Padatha Pattalam and Roja Malare (Veera Thirumagan)
4, Every single track from Ninaithale Inikkum
5. Avalukkena Azhagiya mugam (Server Sundaram)
6. Paartha Nyabagam (Pudhiya Paravai)
7. Vaarayao Thozhi (Pasamalar)
When I was a kid, I mostly listened to Ilaiyararaja (90s) and ARR. Discovered MSV and Ilaiyaraja’s work from the glory years much later. And what a precious discovery it was!
Thank you for the music MSV!
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Ravi K
July 19, 2015
My dad grew up in the late 50s, 60s-era Viswanathan-Ramamurthy, solo MSV, and KV Mahadevan era, so those are primarily the songs I heard on cassette growing up. I’m not too familiar with MSV’s work in the 70s and 80s. He was so prolific that I’m still discovering his gems.
My dad died in early 2013. When TMS died a few months later. It was kind of sad to realize that the people whose work he loved growing up (TMS, then, and now K. Balachander and MSV) lived longer than he did and died after he did.
I only grew up with these songs secondhand, but they are a tenuous connection I have to my dad’s youth, which, although it was very troubled, perhaps contained some youthful exuberance that he sadly lost over time. I can’t help but think of him when I listen to these old songs.
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Akhilan
July 19, 2015
“Then you grow up, and at some point, there is no more room on that slate. Thereon, you still listen to music or watch a movie, but because your mind has more to do, more to process, with work and family and other things that make up life, pop culture no longer becomes personal”.
BR, could I request you to elaborate on this a little bit please… Does that ‘personal’ resonance/connection with pop culture really become ‘no longer personal’…?? Aren’t these lasting influences that fundamentally shape who we are as people. Don’t they contribute to our uniqueness, our individualistic personality…?? I think I feel this way because like you state; I’m still that “young guy, who absorbs pop culture intensely”. A guy, whose yet to reach that stage in my life where things like work or family life come into play. Hence, just curious to understand your perspective a bit better… 🙂
And of course, thank you BR for this piece. As someone who isn’t very familiar with MSV Sir’s music, it was very interesting to read about the impact he had on your life as well as his overall contribution to Indian music. RIP MSV Sir…
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Ram Murali
July 19, 2015
Very nice tribute. I am glad you mentioned the “Kanaa Kaanum KangaL Mella” song. I think it’s an amazing piece of music that was so PERFECT for the situation in the movie. In just a few lines, the song was able to convey the anguish and torment experienced by the heroine as well as the hope expressed by the hero. Four lines stand out:
Pudhiya Kavithai Punaiyum Kuyile Nenjil Undaana Kaayam Enna…
Ninaivu AlaigaL Nerupil Kulikum Paavam Enna…
Kizhaku Velukaamal Irukaadhu Vaanam…
Vidiyum NaaL Paarthu Iruppeney Naanum…
What I love about songs like these is how superbly the tune and lines (by Vaali in this case) combine to tell the story in a succinct manner. If you have seen “Agni Saatchi,” you will realize that the first two lines perfectly describe the character of Saritha, a disturbed soul, haunted by horrible memories of her childhood, who pays the ultimate tribute to her idol Bharathiyar through creative poems. All of that captured in two lines! And, the next two lines point to the (sun) light that the protagonist sees at the end of the tunnel. While I don’t know enough about the nuances of music, all I know is that I was truly stunned to hear/see this song the first time several years ago and the impact has not waned over time…that’s just one of the many examples of MSV Sir’s genius.
I remember that you beautifully described his melodies in your write-up which was included in your book. I quote you here (as accurately as possible; I don’t have the book in front of me) – “MSV sprinkled fairy dust on the melody line causing it to twist into amazing forms.”
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Shankar
July 19, 2015
Beautiful article…thank you for that. One of the pillars of TFM has fallen but left behind such a monumental piece of work. Baddy, as I said before, my biggest fear is you ending up writing tributes….you know what I mean. Time is of essence, buddy!
The respect that MSV had in the musician’s fraternity can be seen by this…perfectly sums it up for me.
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brangan
July 19, 2015
cl: My favourite from Ninaithaale Inikkum is Bharathi kannamma. The way SPB sings the charanam… oooh.
Hari E:Being a hard code IR fan, I could grudgingly accept that MSV handled the IR challenge better than how IR handled ARR challenge.
I think so, yes. But there’s another thing too. In the MSV/Raja overlap, the sound stayed the same — more or less. Raja may have used, say, the bass guitar like never before, but the “sound” of the instrument was still something you found in the MSV era.
But when the Raja/ARR overlap began, the sound changed completely, and Raja either (1) did not want to get into that zone, or (2) could not get into that zone — in the sense that he stuck to one thing while the rest of Tamil cinema moved on to another thing.
prakash: Ur generation is lucky brangan. Hearing to msv as kids. Raja in teens. Rahman in middle age.
Ayyayyo. You’ve oreydiya dated me. I listened to MSV and Raja as a kid. And MKT. And Naushad. And SD Burman. The point is that ALL the older songs (from older generations too) become yours too because they keep playing on the radio or your dad has the spool tapes or your mom keeps humming them or whatever. And they seep into you along with the new songs you’re listening to.
Anuja Chandramouli: Here are my favourite MS songs in no particular order.
About half your list is MSV-TKR. This has been a dismaying thing for me in some of the obits and remembrances I’ve read, this conflation of MSV with the duo. MSV may have been the real brains behind the duo or whatever, but the credit is “Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy” and we should respect that.
For instance, in this little slice of heaven, the line “varuvaan kannan” sounds like pure MSV. BUT… it’s MSV-TKR.
Ravi K: That you for sharing that astoundingly personal memory. Really touched.
Akhilan: After a point, you listen to songs without that “this is home” feeling. That is, without your realising it, the music you listen to as a kid (to when your in your twenties, say) get stored in such a way that when they are played in the future, they trigger nostalgia, etc. That’s what I mean by “home.” This is my theory, anyway — it may work differently for other people.
Ram Murali: Thanks for that flashback. Lovely memories. Though I thought Vairamuthu wrote the lyrics. Or did he write only the pudhu kavidhai-s, like “kosuve unakku kodi namaskaram”?
