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Thursday, March 24, 2005

SPB : SP Balasubramaniam : A Legend

SPB to millions of people in India is simply a living legend. 39 years, (almost close) it has been, since he started crooning and he is 36000+ songs old. Man, by any standards that would grind the body down.

Doing a mathematical average, it works out to almost 930 songs a year or 2.5 songs a day. Wow ! mind-numbing statistics.

But, hold on - statistics is not the only thing that is mind-numbing about SPB. His voice after 40 years carries the 'SAME' freshness that it did when he entered the industry in 1966 and took it by storm.

His singing is characterized by perfect audition in most languages,youthful exuberance, ecstatic highs and emotional lows, enthusiastic intonation and charismatic rendition. To even list some of his best songs - am flooded with so many of them, which one to choose - which one to leave ? . Imagine, all of this has been possible without *any formal training* whatsoever :-)

He is just not a celebrity, he has a proven human side to him. His humility is unsurpassed, the way he conducts himself is unblemished. He has always been there to stand-up and be counted to the thousands and thousands of charity concerts or fund-raising events when it comes to social service.

His message to the people has always been that music has no language and can open doors that can't be opened by many other keys and peace unto all.

His one wish, always been, to stage a 'carnatic cutchery'.. he has spoken about the desire many times.

One wishes and prays that he is able to thrill the audience for many more years to come and give us all 'The basic pleasure' - listening to good music.

Hail SPB !

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have brought about the greatness of the man very well. Another aspect of SPB has been his simplicity and staying away from controversy. When the famous music critic Subbudu once termed him as a pure filmi singer, SPB did not take it offensively. He acceded to the fact that he was a filmi singer and sought to improve. There lies the greatness of the man.

Though am not so sure how his Carnatic Cutchery dream is going to work, he definitely is one of the true greats of filmi singing. The variety he brings to the fore is exceptional. Be it lilting melodies like Idhu oru Pon Maazhai Pozhudhu or thalivar's fast paced Adhaanda Idhaanda or the completely different Thanga Thaamarai Malare, SPB becomes and lives the song. Singers like him are a very rare commodity. Let him live long and bless us with more of his magic!

Anonymous said...

hi arvind
this is my 1st time here
saw yr post in bbthots
i think he is the most AWESOME singer possible,and who wld ever think his mother tongue is NOT tamizh?
I have had the honor of meeting him personally and he is A V HUMANE human being:)
recently watched Hariharan's bday celeb on vijay tv where spb came feliciatetd him so sincerely and sang kadhal rojavae with him and it was WONDERFUL...sad he is getting old..glad we have a treasure house of his songs to cherish,legacy fm this legend:)

Arvind Srinivasan said...

Hi Rekhs,

No two thoughts on this legend :-)

He has set the bar so high for anyone to come close to him needs to have the backing of HIMself :P

T.Padmhasini said...

Its nice to see that you have a keen observation on the human element of a celebrity.

Great Singer is one and great person as an addition makes a legend complete and gratifies.

Lovely.

Arvind Srinivasan said...

Thanks Padmasaniji

Harshitha said...

He is one of the greatest singer who has fortified what a human can stretch out to with his sheer discipline towards his Gurus like SP Kondapani, Ghantasala, MSV, Balamurali etc and has been an icon to all of the singers who came after him. No limits to him, I dont think there is any melody which he has not tried, proven his mettle at times and occasions, thrilled audience beyond all cultural and linguistic barriers. One should just love music to taste the nectar of his melodious voice.
A legend beyond time and space...