Monday, April 25, 2005

Footloose Blues - I

I am still sore in a lot of places from all the hip rolling, leg lifting, foot stomping, no to mention the pelvic thrusts and thumb licking from Saturday night. Ya, I did say thumb licking and I should have added "self tilak lagao-fying" immediately after. Aaah, stop rolling your eyes. As if you'd care if I transplanted a few moves from Oh..Podu! on to the latest offering from Panjabi MC!

Aaah, Oh.. Podu! Why don't we ever get to dance to the song? I don't know! The djs just don't play this song. Nor do they play Kasu Mele Kasu Vandhu, Manmadha Raasa, Aal Thotta Bhoopathi and Appadi Podu. These, for all you people who think Bhangra is the only kinda party music ever invented by people from the Indian subcontinent, are utterly dance-able Tamil tracks of recent years. And if you think that is all. Listen to Kodithe Kottali and Aatakavala, both Telugu tracks of equally recent vintage. These tracks literally beg me to get up and dance it's a darn new chance and if they don't do it to you, you either have two left feet (which is a shame) or are completely cluless as to what I am talking about (which is worser!).

CM ranted sometime ago (1) that some of her friends argued that that "ppl with class do not like this song" (2) and that "it is understandable that (CM) likes only dandanakka songs" since she comes from a smaller city (and not from a metro). Coming as I do from Chennai (like some of CM's friends), I think that her friends could not be any more wrong. I love such songs and while I am not averse to hitting the dance floors to the music of Panjabi MC or Daler Mehendi, I think that DJs both in India and here in the US have this aversion for Tamil and Telugu (not to mention the occasional Mallu) tracks more or less for a similar reason.

Yeah, it seems a malaise that is prevelant even in India. In fact, you would be surprised if I told you that DJs in Chennai and Bangalore are guilty in this regard too. Girish, one of The Suderman's readers, says that he is not a "Tamil patriot", but is definitely incensed at what his cousins experienced in a disco (which I shall not name here because it is all hear say) in Chennai. They apparently requested for a tamil song. Imagine their surprise and anger when they were snubbed and informed it was "against rules to play a Tamil song"! He emailed me to say that he was once in a, ahem.., club here in the US where Tamil songs were played on occasion.

Before all you guys who visit this blog from your homes and workplaces here in the US, head to the local "Gentlemen's Club" and request Naan Salt Cotaurs, Nee Saidapettai as background music for your whole-some entertainment, you should understand that I definitely can't vouch for the authencity of Girish's last line. In fact, I think he was joking it might just have been an isolated case. But don't you see his point?

[1] CM, I did go back and read your older posts, just as I told you I would !

[2] The song referred to, is Lajjavathiye (sung by Jassie Gift) whose Malayalam and Tamil versions hit the top of their respective charts early last year !

(To be concluded....)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The person who composed Manmadha Raasa should be shot, castrated and fed to the dogs. I personally would kill that female singer of that song, if I get a chance.
Infact, the whole team of Thiruda Thirudi should be banned from making any more movies.
Appidi podu, Manmadha rasa etc are all a total shame to Tamizh music. There are better songs that you could pick in tamizh if you just wanna dance. Evalo asingam da adhu. Kaasu Mela was a good number..O podu was flirting in the border of dirty songs..adhukku apporom ellam waste.

And 95% of the tamizh population wouldnt dance if you play these songs, let alone playing them in dance clubs, outside tamilnadu. Lack of recognition for south india is definitely a problem..but please dont use this an example.

-Prabhu
(That song really makes my blood boil:) )

anantha said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
anantha said...

Pirabhu: onnoda blood boil aanadhu ellam seri. Ph pannaren nu sonna.. nyabagam irruko?

As for Manmadha Raasa, I know u were totally pissed off when u heard it. Pls wait for part two of the post!

Shwe: Ya, thats my point. Its all in fun. I am coming thro with part two of the post in a day or two.

Zeppelin said...

anti mama

sorry da just finished dinner and came back to check...

also didnt read your blog

cheers !

Anonymous said...

Hi aNTi!
yeah.. right point made there!
Kuthup paaattus down south are not respected as much as other equivalents, and that too, mostly by south indians themselves. A case of "Appreciation of the 'Other' genre rather than their own", i guess!
somehow, i feel hard rock and metal music (which I dislike as much as Kuthu paattus, but thats personal liking) are also western versions of our dappanguthu with a little bit of cynicism and psychedelism poured in.. what i mean is they are not music for the sake of music. But with irrepressible zest to sing/dance/head-bang!
What do u say?

Urs,
A-guy-with-two-left-feet

Harish said...

Like Apadi Podu. Hate Manmadha Raasa.
Like Kaasu Mela. Hate Oh Podu.

Can tolerate gaanas from Vijay padams. Heck, I go one step further and actually enjoy it!

Hate gaanas from any other films. Yet, certainly not a Vijay fan.

But onnu... I used to pooh-pooh gaanas w/o even giving it a listen. Ippo I appreciate music for what it is.

Aaargghh, sorry Anti. anyaayathukku kuzhambi poi kadakaen! :)

naan unga post padichutu edho solla vandhaen, forgot what I wanted to!!

Super description of the Oh Podu dance, btw!! :)

Harish said...

I really wanna sample a Gaana from Rahman and Yuvan, though! Still waiting for the day...

anantha said...

Harish: Yuvan is going the rap and Reggae way...Boom Boom from Raam is an example. Read a Hindu interview (that Take Two column i think) of him and Vasundhra Das where he said he was working on a Rap/Reggae album...
Btw, my focus on these songs is on their danceability! I just wanted to look why ppl thumb their noses at them as opposed to a Mundian Bach Ke or a Gori Nalon, given that most of us don't have the vaguest idea of what the lyricist is coming up with. We go with the beats and these songs have the beats, Manmadha Raasa for example...

I am gonna stop comments on this post temporarily. I dont wanna post everything from my second part in the comments section here :p Pls bear with me guys...

capriciously_me said...

reg [1]: ayyo paavum unga nelamai :P but am i thrilled or wht....more celebrities reading my blog :D

reg dandanakka, the lesser i talk, the better...idhellam summa pesinaave kovam varum ;) i still think lajjavathiye is one of the best numbers of last yr...

Visithra said...

Errr all I can is you guys have been partying in the wrong part of the world!

Here in Malaysia we have indian pubs that solely play Gana songs and do we rock!

A number of Southies in India feel speaking Thamizh itself is below class, Gana pathe enna sohluvangehlo.

Anyway heres a post on a night out in Malaysia.

http://visithra.blogspot.com/2005/04/arre-arre-arre-arre-arre.html

anantha said...

Visithra: I have heard of Malaysia and Singapore rocking on gaana! In fact I distinctly remember a malaysian tamil MD who did a couple of movies in Tamil and also had a couple of albums... vaguely remember his/their name as Philip- Jerry. Though I am not sure...

But Chennai saying no to gaana? thats more or less sacrilege, illa?

Btw Have seen u commenting on a lot of blogs, first time seeing u on mine... :)

And.. err. I think we might even have had a few arguments, but bygones be bygones :D

welcome to this blog. Pls come back and comment too :D

Visithra said...

Somehow it always bewilders me why Chennai is embarrassed to be Tamil. Here you can even speak broken Tamil but not acceptable to speak english to another Indian. Tupuvangeh.

Same with the music and movies. Even literature is embraced here. Thirukural mahanadu is going to take place in June here.

I will post on Malaysian Indian Music scene one of these days.

Yep first time here - reason being one too many blogs to visit already, so have limited myself :ppp

We have argued before???? Can't recall. Will come by :p