Shankar: Nee kekkardhu tough da. Paakkalaam 🙂
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ThouShaltNot
July 19, 2015
MSV was the undisputed mannar before the prince ascended the throne. No doubt, time has a way of sorting out equations of age and agility, but that is just a cycle no one escapes. The quality creations of these masters linger and outlast their physical presence. Adding here to the list of MSV favorites is my shortlist of three in the romantic category (all MSV-MGR-TMS-PSusheela hits)
Azahagiya Tamizh magal ival,
iru vizhigalil ezhuthiya madal …
Inbamae, undhan paer penmaiyO,
en idhaya kani, nee sollum sollil mazhalai kili…
Pachchai kili, muththu charam, mullai kodi yaarO,
paavai ennum thaeril varum devan magal neeyO…
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Ram Murali
July 19, 2015
@brangan – it was indeed Vaali. I say that because I wrote a tribute to Vaali a while ago. And, as I was thinking of songs that moved me completely into another zone, “kanaa kaanum” and “ellorum sollum paatu” (Marupadiyum) topped the list. At the time, I had checked the titles of Agni Saatchi to ensure that it was Vaali who had written the songs. It was him. (The titles also gave him credit for the pudhu kavithais you referred to.)
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Madan
July 19, 2015
I actually liked the TKR combo songs more. It may have had to do with the quality of some of the films they worked on, like Puthiya Paravai. And as a Mumbaiite growing up in the pre-SEL age (as in when HFM still had some tenuous links to the past), I could never process his music for the films remade from Hindi. Kaalangal Pathinaaru for instance sounded too complicated compared to the straight up release of joy in Aanewala Pal. To some extent I have had this problem with those remakes for which IR composed the music too. If all this sounds ambivalent, it’s because I didn’t really get to grow up on MSV’s music. IR was still the commercial Raja when I was in primary (by high school, of course everything had changed) so the connection was established early on vide say Singaravelan. And as you rightly said, there is some continuity between MSV-Raja in the melody even if the latter expanded a lot even on that front and used patterns MSV did not. So once I had embraced Raja, there was not much room for his predecessor with a similar approach to melody and less interesting orchestration (to me). With all that said, of course I hugely respect this giant of TFM. It was great that Star Vijay had him over on the Super Singer show once and got him to describe a little bit about his approach. I was astounded to hear he used to basically ‘sing’ the parts the musicians had to play. What a self-taught talent! Hate to sound ageist but I am really not too sure we are going to see the likes of MSV, IR or ARR any time soon again in TFM.
As for the point about family and stuff crowing out music, I have experienced it too…or should I say in the process of experiencing it. Professional and personal responsibilities start to take over mind space say around late 20s (in my case and probably for a lot many others) and you may find you lack the mental energy to invest your soul in an album. So it’s fortunate in a way that there aren’t too many albums being made now, whether here or in the Western pop/rock industry, that really deserve that kind of investment. Mostly lightweight fluff that you can enjoy while working on an assignment and forget all about it in a few months time. When I really get into an album, I will play it almost on a loop over and over for at least a couple of weeks. I literally go mad listening to music during this phase. It’s not advisable to lose your sanity even fleetingly once you’re married. 😛
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Madan
July 19, 2015
Meant some new composer like the likes of MSV/IR/ARR. Of course two of them are alive and kicking.
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Anuja Chandramouli
July 19, 2015
Aww… crap! Sudhir Srinivasan had written something similar in The Hindu and he was appalled that so many gave the entire credit to MSV for songs the duo had composed and remarked that it was entirely unfair to Ramamurthy. That was when it struck me, I had barely even know about the existence of this other person. It is my practice to listen to whatever is on Jaya Max while I hammer away at my laptop and so a lot of the songs from that era are beloved to me though clearly I am not well – versed enough to even enter into a discussion on the subject. Usually I just hum along without an inkling of the name of the composers, singers or even the title of the movie. Chagrined!
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prakashswamy
July 19, 2015
Do write that book 📖 on மெல்லிசை மன்னர். 👍 Please. 🙏 And make sure it’s available on Kindle & as an audio 👂 book as well. Otherwise, the later day listeners (Millennials & their wards) will believe (not just think) Anirudh is the benchmark for Tamil movie 🎥 music 🎶 (I’ve nothing against Anirudh or any other musician per se’ 😕but reaching Everest Base Camp isn’t scaling it. 👏 And staying there! 👌
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Tambi
July 19, 2015
BR/Hari E: I am not sure whether I can agree that even during 1976-80 sound of IR was more or less like MSV. Even in that period IR’s arrangement was quite different though not path breaking from the earlier MSV style.
And there were songs like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EerYIL2W41U which sounded so much like MSV.
With Sigappu Rojakal (1979), Nenjathai Killathe (1980), IR started experimenting away from the traditional MSV format and crushed MSV in the market.
ps: Hari E are you Hariharan Eswaran of RMIM/RSC days 🙂
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brangan
July 19, 2015
Madan: And as you rightly said, there is some continuity between MSV-Raja in the melody even if the latter expanded a lot even on that front and used patterns MSV did not.
No, I didn’t say that. I’m just talking about the overlap in the sound engineering techniques, the instruments used, the singers used, etc. Their approaches to melody (i.e. the non-instrumental portions) are VASTLY different. (See the four-line thing I’ve said in this piece.)
Tambi Dude: Also, add to your list songs like Chella pillai Saravanan and Kannan oru kaikuzhandhai. Again, you can see glimmers of a difference — so my point was not so much a comparison.
ThouShaltNot: In the combination you mention (MSV-MGR-TMS-PSusheela), these are particular favourites (okay, no Susheela in the second):
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Tambi Dude
July 19, 2015
“Kannan oru kaikuzhandhai.” Yup this one was so MSV’ish. And then there was this song in which IR composed like MSV and SPB sounded like TMS.
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Madan
July 19, 2015
BR: Sorry I misread you. Agree that there wasn’t the sea change in production that we experienced on ARR’s arrival. On melody, there is some overlap and in some songs the MSV influence is quite pronounced like Oru Poovanathile or Un Paarvayil. Of course such a prolific composer like IR adopted a wide array of approaches to melody.
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Hari E
July 19, 2015
Thambi – yes. Same Hari.
