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SPB the greatest singer that India had ever produced

Topic started by greatest_spb_fan (@ 212.2.14.241) on Thu Aug 2 04:57:19 EDT 2001.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

why don't anybody start a thread like 'SPB the greatest singer that India had ever produced', pls

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 7 04:41:28 EDT 2002
  
  XYZ;
  
  Yes, I agree with u, don't you find it very disturbing to see the great KJY NOT on the list???, KJY sir itha parthaendral visham kudithe sethuduvaaru.
  
  :((((
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Wed May 8 06:21:43 EDT 2002
  
  CHK this article;
  
  Now coming to calculating the number of songs that involved
  Bala Subramaniam as the sole or one of the multiple vocalists.
  It is more a matter of logic and common sense than anything
  else.
  EVEN in the late 90's the journalists, whose articles are
  included in the website, inform that SPBS sings an average of
  4 songs per day (in the late 90's) . 4 songs per day means
  well above 1200 songs per year.
  The peak of SPBS was in the 80's and 70's. Being very cautious,
  it can safely be said that at his pinnacle from 1980 to 90
  SPBS sang an average 9 songs per day (mostly in Telugu, Kannara and
  Tamil, with a sprinkling of Hindi and other languages). In
  his second most bountiful period from 70 to 80 an average
  of at least 6 songs per day can be computed very safely.
  In the initial years in 60's he must have an average of less
  than 1 song per day. From 91 to 95 too, Subramanyam was quite
  prolific. The average of 6 songs per day is a very cautious
  bet.
  
  Now start counting the total. Of the 60's the total might be
  above 1000. Of the decade of 70's it MUST be above 20000.
  In the 80's the tally stands above 30000. In the 90's assuming
  an average of just 5 songs per day, it is well above 15000.
  By adding the breakup the tally reaches above 65000 songs.
  Can you find anything wrong in this tally that is compiled using
  simple reasoning?
  Now this is only about the film_songs. Songs for television, radio,
  for teleplays, and 'rachnas', are apart from it.
  In fact, in the 70's, 80's untill mid 90's, it seems SPBS just sang, and sang, and sang; and did nothing else.
  
  Statistically, P.Susheela comes next to SPB. She has around
  50000 songs in a career spanning almost 45 years.
  M.Rafi, Lata, Asha all have around 30000 songs to their credits.
  The reason is that Lata, Rafi, Asha, all had virtually one music
  industry (Hindi) to dominate, and their statistical dominance,
  at least, in just 1 language was nowhere near to SPBS' dominance of 3 languages simultaneously.
  
  
  
• From: fan (@ 202.9.148.164) on: Wed May 8 09:46:10 EDT 2002
  
  raghu your calculation must be correct. spb was at his peak till 1995-96 when newcomers (not popular in bombay)came and lifted the tamil film music to
  a new high(?)
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Thu May 9 04:20:19 EDT 2002
  
  Fan;
  
  No, no, it was not my calculation, it was a reply to my email from SPB's secretary from www.spbindia.com, send an email & they will reply to u, well, eventually!
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Mon May 13 04:47:00 EDT 2002
  
  Fan;
  
  U can vote here http://www.tamilpoonga.com/songs
  
  
• From: avr (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Tue May 14 06:02:31 EDT 2002
  
  The reason is that Lata, Rafi, Asha, all had virtually one music
  industry (Hindi) to dominate, and their statistical dominance,
  at least, in just 1 language was nowhere near to SPBS' dominance of 3 languages simultaneously.
  
  Whoever said this, doesnt know much of North Indian music or film music. If only people were to realise what prominent figures LM,AB were in Marathi, Bengali and their forays into other North Indian languages. And then Rafi was a big figure in Punjabi songs and has sung for several Urdu ghazal records. And his forays into film music of so many other languages.
  
  Moreover LM has sung only 7000 songs totally, AB has sung 11500 and Rafi about 5000. These numbers were counted by dedicated fans who counted songs film per film and song per song. IMO the figures of even SPB's songs are greatly exaggerated! And that without evidence (in the form of an encyclopedia containing a listing of all the songs film by film, album by album etc.) No artist can record 5-6 songs in one day. And if that has to be done, he/she would need to spend the previous week only in rehearsals. Often a song takes more than 3-4 hours to get recorded even if the singers gets the takes right. Going by that, these figures are hardly convincing!!!!
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 14 07:25:21 EDT 2002
  
  welcome, back AVR;
  
  >>"Moreover LM has sung only 7000 songs totally, AB has sung 11500 and Rafi about 5000<<", where did u get this info from? well, if that is true, not a great deal done by Rafi, LM, AB?, is it not?
  
  I also agree with you about SPB's total number of songs, 65,000 might be a bit too much, but I have seen on Sun TV, SPB announcing, when Bill Clinton asked him, about the no of songs he has sung, SPB replied approximately 40,000 songs! but I believe LM announced that she has completed about 15,000.
  
  
  
  
• From: avr (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Tue May 14 07:33:46 EDT 2002
  
  Raghu:
  
  where did u get this info from? well, if that is true, not a great deal done by Rafi, LM, AB?, is it not?
  
  No, quality is more important than quantity. Singers are machines :)
  
  
  I also agree with you about SPB's total number of songs, 65,000 might be a bit too much, but I have seen on Sun TV, SPB announcing, when Bill Clinton asked him, about the no of songs he has sung, SPB replied approximately 40,000 songs! but I believe LM announced that she has completed about 15,000.
  
  all artists and their fans (LM,SPB included) often exaggerate the number of songs they have sung.
  
