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Mohd Rafi is the Greatest Singer India Produced

Topic started by Srikant (@ 12.47.54.252) on Fri Jun 1 14:28:05 EDT 2001.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Mohd Rafi - 100
Lata Mangeshkar - 98
SPBalasubramaniam - 96
Kishore Kumar - 95
Yesudas - 94
P Susheela - 93
Asha Bhonsale - 92
S Janaki - 90
Mukesh - 90
PB SRINIVAS - 85
JayaChandiran - 85
HariHaran - 85
TM Soundararajan - 80
Mannadey - 85
unniKrishnan - 85
MahendraKapoor - 80
Malasia Vasudevan - 75
IlayaRaja - 70
SD Burman - 75
MSV - 65
Rahman - 60

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Pozhudhu pogadhavan (@ 12.92.217.98) on: Tue Jun 12 10:32:17 EDT 2001
  
  Modhalla, Mohamadhu Rabi'nna yaaru'nnu solli tholaingada.
  
  Naagoor haneeba sondha kaarara?
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 208.24.179.211) on: Tue Jun 12 11:19:20 EDT 2001
  
  Sugrutha: I agree with your post 100%. Playback singing combines Music with Drama. Rafi and KK were the pioneers but SPB took it to a different level. KJY is better than the three in the Music part of it but is inadequate in the Drama part of it. Since Drama includes knowledge about the role, delivery of dialogues, and expression - awareness about the language, the culture of the people, and the typical emotions of the people becomes critical in doing justice to the drama part of playback singing.
  
  KK and SPB are excellent actors. So they could infuse that additional element of expression in their singing. In all Rafi and KK comparisons, let's get one thing straight - True True True! that some of those songs which KK was not technically competent to deliver went to Rafi. But before anybody thumps their chest, wait a minute! The same happened to Rafi too.
  
  Baiju Bawra - For the final Baiju and Tansen contest they had to get some "real" singers I guess -Ameer Khan and Paluskar(for Baiju)
  
  Basanth Bahaar - Once again for the contest they politely asked Rafi to step aside and give the stage to Manna Dey and Bhimsen Joshi
  
  Madhuban Me Radhika - the aakaar after mridanga baajEy thiri kita thOm....is by somebody else.
  
  So while all Rafi fans are calling the KK kettle black (in the area of technical prowess), he was a pot too. Atleast SPB did not have to be replaced for some "special" songs in SankarabharaNam, payaNangaL mudivadhillai, kaadhal Oviyam, because of inadequacy.
  
  
  
• From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 12:38:49 EDT 2001
  
  dear rajaG:
  
  Well, can u tell me in what category of songs KK excelled Rafi. Looks like u need another list. And what on earth was Rafi TECHNICALLY INCOMPETENT to deliver - eh??? And u want near pure classical songs by rafi is it?? Well,well:
  
  1)Have u heard the name of Dr S N Tripathi?? Yes, listen to the songs of Sangeet Samrat Tansen. Theres one by Rafi and Manna Dey - 'sudh bisar gayee aaj apne gunan ki'. Its a lyrically and compositionally RICH song, excellently rendered by both. And then there is a song whose lyrics I dont remember - its picturised on Bharat Bhushan acting as Tansen. It depicts that situation of the rendition of Raag Deepak.
  And both songs are terribly difficult.
  
  2)And Rani Rupmati has a duet of Rafi with an ace classical singer - i dont know his name. tHe song is 'baat chalat nayi chunri rang dari' in Bhairavi. And then theres a duet with Lata 'jhanananan jhanananan baaje payaliya'. Thats terrific.
  
  3)Then there is kuhu kuhu bole koyaliyaan - not really heavy classical, but can be considered here.
  
  4)Apart from these, there were several mythological movies in the 50s with music by SNT. I heard those at a concert 'a tribute to SNT' by a real knowledgeable person about HFM and CM. That showcased great classical songs by LM,Manna De and Rafi for movies like 'Swami Vishwamitra' or 'Swami Vatsayana' or 'Vashishta' and many many more. I dont have the lyrics but I could find out if u are interested.
  
  5)There is a movie in which rafi worked with Ravi Shankar (Godaan I think) where he rendered such a near pure classical number. And with Ustaad Vilayat Khan in Kadambari where he sang a Mehndi Hassan style ghazal.And with Ali Akbar Khan in Aandhivan in 1952.
  