I don’t completely agree that IR sounded like MSV in his early years. Yes, pallavi/saranam patterns stayed same, but right from his first movie, his emphasis on orchestration was completely different. There were few factors went in favor of MSV. MSV loyalists ( KB, most of the Sivaji backers and directors from 60’s/70’s) stayed with MSV longer than in 90’s, when people ditched IR very soon. Even AVM, when they re-entered the field in 80’s, took MSV for payum puli and IR for Muratu Kalai and Sakalakala vallavan. It is true that when ARR came, he not only changed the sound but also the way it is produced which was not the way composers used to score and IR suffered because his way composing with a big orchestra and casual approach to sound recording did not help him. Even hard code IR loyalists like Kamal moved from IR ( Nammavar and Avvai shanmugi) not to ARR, but to Deva and Mahesh. But one thing which still goes in favor of IR is relevance. MSV was no longer relevant by mid 80’s not withstanding few good scores for SAS movies (Vasantha ragam, Nilave Malare etc). But IR is still relevant, not the way he used to, but still there are directors and actors who seek out to him not to get chart busters, but for his background scores. In fact if you take any popular composers, relevance wise IR is having the longest run (40 years counting).
Rightly said – Chella pillai saravan sounded like MSV – tune wise, but to me GK and SG songs in that period were very close to MSV than IR songs.
Some one mentioned about MSV songs in Thillumullu vs Golmall. Yes, ragangal pathinaru was very complicated and classical than ‘Aane walla pan’. Same goes to ‘Ethnai manasu kotti kidakuthu’ vs ‘Roop tera Mastana’ , ‘O sathi re’ vs ‘ ‘Selvame ore mugam’. Even that is true for Nalai namathe songs. It is to MSV credit that he created a entirely different canvas to the same songs. On the other hand, MSV-TKR in songs in Pallum palum sounded much simpler and approachable than Naushad in Sathi or Nejil oru alayium vs Dil Ek Mandir. Guess, it all boils down to original songs popularity and reach.
I also feel that TKR is not given proper due to his collaboration with MSV. In fact, MSV-TKR songs, most of the them had a great tune ( MSV) but orchestration were always very sophisticated and had a consistent quality to it. Once MSV moved out to solo career, his songs never had that sound. I still fell and also going by what is written, TKR took care of the orchestration part in most of the TKR-MSV songs, being a trained violinist did help.
Rangan – I hope you checked out the finger toss of Muka Muthu in Kadaleen poon veniyil song. also your point about MSV coming up with different tune – the grand daddy of all is ‘Oru Raja Raniyidam’ from Sivantha Man.
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Prasanna
July 19, 2015
Forget the inability to distinguish MSV vs MSV-TKR Sir, write-ups freely attribute ‘Athaimadi Methaiyadi’, etc of KVM to MSV!!! One anchor in a TV channel apparently asked LREswari to sing ‘Kaadhodu dhaan naan pesuven’ and LRE had to correct her to say that was VKumar’s!!! 😀 Shows how much we care…
On the melody & sound point, 2 questions:
1)Want to know why did sound start mattering more than melody post-1992 i.e ARR??
2)On the melodic content, I think there’re 2 areas IR scored higher:
a)the interludes, IR’s 2 interludes to a 3-part (Pallavi-Anupallavi-Charanam) song were invariably different. Until he came the 2 interludes were the same. They were also so good that they could possibly be “expanded/improvised” into stand-alone songs.
b)IR’s fidelity to a scale- I am biased on this,since am a carnatic-music freak. I’ll explain, since you appreciate CM too…IR created unique melodies of even closely allied Suddha Dhanyasi/Hindolam in a single movie ‘Vizhiyil Vizhundu’ in the former and ‘Dharisanam kidaikkadha’ in the latter in ‘Alaigal Oivadhillai’; ‘Punjai Undu’ in the former and ‘Unnal mudiyum’ in the latter in ‘Unnal Mudiyum Thambi’ (not even getting to ARR,who can’t do a ‘Margazhi Poove’ or ‘Innisai Alabedaye’ without mixing both!!! ). MSV (ok MSV-TKR in this case) had either this “repetitive” small melodic entity like ‘Paalum pazhamum kaigalil endhi’- the variants of the melodic tune of that portion of the song ends up filling the entire song or the spaghetti thingy you’ve referred to in the article.
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Iswarya
July 20, 2015
“About half your list is MSV-TKR. … MSV may have been the real brains behind the duo or whatever, but the credit is “Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy” and we should respect that.”
Dreading the moment my TKR-fanatic singer SO would read that! 🙂 Being of the real radio generation that grew up before TV became an accessible household reality, he firmly believes that it was MSV who really stole TKR’s thunder and thinks MSV only flourished alone after the split being the better PR man of the two. In fact, I’ve seen quite a few of his generation who think MSV’s individual efforts were no match to what they achieved as a duo. And these were people who would have to spend hours waiting to listen to these songs for just 30 minutes on the Ceylon radio or something everyday, and so cine music was such a glorious treat for them! Of course, all this is quite remote to me since, I, just like Anuja here, grew up in blissful ignorance of all the title credits and only humming the songs along, happily picking them up from my SO’s present mp3 collection and from Jaya Max.
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Tambi Dude
July 20, 2015
“MSV loyalists ( KB, most of the Sivaji backers and directors from 60’s/70’s) stayed with MSV longer than in 90’s, when people ditched IR very soon.”
In other words, IR’s downfall was quick and spectacular. Well I don’t think the reason can just be attributed to “change of sound”. IR rubbed lot of people the wrong way and they were just waiting for their day. I remember an article in the tamil edition of India Today, printed after Gentleman songs and the movie were a big hit. The article was simply gloating on the end of IR era. Something like “tamil audience , after a long time, have a real choice”.
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vaidya
July 20, 2015
Have always loved your description of “home” music. Am realizing it more and more now. You listen to different things, different genres, languages, but listening to something you used to growing up has such a different “feel” to it! It can be the same songs, or the same type of sound or just SPB’s voice as it used to sound at that time. I recently got shared on twitter Raaja’s “Kodai kaala Kaatre” and it brought back memories of summer evenings with the Philips Vacuum tube radio playing these songs!
As for MSV my father was an avid cassette collector and he had ended up with close to 2000 cassettes, and MSV, SDB etc were what constituted home music, even though it should technically have been Illaiyaraaja growing up in the 80s. And so much of those songs that I enjoyed then turned out to be MSV. “Chippi irukkuthu muthum irukkuthu” was one that I never outgrew and recently found out to be MSV’s. So much consumption of culture was without knowing consciously who the people behind the screens were.
