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who comes next to SPB

Topic started by G.Suresh (@ 207-172-73-110.s47.as2.man.erols.com) on Wed Apr 1 13:21:53 EST 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I am G.Suresh for those of you who don't know me, this is my second posting in this forum , it is unfortunate that my earlier one 'Has Arr not copied Narumugaiyae' has to be deleted due to some controversies.

Coming to this latest one , We have lot of singers who resembles SPB in singing, closest being Mano, Arun Mozhi and on one song by Ramesh "Rahde en Radhe.." in Japanil Kalyana Raman, Can we identify here who comes next to SPB in terms of Soft voice and versatality. My choice is Arunmozhi , Awaiting response

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: badri raghavan (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Sat Apr 4 04:13:07 EST 1998
  
  most of the songs sung by raja (either featuring or not featuring in the movie) would perhaps be for his own personal satisfaction. most of them would not rate a regular song in the movie. i can quote examples of naanaaga naanilai thaye (thoongade thambi thoongade), idayam oru kovil (idayakovil) which are just awful. possibly good for track but nothing else. exceptions are
  janani, then paandi seemaiyile. ( i am taking samples of both pleasant and not so). this is in no way a reflection of raja's calibre as a MD
  
  
• From: badri raghavan (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Sat Apr 4 04:49:46 EST 1998
  
  spb's long stint and fame was not due to only his voice. if that was the reason then there are several whose voices are more melodious who could have dethroned him from the top slot. spb's ability to emote with his voice (except in pathos where he has not matched his caliber) made him a most sought after artist. his mimicry skills also played a major role for him being identified with kamal and rajini with ease. his other assets are:
  a. his ability to improve his tenor with time like wine which becomes better with age
  b. his refined sense of sruthi and laya
  c. his sensing the fine line between emotion and overkill
  and much more.
  
  If one were to judge his successor on all these grounds, we were yet to find one. mano might be able to sing like balu (as far as voice is concerned) but one can easily discern that mano lacks the other skills of balu.
  
  although that is not the subject of this topic, i would say that even yesudas was not a consummate singer as spb was given the above attributes although he was formally trained in music. this is not belittle the magical voice of kjj.
  
  i would say that the one person who would come close to balu (even though he was a senior many times over) is TMS. recall his ability to sing for sivaji or mgr and be identified as such, his ability to bring out very subtle and deep emotions with his voice and his unfailing sruthi. they are parallels in my opinion, each great in his own right and yet closely resemble each other
  
  
• From: Ravi (@ greed.cs.umass.edu) on: Sat Apr 4 12:33:05 EST 1998
  
  I read somewhere about SPB that he doesn't need to be told the tune more than once. He straight away goes to take!!! Truly amazing.
  
  
• From: pg (@ client-116-131.bellatlantic.net) on: Sat Apr 4 17:31:15 EST 1998
  
  What next !
  
  SPB will rule for another 10 years at the minimum. Some of the singers being discussed here will not last that long in the industry.
  
  Listen to SPB in 'unai pArtha pibu nAn' in kAdhal mannan - there is nobody else who could have justice to that song.
  
  
• From: Aussie Arvind (@ proxy7.edge.net.au) on: Thu Apr 9 12:17:04 EDT 1998
  
  I think Unnikrishnan and Hariharan rank next to SPB in Tamil. I would favour Unnikrishnan because his Tamil diction is better than Hariharan and this gives him the edge over 'expression' or laya. If you consider KJY to be still in current contention then I would go for KJY without doubt. KJY is fantastic with pathos songs and still is in demand to deliver these.
  
  Being the great singer that SPB is there is no denying that his natural voice quality is unmatched and of course his sense of srudhi and baavam is also unparallel...his grasp of new tunes is well known to be at warp speed from his early days. I was told by S.Janaki's husband that even KJY can't match that.
  
  For all of SPB's praises, I have to say that he sings every goddam song in Telegu and this has given him an enormous edge over other singers as he is so much more exposed and experienced. Also after all these years he still sings songs that are far beneath his breadth of maturity...may be he just enjoys it. After years and years after Shankarabarabam now we have Annamayya which is in my opinion not as good as S'baranam.
  