  
  
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 14 07:46:20 EDT 2002
  
  AVR;
  
  >> No, quality is more important than quantity. Singers are machines :) <<, ha ha
  
  Yes I agree Quality is far more important than quantity!
  
  >>"all artists and their fans (LM,SPB included) often exaggerate the number of songs they have sung"<<
  
  well, perhaps.
  
  
• From: WN (@ 203.24.100.133) on: Tue May 14 07:49:08 EDT 2002
  
  Can anyone tell me
  1. How old SPB is now?
  2. How old he was when he sang his first song?
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 14 07:52:38 EDT 2002
  
  WN;
  
  1) SPB's age is 55, he is going to be 56 on June the 4th
  
  2) He was twenty years of age, when he started his debut in telugu films, in 1966!
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 14 08:13:25 EDT 2002
  
  WN;
  
  SPB's first Tamil song was "Iyarkai ennum illaya kanni" for gemini in Santhy Nilayam with the legendary amma P.susheela, very good song, have you heard it?
  
  
• From: WN (@ 203.24.100.133) on: Tue May 14 08:28:37 EDT 2002
  
  Thanks Raghu.
  Let's say that SPB started singing on 14th May 1966. Then as of today, he has been singing for 36 years.
  Let's assume the 40000 songs is correct.
  Then he has sung 40000/36=1111songs every year in average.
  That means he has sung 1111/365=3 songs every day (not counting 9 days from leap years in that 36 years).
  If it takes 3 hours for recording, then he spends about 9 hours working every day. Not impossible, but still sounds exaggerated. The figure must be rounded up.
  It becomes 5 songs per day (15 hours) if it is 65000.
  
  
• From: avr (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Tue May 14 08:53:26 EDT 2002
  
  Whynot:
  
  In a lighter vein...what about holidays, and Sundays :-)) What about time spent in family functions, and re-takes or rehearsals!! Remember an artist has to practice a song however great a genius he may be, and SPB is no exception. And rehearsing a challenging song (eg the ones is Shankarabharanam) would consume a great deal of time, not to mention the fact that SPB not being formally trained would need even more practice to bring out those fantastic effects in his Carnatic-based songs.
  
  The above is not meant to under-estimate the wonderful contributions of SPB, but just to be realistic and not unncessarily exaggerate our favourite singers' work.
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 14 08:53:43 EDT 2002
  
  WN;
  
  >>"Let's assume the 40000 songs is correct.
  Then he has sung 40000/36=1111songs every year in average.
  That means he has sung 1111/365=3 songs every day (not counting 9 days from leap years in that 36 years).
  If it takes 3 hours for recording, then he spends about 9 hours working every day. Not impossible, but still sounds exaggerated
  <<
  
  No, not exaggerated @all, 36 years of singing means, enormous amount of practice, which means SPB will grasp the tune very quickly (SPB's famously known for grasping tunes very rapidly, like Sivaji is known for grasping the dialogues very quickly), me being a amateur singer my self, I can easily grasp a tune quickly, when ever I record songs with the music group, it takes me & music group just 30 minutes to record a song, and I am NOT a professional singer, my singing experience is only 5 years, so it is very likely that SPB will record 3 song per day with great ease, I think 65,000 might be a bit exaggerated, but 40,000 songs is very very likely.
  
  We must also consider the fact, SPB is not only a singer, but he has been acting, composing, producing lately!!
  
  Hats off to SPB!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Tue May 14 09:32:24 EDT 2002
  
  AVR;
  
  but just to be realistic and not unncessarily exaggerate our favourite singers' work.<<
  
  ha ha, I know what you are trying to imply, :))
  
  
  
• From: WN (@ 203.24.100.133) on: Wed May 15 07:12:00 EDT 2002
  
  Another interesting info:
  If SPB is 56 this year, he must have been born in the year 1946. The actor Nagarjun was born in 1959. Which means Nag is only 13 years older than SPB. (they cud be siblings)..In Ratchakan, SPB acts as Nag's father.
  
  
• From: WN (@ 203.24.100.133) on: Wed May 15 07:12:46 EDT 2002
  
  Error:
  
  "Which means Nag is only 13 years younger than SPB"
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Thu May 16 04:35:31 EDT 2002
  
  WN;
  
  Yes, SPB was born in 1946, but What's Nagarjun got 2 do with SPB? Am I missing some thing here ?? :))
  
  
• From: avr (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Mon May 20 06:59:08 EDT 2002
  
  Raghu - if you can pick up one song from scrath in 30 mins flat, then you are a true genius. :) And greater than SPB :)
  
  But the point is this...picking up a song already sung and recorded by someone else is a different thing. But in case of a playback singer, he has to pour life into the MDs creation...and put in his/her own nuances, beauty spots and decorate the song. In other words, a playback singer rarely would have a reference as to how to sing which word. Therefore its difficult for a singer to memorise the lyrics, grasp the nuances and sing the song in half an hour. I have heard this in several interviews of LM,AB, rafi as to how they have often practised one and the same song for 1-2 days before getting it recorded.
  
  I am sure even SPB can't master one song from scratch in 30 mins.
  
  Thanks,
  avr
  
  
• From: avr (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Mon May 20 06:59:48 EDT 2002
  
  We must also consider the fact, SPB is not only a singer, but he has been acting, composing, producing lately!!
  
  ...and this makes 40K even LESS likely :-)
  
  

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