Surprising how few of that generation remain: Sivaji, Gemini, Nagesh, MGR, Jaishankar, Kannadasan, TKR, now MSV. Only the actresses remain but considering the stage to which they were relegated and that they shied away from the limelight after their careers were over, it is pretty much the end of that generation, sadly.
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Prakash Srinivasan
July 20, 2015
BR: Thanks a million for introducing the Nitham Nitham song to me, what a Ghazal! The master communion of 2 Legends: MSV & SPB. Of course, another piece worth reading again & again.
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Madan
July 20, 2015
Iswarya: I have heard that story too about MSV-TKR too. Read it on this place like mayyam.com and my father also has the same opinion. On the other hand, IR himself is completely in awe of MSV and has described the way he used to come up with compositions so fast in spite of being self taught. Anyhow if MSV was just a PR person, he would have probably faded away long before IR became the next king. So he must have had his own merits surely. But yes, it would seem that rather him being the brains and TKR being a mere puppet, the latter’s contribution was actually very weighty and something was lost once the partnership was broken. On a similar note, arrogant, loudmouth Shankar used to dominate the Shankar-Jaikishan partnership as far as public perception goes but once Jaikishan died, the flair was gone from their music. To be fair, Shankar himself never downplayed Jaikishan’s role in the partnership, at least not that I am aware of, and freely admitted Jaikishan was a better at handling people than him.
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vpjaiganesh
July 20, 2015
wow so much ignorance in one page is absolutely spectacular!!
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vijay
July 21, 2015
Madan, if you hear soundtracks such as Kudiyirundha kovil, ulagam sutrum vaaliban, Anbe vaa etc. which came after the split, you’ll easily realize who was the driving creative force even from earlier. MSV had a long and successful solo run after the split. He might have had consistency issues just because of boredom in the 70s but not for lack of ability or anything like that. As for melodic variations, nobody before or after him has as many as he did. And I say this as someone who grew up with IR’s classics being played a lot on radio. His melodic variations actually got more unpredictable after the split. Like somebody mentioned earlier simple hummable tunes like Paalum pazhamum or paadadha paatellam were the order of the day in the early 60s with a few exceptions. But listen to his tunes for KB films or MGR films in the 70s. And his collaboration with SPB, in my book one of the best MD-singer collaborations ever in IFM. Not easy for an amateur singer to sing. That’s why you don’t find many singing these songs in shows like Airtel super singer. They settle for old classics which are easy to sing in melody rounds or go for all out classical songs.
Whenever I try to make an impossible top 10 SPB list I inevitably end up with atleast 5-6 MSV songs. Sample the following for a start:
Therottam aanandha shenbaga- terrific melody, but the rhythm patterns? Even a classical music aficionado would take some time to keep up with the thalam in this song. Rhythm is an underrated aspect of MSV’s songs. Its not all just melody. He was also the best employer of tabla/mridungam/bongos
enakkoru kaadhali
3.PaduththaaL purandaaL
You haven’t even scratched the surface yet with these 3 and still have a lot of variations to overwhelm you
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vijay
July 21, 2015
I mislinked the enakkoru kaadhali song but it has been posted earlier anyways
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Madan
July 21, 2015
Vijay: I have, obviously, heard the Ulagam Suttrum Valiban. The issue is not really one of melody. To be frank, I like the melodies of that period of TFM only up to a point. Even as far as Raja melodies go, the ones I LIKE (using the word in an emotional rather than intellectual/cerebral sense) are the rare ones with a tinge of Hindustani like Naan Enbathu. I can’t help that. Even listening to MSV/IR songs at home cannot take away the fact that my cultural moorings are more Hindi-ish. I find Tamil melodies can often be very intricate, indeed difficult to sing but not necessarily very elegant (as compared to Hindi). The final aural effect is even more pleasing in Hindi because they did not make Rafi sing as high or indeed loud as TMS. With that out of the way, what I like about the TKR era songs is the orchestration. I don’t really like the orchestration all that much in the post split phase. And of course there is no comparison to IR in that regard. Anyway, I am not the one claiming TKR was the driving force of the partnership. Just that he may have had a bigger role than is popularly attributed to him because post split the magic wasn’t quite there. By the way, there is nothing wrong with melodies of a simple shape in film music. It is generally speaking more desirable. IR filled his songs with tons of harmonic and rhythmic hooks to obscure the complicated nature of melodies; MSV didn’t quite have that gift of orchestration. See my earlier comparison of Raagangal Pathinaru with Aanewala Pal. Yeah, sure, the melody of the former is much more intricate and the singing too is very accomplished. But those are not the sole considerations in putting together a film song. I am sorry to say that even though the Tamil version is picturised on Rajni and the Hindi one on Amol Palekar, overall the Hindi version is more convincing imo (and if you have seen clean shaven Amol Palekar’s ‘expression’ in that scene, that says a lot).
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brangan
July 21, 2015
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kainattu
July 21, 2015
MSV – Bradman – A genius who created awesome records in an era which strictly adhered to a text book approach to the game
IR – Gary Sobers – Everyone agrees he is the most complete cricketer the game has ever seen and the world would have loved to see his approach had he continued to play more ODI games (he played only one)
ARR – Viv Richards – The Godfather of ODI cricket who changed the game completely with his approach and since then the game has never remained the same
Present ones – IPL players who can hit 5 sixes in one T 20 over but cannot stay in the crease for 15 mins in a test match
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Ravi K
July 21, 2015
Vaidya wrote: “Surprising how few of that generation remain: Sivaji, Gemini, Nagesh, MGR, Jaishankar, Kannadasan, TKR, now MSV. Only the actresses remain but considering the stage to which they were relegated and that they shied away from the limelight after their careers were over, it is pretty much the end of that generation, sadly.”
I think only P. Susheela and LR Eswari remain from that era of singers, music directors, and lyricists. Maybe some of the up-and-coming session musicians are still around. Baradwaj, you should do lengthy interviews with the two aforementioned singers if you can.
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Neena
July 21, 2015
@Akhilan & BR: The ‘clean slate of a mind’ theory seems to apply only to music, doesn’t it? For example, food or cinema or even literature, I find I am able to appreciate a wider palate, more complex flavours and absorb better now than as a teenager…but, music, I’m stuck in the 90s and early noughties 😦 That said, the Ok Kanmani music album triggered a long bout of addictive listenings last done only when the same casette was played over and over again…perhaps, for Minsara Kanavu.