  Fine these songs are not hits - so what??? The quality is impeccable. So if u are calling this inadequacy, oh no - u need to check out facts.
  And he WAS a concert trained student of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan - thats SOMEthing!!!!
  As far as saying KK sounded good in those Bhappi Lahiri songs and in Sharabi and all that bla bla ...... ummmmmmmm :-)
  
  Well, i'll give u a good list of Rafi songs for LP and KA, if u want - in the 70s. Rafis voice seemed unshaken right through till he died. Yeah, and the free spirit - Rafi had that and MORE. I enjoy even a Hariharan much more than a KK - honestly speaking. I personally feel KK was responsible for all the cheapness in the Hindi film music that started slowly but surely entering right form the 70s.
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 208.24.179.129) on: Tue Jun 12 13:07:31 EDT 2001
  
  LV: If Rafi was so good, why did they have to use a different singer for those songs (and just 1 particular song in each movie)?
  
  
• From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 13:14:26 EDT 2001
  
  rajaG:
  
  well, if u had listened to those songs I mentioned, u wouldnt have said so.
  In any case, well we'll have to ask Naushad why he did not take Rafi for the last song. But do u honestly think that Rafi would not have been able to sing that??? As far as basant Bahaar goes, there are ONLY TWO songs by Rafi - 'duniya na bhaaye mohe' in Todi and one more song which is not by Rafi . The rest are ALL by Manna Dey - 'sur na saje','bhay bhanjana','ketaki gulab juhi...','nain mile chain kahaan'.
  
  And if Rafi was not 'so' (wonder what 'so' means :-)) good, would he have been hailed by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan?
  
  
• From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 13:23:54 EDT 2001
  
  and everyone:
  
  here I am NOT arguing that rafi is better than spb - so please . I am arguing that he is on PAR with spb and KJY BOTH.
  
  
• From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 13:25:49 EDT 2001
  
  RajaG:
  
  
  >>>As far as basant Bahaar goes, there are ONLY TWO songs by Rafi - 'duniya na bhaaye mohe' in Todi and one more song which is not by Rafi <<<
  
  Read this as: "As far as basant Bahaar goes, there are ONLY TWO songs by Rafi - 'duniya na bhaaye mohe' in Todi and one more song which is not in the films audio tape"
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 208.24.179.129) on: Tue Jun 12 13:30:34 EDT 2001
  
  and Madhuban mE raadhikaa?:-) Just remember, they didn't have track music those days.
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 208.24.179.129) on: Tue Jun 12 13:33:38 EDT 2001
  
  LV: So you say that Rafi has delivered songs comparable to aaj gaavath man mErO, kEtaki gulaab, or with sangadhis like the one in the middle of madhuban mE raadhika. Please do me a favor - provide the real audio links if any, for these songs. I will revise my opinion then (of course ONLY about Rafi's technical abilities):-)
  
  
• From: comment (@ 12.5.10.153) on: Tue Jun 12 13:35:52 EDT 2001
  
  
  the title is
  Mohd Rafi is the Greatest Singer India Produced
  
  finally we get!...
  From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 13:23:54 EDT 2001
  
  
  and everyone:
  
  here I am NOT arguing that rafi is better than spb - so please . I am arguing that he is on PAR with spb and KJY BOTH.
  
  
  
  next step will be spb better than anyone else...good going for-spb team:) :)
  
  
• From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 13:39:23 EDT 2001
  
  RajaG :-)
  
  yes, but there are equally heavy taans by him in other songs. Please listen to them. :-)
  
  And going by ur logic, there is only one female song in Umrao Jaan that Asha has not sung. Its been sung by Jagjit Kaur along with a classical singer. So Asha cannot render classical numbers effectively, is it? :-).
  
  And ONLY one song in a Manna Dey dominated film like Basant Bahaar was given to rafi. So Manna Dey did not have the ability to sing 'duniya na bhaaye' :-).
  
  
  
• From: LV (@ 203.197.81.30) on: Tue Jun 12 13:44:39 EDT 2001
  
  dear comment:
  
  When the hell did I argue that Rafi is the best. Please what are u trying to say. Throughout the forum,Ive been suggesting that the Rafi-spb-kjy comparison is not valid. They are equals.
  BTW - i have NOT started this thread - please understand this!!!!
  
  
  rajaG:
  
  I have NO such audio lonks, but if u are hell bent on believing Rafi could not have sung those, so be it. I am helpless. In any case, I have NOT the ability nor the intention to convince u any further about this (or any other ???) issue, as u seem to be arguing on the basis of a pre-conceived notion, thats rather misplaced and flimsy :-)
  
  
• From: comment (@ 12.5.10.153) on: Tue Jun 12 14:43:49 EDT 2001
  
  lv, you have posted about 100k of data?...till date, what is your claim ?,
  
  spb=kjy or
  kjy=spb or
  rafi = spb or
  kjy=rafi
  or
  rafi=kk or
  kk or rafi>=spb .or.
  kk<=everyone who has a thondai
  spb(physical) > rafi(physical)
  spb(political) < kk(political) and rafi(political)
  
  please tell us. please!...
  
