Fast Dance Songs - Tamil

I kinda hate to blog out of obligation. But when DI tagged me to do a post on songs that are Fast, Furious and Danceable, I gave it a thought. I decided to do it for two reasons. One, it's been quite long since I last posted here, and two, music; I like music just like anybody else out there.

Albeit being deluged with songs from Tamil, Hindi, English and a few from others languages as well, none of them were really of the furious types as the tag demands. So, I conveniently assumed the tag to be Fast and Dance Songs :)

Thought it better to split them into three lists -
1) Tamil
2) Hindi
3) English & Others

This limitation is purely due to geography. And the reason for listing film numbers in Hindi/Tamil is just the same. The first thing an average Indian could relate to, when it comes to music, is film music.

First comes the Tamil section (in no specific order):

Yaaradi Nee Mohini - Uththama Puthiran (1958)
This was a revolutionary song of sorts those days. The tempo increases about every stanza and gets freaky fast toward the end. One of the best dance numbers, I would say, from those days. One should not forget - it was live recording those days, no post processing and whole song is done in a single take - vocals, instruments, everything. There is no singing one line again and again until it betters and later punching it out in a studio like it is done these days.
http://www.musicplug.in/songs.php?movieid=3260&langid=8

Malarendra Mugam Indru - Kadhalikka Neram Illai (1964)
A popular dance number during it's days. It is alleged that MSV copied it from a western song. Nevertheless, a very interesting number, this, in a (female)voice with an unsual timber (L R Eswari) with a bit of yodelling(male voice) thrown in.

Engeyum Eppothum - Ninaithale Inikkum(1979)
One of MSV's evergreen hits in the booming voice of SPB. The movie itself has music as one of its thematic elements - so many songs from this movie were chartbusters. A rap remix of this song appeared in Pollathavan (2007) with Yogi B pitching in with his rap.

Namma Ooru Singari - Ninaithale Inikkum(1979)
Another dance number rendered by SPB. A floor for SPB to demonstrate his vocal gymnastics.
Another song that is worthy of mention from this film is 'Siva Sambo' rendered by MSV himself in his unique high pitched voice.

Madai Thirandhu - Nizhalgal (1980)
Those were days when western music held sway over Tamil film music. A very popular dance number from Ilayaraaja. One of evergreen hits.
A rap remix of this was done by Yogi B & Co. for their album 'Vallavan'.

Ennadi Meenatchi - Ilamai Oonjaladugiradhu (1978)
One of those songs that demonstrates IR's prowess with the guitar. Another SPB splurge - one can feel the energy lent by the man infiltrating you. Another evergreen from IR.

Aasai Nooru Vagai - Adutha Vaarisu (1983)
A fantastic dance number from IR brilliantly sung by the veteran Malaysia Vasudevan. I've always felt Vasudevan is one of those unsung singers (excuse the pun). His inimitable style and intriguing modulation adds a certain lilt to the song, as is evident in this number.
A club mix of this song done for another tamil film 'Kurumbu' was pathetic to say the least.

Kaalam Kaalamaga Vaazhum - Punnagai Mannan (1988)
Typical dance number. Has a fantastic string section. IR at his peak, I guess. Sung with teeming energy and attitude by SPB and KS Chitra.

Chikku Bukku Rayile - Gentleman (1993)
ARR had already begun to experiment back then. High vocals of Suresh Peters combined with some interesting arrangements. Was a rage back then. One of those songs I grew up with. Thank you, ARR.

Mukkala Mukkabla - Kaadhalan (1994)
It was so new and so fresh back then. An explosive number rendered by contrasting vocals of Mano and Swarnalatha. Not to forget Prabhu Deva's antics. What's interesting about the song is the way it ends - catches you by surprise and leaves a lasting impact.

Antha Arabi Kadaloram - Bombay (1995)
Perhaps ARR's first fast number for Mani Ratnam. Sung by ARR himself in his extraordinary high vocals. The Hindi version too, indubitably, was a chartbuster.

Uppu Karuvadu - Mudhalvan (1999)
Folk this time from ARR. Full of energy with a certain naughtiness in the singing - thanks to Shankar Mahadevan and Kavita Krishamurthy

Yakkai Thiri / Fanaa - Ayutha Ezhuthu / Yuva (2004)
Typical trance type for the dance floor. It is anybody's guess that every disco in the country would have played this for a long long time.
ARR's husky high pitched vocals ring in my ears even long after I am done listening to this, every single time.

Pura Koondu - Kaadhal (2004)
Alhough this may be classified as a 'kuthu' song, it is quite eclectic in nature with nearly as many genres as there are stanzas - kuthu, folk, pop, rock, carnatic, hindustani - you have it all. Vocals full of fizz and pep. Runaway hit. Movie as well.