Also, now it feels okay to enjoy MSV or MSV-TKR songs, something one couldn’t do when younger, especially with one’s dad repeatedly stressing their marvellousness :p And that’s how I’ve recently come to appreciate the beauty of ‘Namma Ooru Singari’, now my favourite song from Ninaithale Inikkum 🙂
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Neena
July 21, 2015
@Madan: Undoubtedly, your cultural moorings, language and what you are used to as a child play a part in the kind of music you relate to. I cannot relate to ‘non-Indian’ music, for want of a better word, partly because of the unfamiliarity of the form, even if the words were in English and hence, understandable. Though I could enjoy Hindi songs instinctively, I couldn’t latch on to them like with Tamil songs, perhaps because I couldn’t fully comprehend the words and their meaning.
But, I disagree that there is a cerebral-emotional split in the way we enjoy music. When I enjoy complex tunes, it is because they trigger an emotion in me and not because I decipher their complexity and then wow at their brilliance.
There is nothing wrong with simplicity in tunes, of course. But, they may be insufficient in triggering that emotion which connects me to a song in a deep way, and so, they may even seemingly be failing in elegance. The TMS voice that you find loud and high, is the very desirable quality of what Tamil music teachers stress as ‘vaai vittu paadaradhu’ – that lends assertiveness and joy/weight to a song 🙂 I dunno if it’s all that different from Rafi’s style either. His ‘Madhuban mein radhika nache’, I find, is as ‘vaai vittu padaradhu’ as it can be
Female voices, on the other hand, I feel, were unfairly treated in the MSV-TKR, MSV & IR eras..with impossibly high pitches and a near falsetto being the marker of melody. Of course, P Susheela or Chitra or Swarnalatha were absolutely brilliant in that kind of rendition. They brought their own unique range to their songs. But, the ARR era brought in a much wider variety of female voices. Perhaps it has nothing to do with the music director and has to do with general changes in society, media and women’s position in it.
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brangan
July 21, 2015
Neena: When I enjoy complex tunes, it is because they trigger an emotion in me and not because I decipher their complexity and then wow at their brilliance.
Fantastic comment. It’s the same with me. I mean, I can appreciate complexity for complexity’s sake, but I cannot make myself listen to a song over and over just because of that complexity. At the end of the day, the complexity has to produce an emotion — even if you can’t define or name that emotion, you know you’re experiencing it because you feel that… fullness. And then you go back and take the song apart and marvel at the complexity (if any).
It’s like that for me with books too. There are many “difficult” authors that I’ve just never been able to read beyond a few pages, despite appreciating the complexity.
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Madan
July 21, 2015
But, I disagree that there is a cerebral-emotional split in the way we enjoy music.
His ‘Madhuban mein radhika nache’, I find, is as ‘vaai vittu padaradhu’ as it can be
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apala
July 21, 2015
RIP, the gentle soul!
Of many songs that I love from his oeuvre – one of the songs is this one…………
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Tambi Dude
July 21, 2015
“Not coincidentally, SPB and Yesudas also used to sing very high in the MSV era while IR gradually lowered their pitch to a level that at least I find more pleasant.”
I believe high pitch is something SPB consideres his Achilles heel and is not comfortable in it.
SPB+ARR has quite a few high pitches songs. ARR made him scream RojaAAA in the title song (which I felt spoiled the song completely) . Then there were couple of songs in Duet, Muttu which had SPB switching to high pitch.
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vijay
July 21, 2015
Madan, TMS hasn’t sung just “loud” songs for MSV. He has sung all kinds of songs. Even otherwise, KJY and SPB have crooned a lot of terrific songs for MSV, even if you didn’t care much for TMS-type singing. Have you listened to Hello my dear wrong number? A freakish Madhuvanti number which instead of going to SPB came KJY’s way. Haven’t heard a more imaginative usage of this scale yet in TFM.
And we haven’t even scratched the surface with PBS who sang some of his best for MSV-TKR and MSV. TMS, Seergazhi, Tiruchy Loganathan and others were from a different school of singing. It didn’t matter in the end, because depending on whom you liked, MSV always had a ready-made classics collection for you. Take aarodum mannil indha from Pazhani, where the big three seamlessly converge
MSV atleast in his peak years had the fortune of having some great singers at his disposal.
Cant say the same about IR, especially his notorious male singers handpicked from his own troupe. You mentioned Naan enbadhu, its a nice song and all that. But Arunmozhi? for Kamal? How to name it? Nothing but kodumai.
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vijay
July 21, 2015
“Singer Sharath described very nicely how Raja does this in Solai Poovil Maalai Thendral, pointing out that the tune by itself was no great shakes but that amazing groove makes the song. “
Ironically, some of Sharath’s own songs seem to have complexity for the sake of it, just because he can infuse a song with complexity and make life difficult for the singer. I can admire them a lot, but cannot bring myself to like them. Except maybe for an all out stunner like this
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vijay
July 21, 2015
“By “mad,” I mean out-of-the-box – then again, with MSV, there was no box at all to begin with.”
There you go, finally. Aana idhellam paththaadhu.
Looking at how the current kids in TFM are laboring away on their keyboards to construct a passable tune you feel it is safe to say that the art of setting tune to lyrics (or vice-versa) and the art of playback singing are both museum art as of now.
The musical era we live in now, can best be summarized like this:
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Bala
July 22, 2015
Would up vote Madan’s last couple comments a few hundred times more if possible. Love as I do the songs from that era, I have to nod my head in agreement to some of his points. Especially about tamizh songs being more complex (can’t comment about elegance) but loud-seeming and of Hindi songs of that era being more pleasing. (Never have I felt this more as I try to record songs to serenade the wife with and find my already limited voice cracking under the strain 😛 – hardly a scientific way of testing complexity of course). I guess this is also about having been exposed to more Hindi music of that era as a child. (partly due to there being no cable tv in our house till much later – most of my knowledge of songs comes from Vividh bharati, Chitrahaar and Rangoli. Tamizh only had Oliyum Oliyum no ? 🙂 ) I dare say my dad would have a more balanced opinion, having grown up in that era and being a MGR-devotee but also an admirer of Rafi and Kishore.