  Sorry if I have strayed a bit !
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ 132.minneapolis-06.mn.dial-access.att.net) on: Fri Apr 10 17:56:14 EDT 1998
  
  Hi
  This question is too early,
  he will be around for another 10 years
  (My wish - Atleast Until I am alive)
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: Sriram (@ 132-ppp-a.tnt02.agis.net) on: Thu Jan 28 20:29:27 EST 1999
  
  These guys out there have almost packed off SPB..(This includes the veteran IR, Deva and ARR). It is so sad. Even IR thinks that using Hariharan is the only way to sell his albums better. Deva used SPB surprisingly for many songs in 'ninaithaen vandhai' which was a big hit. IR is to be blamed for using Mano for so many nice songs which could have been sung by SPB much much better in those days. And now ARR has brought of all the people Sukhwinder singh to sing tamil songs . enna oru sodhanai tamizhukku!
  
  The man who sung 'kanavaa illai kaatra' from Ratchagan - Sreeni seems to be promising after SPB. Hariharan makes lots of flaws in the high pitch, especially with the language pronunciation. Unni is suitable only for soft melodies, ased on carnatic tunes.
  
  -all the above """IN MY OPINION""".
  
  
  
• From: vEnkat (@ lpcat102.oardc.ohio-state.edu) on: Fri Jan 29 17:02:47 EST 1999
  
  I liked 'Badri Raghavan's' comments.
  
  Sriram, you made some interesting points. I was told that SPB himself has cut down on singing. Also MDs are not getting enough dates from SPB since he is heavily into acting in movies now a days.
  
  There is another singer Rajesh in Telugu who imitates SPB. However, as you have already recognized there may be many who can imitate SPB but very few who can sing as good as him.
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.28.193) on: Fri Jan 29 18:25:54 EST 1999
  
  sriram,
  hariharan does not make mistakes, he just cannot sing in high pitch. he brings in his false voice which is unbearable as evident in songs lime 'vennilave vennilave', 'telephone manipol', 'manasa thotta kaadhal thorthathillai thozha' etc.
  he is not a complete light music singer like SPB and i think he can never become one.
  
  
• From: SM (@ 208.236.83.26) on: Fri Jan 29 19:50:26 EST 1999
  
  
  Vijay,
  
  I agree with you in the 'vennilave song' but I feel in the 'malargalae' song in "Love Birds" he doesn't seem to have this problem of bringing false voice in high pitch. What do you say?
  
  After SPB, why does this question arises now? Has SPB decided not to sing any more? He will rule the field of playback singing for some more years. HH, UK, SS and all will come and go. Mano was supposed to be a substitute for SPB. What happened to him? He is overshadowed by all these new faces but SPB continues to rule. I feel after TMS, there is SPB. After SPB? Kaalam badhil sollum. But there is still plenty of years left for that.
  
  BTB, did SPB.Charan sing "deebangal pesum idhu kaarthigai maasam" ('Dhevadhai')? If so, I think he has done quite a good job. First time, I heard, I thought it was SPB.
  
  
• From: kuttipappa (aged 4.5 mo!) (@ prsyb107-45.splitrock.net) on: Fri Jan 29 21:42:20 EST 1999
  
  A small digression:
  
  Dear SM,
  
  Indeed Charan sang "Deepangal pesum". Whatever happened to him?!
  
  On Balu's mimicry skills:
  
  (Caution: I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the following) It seems that Vishwanath wanted to dub "Swathi Muthyam" into Tamil. Kamal wanted the rights so that he could remake it and due to some problems with the producer, he was not granted his wish! They decided to dub it. Now Kamal refused to lend his voice. They went to SPB who spoke for Kamal in the movie "Sippikkul Muthu". It was very close to Kamal's original voice and not many people noticed it. After the movie became a hit (and many Telugu producers wanted to take the same route), it seems Kamal went to SPB and requested him not to "vayathil adichufy" (pardon my taminglish!)! Shows how much Balu can adapt to the actor's voice. If you have any doubt, just listen to Balu singing for Prabhu.
  
  Cheers,
  
  KP
  
  
• From: Sriram (@ 131-ppp-a.tnt02.agis.net) on: Fri Jan 29 23:05:37 EST 1999
  
  Vijay,
  
  Though I feel the same way as you do regarding the high pitch rendition by HH of late, especially when he sings for IR (IR is known to give tough notes to his singer to test their abilities), I have to make a strong statement here about his rendition of the sequence from the song "Telephone mani pol".... "unn perai sonnaal, swaasam muzhudhum suga vaasam veesudhadi, unnai pirindhaaley, veesum kaatril ...?" the high pitch rendion here is just fabulous. To compare with it, you have to listen to the next stanza at the same sequence rendered by Harini where she chooses a different low pitch to match in the same sruti because she cannot reach that high pitch adequately there.
  