  
  
• From: sabesan (@ 12.47.56.122) on: Tue Jun 12 15:12:00 EDT 2001
  
  bore adikudhupa endhaa sandaai..... nothing to beat the IR vs ARR sandaaai..... guys pls improve ur sandaai to the level of IR vs ARR pls.... in fact is there no *naradhar* here ??? still i see that this thread has not turned into a IR vs ARR..... hmm.... very bad :-)
  
  
• From: comment (@ 12.5.10.153) on: Tue Jun 12 15:16:58 EDT 2001
  
  sabesan you left you tamboura here ..take it away ;)
  
  
• From: sabesan (@ 12.47.56.122) on: Tue Jun 12 15:24:22 EDT 2001
  
  comment naaaan konjum tube-light..... i did not get what u said :-)
  
  
• From: IMF (@ 204.50.249.133) on: Tue Jun 12 18:12:35 EDT 2001
  
  Hello all,
  
  All this arguing should stop right now. Rafi, SPB and KJY are all excellent singers. Let me share an insight with you guys:
  
  On a past program of Sa Re Ga Ma once, when SPB was the judge he mentioned
  "there is only one person on this whole earth who
  could sing a song at its real feeling and that is Mohamed Rafi Sahab". All this arguing about the technical abilities of rafi to spb or kjy should stop. He also added
  "Every day when on the way to school (at age 7)near a tea centre I used to stop just to listen to a song - Deewana Hua Badal from Kashmir Ki
  Kali. You can just listen how beautiful he sings" and SPB sang a clip just to show how much magic there is in rafi's voice. He refers to the line "Ye dekh ke dil jhooma le pyar ne angdaee" just listen to how he sings JHOOMA with slack. He also added that nobody would be able to sing it that way. Another person i know also said that SPB would shed tears when he heard this song though it was not a "pathos" song. And SPB respects rafi so much that he feels that rafi is an Ustaz. Can an Ustaz and a teacher be compared. Never. This is not to take anything away from SPB. I also heard that SPB has a huge poster of rafi in his room.
  
  And if you are talking about number of songs sung, rafi had already sung over 35,000 songs some 20 years back and which SPB was able to make only after his death.
  
  I also heard that a few years back SPB set up a recording studio in Madras and there was a
  programme on TV showing the inauguration in which SPB talked about the different facilities of the studio. At the entrance to the studio, above the main door there are 3 huge portraits. The first one is SPB's mother's portrait, the
  second one is his father's portrait and the last one is Rafi's portrait, all hung next to each other. SPB has said rafi has been his greatest
  inspiration in singing and helped develop his different style that has lead to such fame. One can easily identify rafi's style in SPB's voice and his songs even to this day. Also, SPB once said that his greatest regret in life is not getting a chance to sing with rafi. No doubt SPB is an excellent singer himself but he cannot be compared with rafi and i'm 100% sure that SPB would definitely admit this fact without any hessistance.
  
  The same also holds good for Yesudas. Both these excellent singers are absolute "devotees" of rafi. In the early 80's, Yesudas was already well known in Bollywood, with his songs in Chit Chor etc. When rafi passed away, yesudas refused to go to Bombay, because he did not want to see rafi's body. According to him, rafi was still
  alive in his heart and seeing him would disturb him mentally. Such is their respect and devotion towards Mohd. Rafi.
  
  And rajaG, don't think i have only heard rafi on a 4-cassete album or something like that and think i know him only by that. Never assume things you don't know. I agree SPB and Yesudas are excellent singers in their regard and two of the best India have seen.
  By the way, if you want the link to "Madhuban me radhika" go to musicindiaonline.com and go to the section hindustani and then hindi and then on rafi's songs. You should find it there.
  
  
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 207.43.195.201) on: Tue Jun 12 20:34:29 EDT 2001
  
  aruLaracan: indha aaL nijamaavEy mutaaLaa illa, muttaaLaa nadikkaraanaa? ummhum! ivvaLavu nalla nadikkaradhukku vEndiya budhdhi irundhirundhaa ivan inga kuppai kottindirukka maattaan. So my first intentions are correct - ivan muttaaL thaan.
  ivanukku eppdi puriya vaikkaradhu nu theriyalaiyE? yOv! SPB nalla manushan yaa. thannadakkaththa inferiority nu thappaa purinjunuttiyE daa maangaa madaiyaa. yaaraavadhu mandoo aattaama "naan thaan periya pisthu" nu thambattam adichchuppaaLaa? nee SPB Oda thamizh thelungu paattukkaLai oNNU kooda kEkkaama inga, adhuvum namma kitta, penaaththariyE - nu oNNoNNaa udamba pidichchu ulukkaNum pOla irukku. aanaa oNNEy oNNu mattum avanukku konja nanjam puriyara englipisu la solrEn "Ignorance is Bliss":-)
  
  

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