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brangan
July 22, 2015
I don’t know about Tamil songs being more “complex”. To take the Raagangal padhinaaru example, it follows a clean aadhi taalam. We shouldn’t be comparing this to Aane wala pal, despite the situation/film. We should be comparing this to a Salil C number, say — then we’ll see how relatively not-complex-to-sing this is. Of course, the musical ideas are complex — I’m just saying they don’t necessarily come in the way of one with a decent voice being able to hum the song.
About high pitch, I’m surprised there’s such resistance. It’s a way of singing, meant to show off / showcase the voice — you find it all over opera, where the high-pitched portions aren’t so that we can sing along but so that we can marvel at things like breath control and voice production (head voice versus chest voice etc.).
For me, as long as the singer can carry it off, I don’t mind high pitch at all. P Susheela was brilliant at handling high pitches. (Check the MSV song below.) S Janaki wasn’t. So it’s just about the voice for me.
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rothrocks
July 22, 2015
I will get to Vijay’s comment later. BRangan, about opera, that is exactly the point. We listen to marvel at the technical accomplishment of the singers. I have listened to lots of recordings of the greats, even some of the older singers like Bjorling. But it doesn’t grab me emotionally. In the same way I can certainly admire TMS’s singing from a technical standpoint. But if I have to relate to singing that high pitched, I want it breezy, not so forceful and vehement. I have no problem at all with PS because she has a light soprano voice.
Now coming to complexity, sure Salilda’s songs could be even more complex. And he never enjoyed the popularity of SJ, OP Nayyar, the Burmans. It’s not that Ragangal is hyper complex, not much is for a prog rock listener. 😛 It’s just the kind of song that doesn’t get straight to the point the way Aanewala Pal does. If I have to like a song to desert island levels, it has to really grab me. Otherwise…yeah it’s a nice enough song. I actually brought up the issue of complexity because the fact that MSV’s tunes in the 70s got more complex was presented as an argument in his favour. I am saying, complexity is not the be all end all. Just the song being more complex doesn’t make it better. It ultimately boils down to tastes.
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Neena
July 22, 2015
Thanks, BR. But, I was actually making the opposite argument – that a complex song is not necessarily alienating just as a simple song is not necessarily less of an accomplishment. And I don’t have a problem with high pitch – just that it seemed to be the only way female voices were expected to sing in order to be considered melodious in a certain era and that was frustrating.
Madan & rothrocks: Obviously, we all have personal preferences and I can’t claim to be a big fan of TMS myself, just as I don’t find Sushila’s voice as sweet as it is supposed to be. SPB is who rocks my boat. But, in many MGR songs particularly, TMS’s voice seems to bring an element of life, joy, passion (that MGR portrayed on screen) and makes the songs connect to you at an emotional level. It is to the generalisation that Tamil songs are more complex and hence less mellifluous or that TMS is loud and hence less enjoyable that I object to.
A voice or a composition may connect to a variety of emotions – I know someone who has a particular preference for melancholy. Angst is perhaps another popular film song emotion – Aaromale, Evano Oruvan being popular examples. Mellifluousness is not quite an emotional connect to me, just as boisterousness may not quite touch you. When I first heard ‘chinnanjiru ragasiyame’ with the scene in OKK, I thought it was OTT for the set up and the setting. But, listening to the full song later, I could connect to its sexual build up and crescendo. A complex song requiring more attention in order to be appreciated doesn’t mean that it is only a technical appreciation, it still requires and could achieve an emotional connect,
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Neena
July 22, 2015
BR: about books, I can totally relate to what you say. If you want to tell people a story, why would you want to make it less accessible to them? I suppose if your thoughts and ideas were so complicated that you couldn’t find the most lucid way to express them, then you just do it as best as you can using the language you have. And that could be difficult for some readers.
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brangan
July 22, 2015
Neena: I wasn’t talking about incompetence but about the postmodern approach where people don’t necessarily expect an emotional response — there are other satisfactions to be had.
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aparna
July 22, 2015
@Neena “If you want to tell people a story, why would you want to make it less accessible to them?”
To win a Booker? 😉
@Brangan Moving tribute, bits there that took me to my childhood, thank you for that. The song links and the discussion beneath are lovely too : again, a lot of nostalgia there, songs that are familiar from my childhood but that I had forgotten.
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Madan
July 22, 2015
It is to the generalisation that Tamil songs are more complex and hence less mellifluous or that TMS is loud and hence less enjoyable that I object to.
just as boisterousness may not quite touch you.
A complex song requiring more attention in order to be appreciated doesn’t mean that it is only a technical appreciation, it still requires and could achieve an emotional connect
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Madan
July 22, 2015
OK, having read Vijay’s comment again, I don’t think there is anything further to add. There is a difference between loud SONGS and a relative loudness in the singing approach. If that nuance resonates with you, fine, otherwise, to each his own. It’s not a big deal either which way. But…
You mentioned Naan enbadhu, its a nice song and all that. But Arunmozhi? for Kamal? How to name it? Nothing but kodumai.
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Neena
July 22, 2015
Aparna: ha ha, of course. Just to be clear, I wasn’t referring to Arundhati Roy, if that’s who your comment referred to! I was just going to say – the repetitive phrases in God of Small Things was grating at first, as if it was trying to be cute or something. But, as the story progressed it started appearing from a child’s eye view, perhaps due to the writing style. But, creative liberties in other works, I haven’t been drawn to so much.
BR: yeah, I understood that. It is such writing I wonder about – but I guess narrative is crass in the post-modern school of thought.
Sure, Madan. So, what you are really saying is only that you find TMS not enjoyable. Breezy delivery of boisterousness doesn’t work for me! Also, you seem to be suggesting that pop should be ‘light’ and so, the TMS kind of tenor doesn’t work for it. But, I am not sure Indian film music can necessarily be classified as ‘pop’. Yes, it is popular. But, it is ‘light’ music only in that it needn’t follow the rules of classical music, I thought.
I am not all that knowledgeable about music or writing and their appreciation/critique. So, I’m going to stop talking about things I don’t fully understand now 🙂
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Tambi Dude
July 22, 2015
@Madan: I could never understand the various categories of rock and I had to look up for the definition of prog rock. Turned out that bands I like (Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues) are part of it.
In desi world, SEL have shown the ability to compose rock numbers very well, some of it are quite complex.
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vijay
July 22, 2015
It is not so much as complexity as much as it was a touch of unpredictability in the way the tune flowed. MSV’s tunes for that matter, never seemed to have any show-offy complexity built into it.