Cheena Thaana - Vasool Raja MBBS (2004)
One of the hit 'kuthu' songs. I think the song's success had a lot to do with a kinda raw vocals by Grace Karunas. (It is for the same reason Manmada Raasa was a hit - Malathy's vocals; so raw for a female voice). Purists might not have liked the idea of Veena sounds being used in this song, but it was refreshing. How many kuthu songs can you think of which used Veena?

Nakka Mukka - Kaadhalil Vizhunthaen (2008)
One song that took the Tamil film music by storm last year. The singing is frenetic, the tempo frenzied. Plays at a feverish pace right from the first note to the last.

Other mentions:
Adiye Kolluthe - Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)
Uyirin Uyirae - Kaakka Kaakka (2003)
Dailamo Dailamo - Dishyum (2006)
Nenje Thullipo - University (2002)
Columbus - Jeans (1998)
Kannodu Kanbathellam - Jeans (1998) - a cool number with carnatic touches
Kaattu Kuyilu - Thalapathi (1991)
Where Is The Party - Silambaattam (2008) - rocking dance floor number
Chandralekha - Thiruda Thiruda (1993) - a mindblowing piece from ARR
Pon Magal (Remix) - Azhagiya Tamizh Magan (2007) - a very good rap mix
Vetri Kodi - Padayappa (1999)
Aathichudi - TN 07 AL 4777 (2009)
Oorvasi Oorvasi - Kaadhalan (1994)

These are songs that just came off my head, mostly. But had to google to get the film names and years right. Am sure there are plenty out there I like but don't remember them right now.
These aren't necessarily my favourites, but surely, I like listening to them. What caught even me by surprise is that many of them came out before I was born. No wonder they are labelled evergreen.
I guess there would be lot more from Yuvan Sankar Raja's and Harris Jeyaraj's studios. And of late, Devi Sri Prasad's been churning out numbers purely for the dance floors.

...to be continued.

E&OE.

msr

Buzz140 - Chennai tweeted away

21 June 1009, the day being Sunday notwithstanding, third floor of Photon Towers on OMR was abuzz with activity. About 150 tweeters got together to unconference about the latest fad on the social web - Twitter.
Sukumar of TKF started off Buzz140 with the customary intro talk. Presenations followed. Topics included personal twitter experiences, personal branding on twitter, crazy twitter incidents, Twitter Connect, Twitter in the Enterprise, Twitter for Non-profits, Twitter and Realtime Search, et al. Audience interaction was the best part when interesting and popular twitter incidents came up for discussion - like the Dell $3M sales, Domino's incident, etc. There were mentions of how folks got fired, how some got business, etc.
Tweeple ensured to tweet enough and get Buzz140 trending on twitter. Crowd consisted of a general mix ranging from NGOs, corporates, entrepreneurs, professionals to student. Post lunch session started off with some brain racking tech quiz conducted by the IQL folks. More details here.

NDTV did their coverage jig. Don't know if it's been aired yet. Buzz140 got a mention in The Hindu, DC post event. Guess others reported too.

If you are still in the dark, it's highly probable that you don't know what twitter is. Hightime you visited twitter.com

Some search terms for the uninitiated: domino's incident, tweetbook, egosurfing, twitter trends, twitter lingo, twictionary, social media

My Buzz140 flickr set.

Had a great day. Was informative, fun and useful. Thanks tweeple. Thanks TKF, sponsors and everyone one of you that made Buzz140 buzz.

msr
PS: Yeah, this post is trifle late. But hey, what the heck! :)

Buzz140 - Twitter Unconference in Chennai

Do you tweet? Would you be in Chennai on 21st June?
If yes, here's a great chance to meet those obsessive-compulsive tweeters and your tweeps to share every damn thing under the sun about twitter and tweeting and realise the power of microblogging (as claimed by organisers).
TKF, the group behind popular events like Proto.in, WikiCamp.in, Blogcamp is conducting this event as well.


Important handles:
date: Sunday, 21 June 2009
time: 9am-5pm
url: http://tinyurl.com/buzz140
twitter: #buzz140
register at: http://tinyurl.com/rsvp-buzz140
venue:
Photon Infotech Private Ltd.
No. 2/102, Photon Towers, Old Mahabalipuram Road,
Karapakkam,
Chennai

Meet you there :)

Logo - Image courtesy: http://theknowledgefoundation.org/

msr

Pencil Drawing - The Mozart of Madras

எல்லா புகழும் இறைவனுக்கே!

Side notes:
graphite wood pencils (2H, HB, 2B)
3.5 hours spread over 3 days

msr