  Can you refute? (Also HH's hindi ghazals are so soothing to ears with his such a great flexible voice)
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 207.43.195.201) on: Mon Feb 1 12:54:11 EST 1999
  
  Sriram,
  
  I agree with Vijay on HH and high notes. Listen to Minnal oru kOdi from V.I.P and the Telugu version PrEma van raani by SPB. HH's emotion changes in the higher notes because of his range being lower than other singers. Again, it is not a deficiency. It is just how voce ranges are. I just wish the scales for a song are decided with the singers' ability/range in mind and not as an afterthought.
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.246) on: Mon Feb 1 15:50:31 EST 1999
  
  sriram,
  i dont think so. iam talking about the end of the line 'unnai pirindhaale...'. HH definitely struggles and switches to false voice. i have not heard his ghazals much and i dont care that much about them either. we are talking about TFM here, and HH is not a complete singer, IMO.
  
  
• From: L.Karnan (@ scctn02.sp.edu.sg) on: Tue Feb 2 00:10:50 EST 1999
  
  It is no fault of Mano's that his voice resembles that of SPB. It is also normal to follow a senior singers style of rendering,in the early stages of one's carrer.I have heard people say that SPB's earlier stuff reminds them of AM Raja.
  
  Is there any singer(besides SPB),who can sing different types of songs with a difference!!!!
  DEFINETLY not HH, UH nor ArunMozhi.It's obviously Mano.
  Listen to the UH&Mano duet in
  Kadhal Desam:Thendrale Thendrale.
  Listen to the part by Mano, and then listen to
  "I Love You Love you" from Ulathai Alitha.A person listen to Mano for the 1st time would have a hard time believing that these 2 songs are by the same singer(Mano did NOT change his voice in either songs).
  Listen to the song Saravana Bahva from Metukudi and the song Varayo from Athma or Oh Janani from Puthyia Ragam, if I am not wrong,to see how apt he is with the classical style of singing.
  
  Remember the song "Uchi Mudal Padham Varai"
  Music by VS, in an Arjun movie.
  I dont remember the female voice, but i do rememeber that ther are 2 versions,one by Mano and the other by HH,HH tried to do some gimmicks in this song,i was impessed, untill i listened to the Mano version,so much of feeling in his rendition,which goes on to prove the point that playback singing is actually 'acting',but infront of a mic,something which the new singers dont seem to know.
  It's true that he is not going thru a great patch now, with MD's sterotyping him for certain songs.
  But c'mon guys even IR is not going thru a great patch,that dosent mean he is not good enough, right.
  
  Well IMO, i think Mano is the only singer who can come next to SPB, especially in terms of verstality.
  
  
• From: L.Karnan (@ scctn02.sp.edu.sg) on: Tue Feb 2 00:11:44 EST 1999
  
  It is no fault of Mano's that his voice resembles that of SPB. It is also normal to follow a senior singers style of rendering,in the early stages of one's carrer.I have heard people say that SPB's earlier stuff reminds them of AM Raja.
  
  Is there any singer(besides SPB),who can sing different types of songs with a difference!!!!
  DEFINETLY not HH, UH nor ArunMozhi.It's obviously Mano.
  Listen to the UH&Mano duet in
  Kadhal Desam:Thendrale Thendrale.
  Listen to the part by Mano, and then listen to
  "I Love You Love you" from Ulathai Alitha.A person listen to Mano for the 1st time would have a hard time believing that these 2 songs are by the same singer(Mano did NOT change his voice in either songs).
  Listen to the song Saravana Bahva from Metukudi and the song Varayo from Athma or Oh Janani from Puthyia Ragam, if I am not wrong,to see how apt he is with the classical style of singing.
  
  Remember the song "Uchi Mudal Padham Varai"
  Music by VS, in an Arjun movie.
  I dont remember the female voice, but i do rememeber that ther are 2 versions,one by Mano and the other by HH,HH tried to do some gimmicks in this song,i was impessed, untill i listened to the Mano version,so much of feeling in his rendition,which goes on to prove the point that playback singing is actually 'acting',but infront of a mic,something which the new singers dont seem to know.
  It's true that he is not going thru a great patch now, with MD's sterotyping him for certain songs.
  But c'mon guys even IR is not going thru a great patch,that dosent mean he is not good enough, right.
  
  Well IMO, i think Mano is the only singer who can come next to SPB, especially in terms of verstality.
  
  

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