So complexity might not be the right word for me. However I can understand how somebody brought up on RDB’s tunes can find MSV “complex”. Different styles. Whether we vibe with something like this or not could be a matter of taste, but I think we would all at least somewhat agree that a predictable tune/rhythm structure gets boring pretty quick. Think Harris Jayaraj. He cannot sustain my attention for more than 10-15 mins at a stretch in any listening session. Epitome of elevator music.
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vijay
July 22, 2015
Some more from MSV’s so-called lean period. How many of you have heard this?
and even though you could pick a different song everytime you listened to Ninaithaale Inikkum, of late it is this relatively less popular song that fascinates me
The guitar bit after aanandha thaandavamo and the mirudhangam….
and since I mentioned about MSV/RDB contrast in approach, cant help but mention this very rare instance of RDB reusing part of a MSV folkish classic in Hindi
Muthu kulikka vareegaLa
the hindi remake:
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Padhma
July 23, 2015
BR & Akhilan, I totally get what BR said here. It was the same kind of “losing one of your roots” feeling that I got when I heard about KB’s demise. And, I misted up too, as BR mentioned here. I just wasn’t able to articulate it this well at that time, and I thank BR for that. Had a similar feeling with MSV too, although not as strong as it hit me with KB.
Akhilan, I guess you would get there some day too…
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Madan
July 23, 2015
you seem to be suggesting that pop should be ‘light’ and so, the TMS kind of tenor doesn’t work for it. But, I am not sure Indian film music can necessarily be classified as ‘pop’.
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Madan
July 23, 2015
When I say breezy boisterousness, I have something like this in mind:
Rafi is using his full output in this song but it still sounds light. It’s basically the character of his voice.
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rothrocks
July 23, 2015
@tambidude: Those are great bands. They are considered the gateway bands of prog. King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Genesis (mainly the Gabriel led albums), Gentle Giant, these are more hardcore prog rock bands.
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Shankar
July 23, 2015
Since we have this minor digression about prog rock, let me throw in some trivia about one of my fav bands…Rush. Did you know YYZ is the airport code for Toronto Pearson International airport, the closest airport to Rush’s hometown? Apparently, when Alex Lifeson was flying them in on their private aircraft into Toronto, the navigation radio system at the airport, back in those days, was beeping the airport identifier YYZ in Morse code to the aircraft. That code is the rhythm with which the song starts…the initial cymbal bells, the keyboard riffs before the drum roll takes it into the main melody….they are just playing YYZ in Morse code! How cool is that? 🙂
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Tambi Dude
July 23, 2015
This is not an easy song to sing:
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Madan
July 23, 2015
Shankar: Speaking of Rush, you can hear a La Villa Strangiato-esque bassline in the second interlude of Naan Thedum Sevanthi Poovithu.
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Ram Murali
July 23, 2015
One of the other things that I admired about MSV is how warm he seemed in his interviews when posed questions on other music directors. He had very nice things to say about the likes of Raja and ARR and sounded very genuine, I thought. Actor Vivekh once mentioned that when he had asked MSV on his favorite composition of Ilayaraja’s, MSV mentioned, “Apdi Paakarthu Na Venaam” from “Ivan.” Vivekh surmised that it may have got to do with the style of that song reminding MSV of his own work. Any thoughts on that?
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Rahini David
July 24, 2015
Anuja: Don’t be hard on yourself for even if you had bothered to read the credits in Jaya Max, Sun Music etc, what is the guarantee that they would have been correct? I have seen “Oru Kadhal Devathai” being amoung Illayaraja hits even thought it is a Shankar Ganesh song.
It is one thing that many people associate 80s with Illayaraja only, but to see television channels themselves do this is sad.
I have seen the lyrics of Vaali or Pattukottai be attributed to Kannadhasan too (not on TV, but if you ask someone who the songwriter is). So much so that I stopped being so awed by Kannadhasan as I used to be. Yes, he was very good. No doubt about it. But sometimes it is just not him.
I have seen the lines “You know that it’s a fool who plays it cool, By making his world a little colder” be attributed to John Lennon too. It is officially credited as a Lennon-McCartney song, but it does not even seem to be a song Lennon particularly liked.
If this is the case with people who release work in their own name, then imagine the plight of those who continue to be “Assistants”.
Regarding the other discussion: Often I have heard that music has no boundaries, lanuage etc but I have never felt this to be true. I have tried listening to the Hindi songs embedded in this page and in that page where the piano songs were all the rage. I could not connect to them one wee bit. Which is not an insult to the songs themselves but my own ability to listen to them. It is not about the my inablilty to understand the lyrics themselves. I find listening to Malayalam songs a much more satisfying experience, whether or not I understand the lyrics properly. I guess it all boils down to Home Music. Music maynot have the same boundaries as Language, but Music does seem to have its own boundaries.
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Karthik
July 24, 2015
Brangan, I’m mighty glad you chose to include Ninaithale inikkum in your write up— oh! What an album! The transition from Pallavi to Charanam and back in Barathi Kannama… an almost psychedelic ode to the Beatles in Engeyum Eppodhum…. the Sinhala Bayila sounds in Inimai Nirantha….. and of course, everyone and everything was let loose in Sambho Siva Sambho…… oh MSV! Un Aayul Thonnuru…(un paatu) Ennalum Pathinaaru!
Ninaithale Inikkum!
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Madan
July 25, 2015
Rahini: Yup. Language may not be a barrier to music but the music that one listens to in childhood can shape one’s sensibilities in a big way. Of course I recognise this as a needless barrier to exploring more music and have appreciated a lot of genres of music that have next to nothing in common with what I heard in my childhood. But when it boils down to what I like the most, it has something to do with the way my sensibilities were shaped in my formative years.
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aparna
July 25, 2015
Absolutely agree with that, Madan. Having heard mostly only Tamil, Hindi and English songs (and not much of Malayalam songs) in my formative years, I find (a little to my distress) that I am less moved by Malayalam songs (with some very few exceptions) while the former, even new songs in those languages (not just the old ones which of course come with the added charm of nostalgia ) still have the power to move me.
Except perhaps in the very early days, most of their songs were almost exclusively by either Lennon or McCartney, but attributed to both, this was part of an agreement that they had. “Hey Jude” too is mostly McCartney but its said Lennon had a tiny contribution : the bit about “the movement you need is on your shoulder”. McCartney wanted to scrap that but Lennon felt it should be included, so it was.
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Shankar
July 25, 2015
Why would someone down vote a piece of trivia? Beats me!
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Madan
July 25, 2015
Aparna: According to a Beatles book I have read, a lot of their songs would be started by one of the two and finished by the other. So, We can work it out for eg essentially exudes Macca’s trademark optimism while the lines “life is very short/and there’s no time…” are by Lennon, expressing his anxiety as the man who was always haunted by the question of the human condition. The last few albums probably had them going more and more their separate ways as intra-band relations broke down. It’s amazing to read but they did in fact have the confidence to pick up the other guy’s song, make sense of it and then take it forward.
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Madan
July 25, 2015
I wouldn’t say that I don’t like MSV’s music. But my efforts to explain that I like it more with my brain than my heart seem to have been construed to mean I don’t like it at all. It is a bit difficult not to like any aspect of music of that quality.
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aparna
July 25, 2015
It maybe a mistake, Shankar. The like and vote buttons are so close together and the device you use is sometimes small. 🙂
The sensibilities thingie, it however doesn’t seem to work that way for movies or books, only for music. While those books/ movies you see in the formative years do leave a huge impression on your mind, more than at any other period in your life, it doesn’t seem to affect one’s ability to appreciate other kind of books or movies when older : on the contrary, one’s taste evolves and changes over the years. At least that’s how it is for me.
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vijay
July 25, 2015
IR, holding a tribute concert for MS
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/ilayaraja-to-perform-msv-songs-in-a-tribute-concert/article7449577.ece
Difficult to see the likes of these again. The relationship they shared, the mutual respect, the rare collaborations (cant imagine a big current day MD co-composing with a big legend from a bygone era), the priceless pieces.
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brangan
July 26, 2015
Added the lovely illustration that was published in the print version of this article.
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Tambi Dude
July 26, 2015
@vijay: What about the relationship between IR and ARR?
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Tambi Dude
July 26, 2015
How many movies did MSV compose music for ? The numbers vary astonishingly, going anywhere from 700 to 1700 :-).
Long time back this was discussed in TFM web site and few opined it is like 350.
Why is that MSV movies are not cataloged? Should be easy to prove.
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
July 26, 2015
I’d put it to around 700-750. His official website (link opens on any browser but is operable only on Internet Explorer) says 711 (dubbed included with Tamil, non-Tamil and non-filmy albums):
http://www.msvtimes.com/journey/filmography.html
Roughly 500+ Tamil films separately and around 100 with TKR. Quite a lot of the reports get his solo numbers right but in my considered view overshoot his numbers with TKR massively from 500-700, putting the number of films they did per year (they worked together between 1952-1965) at 50+. Hard to imagine that many films coming from the entire industry in the early 50s. I hear the number 1700 comes in his official biography but cataloged numbers in his official website comes up to 700+ which I’m guessing it about as close to accurate as it gets. And it is certainly prolific for a composer with a bulk of his work from an era when the medium hadn’t yet evolved completely wrt realizing it quantitative and qualitative potential in India.
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brangan
April 25, 2023
What fun 🙂
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brangan
August 22, 2023
Been watching this series on Chai with Chitra (a big, big fan of the show). At the end, there is the mention that TMS really struggled to sing ‘Avalukkenna’… and it took MSV the whole day to make him sing it the way he wanted. It reminded me of RDB (apparently) saying Kishore struggled to sing ‘Mere naina…’ and asked RDB to have Lata sing her version first and then he’d mimic it.
I’ll never understand why such accomplished singers would struggle to sing these songs. Anyway… reminds me that — a lot of the time — interviews and recollections are more for nostalgia and entertainment value and not necessarily “the truth”.
PS: I would love to have someone dig deeper into what exactly was giving these singers so much trouble.
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Madan
August 22, 2023
BR: Maybe the producer feels such a story is apt to go with the scene. And neither TMS nor MSV are around to deny it. It’s possible he did have difficulty on that day, “that day” being the key words. Maybe on that day, he couldn’t feed the tune into his system or he was distracted, whatever. Because it surely couldn’t have presented some insurmountable technical difficulty to him. Portions of the timing esp in charanam are also tricky though, again, for it to take all day for him could only be down to the vagaries of singing on the day.
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Arjun
August 22, 2023
“I’ll never understand why such accomplished singers would struggle to sing these songs. Anyway… reminds me that — a lot of the time — interviews and recollections are more for nostalgia and entertainment value and not necessarily “the truth”.
In the recording session they are creating the song. The tune, music director’s vision and arrangements are being fleshed out live. So I can envision certain songs causing some difficulty for singers during the ideation and recording process. Doesn’t mean they will struggle to sing the same song on stage during a concert. But like you say it’s is possible there is an element of exaggeration in all this.
On a similar note I have also wondered about the famous Ilaya nila anecdote of how the original guitarist struggled with the interludes. Again not a particularly complex bit of music…
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Madan
August 22, 2023
“On a similar note I have also wondered about the famous Ilaya nila anecdote of how the original guitarist struggled with the interludes.” – And what the late Chandrashekar himself had to say about Ilaya Nila completely contradicts the ‘story’. It was Chandrashekar who played on it and he said in fact, he was asked to improvise a solo for the post-lude (based, of course, on the melody of the pallavi).
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Madan
August 22, 2023
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Arjun
August 23, 2023
Ha didn’t know this! I don’t know why even SPB used to often narrate this anecdote. Maybe Chandrasekhar was not able to capture the feel that Ilayaraja intended in his first few attempts and Ilayaraja being a stickler for perfection had to play it a few times to show him exactly how he wanted the slides and pull offs and hammer ons. And then, Chinese whisper, basically..
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Madan
August 23, 2023
“Maybe Chandrasekhar was not able to capture the feel that Ilayaraja intended in his first few attempts and Ilayaraja being a stickler for perfection had to play it a few times to show him exactly how he wanted the slides and pull offs and hammer ons. ” – Yeah, most likely this is what happened. Even in the promos for Love and Love Only, you can see Raja guiding the guitarist about the exact chord position (as Chandrashekar says). Arun Mozhi has only mentioned that it was Raja who told him to hit the notes in the prelude of Valayosai with heavy accent (like blowing wind). So it must have been more about the effect than the solo being impossibly difficult, which as far as I gather it isn’t.
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