Two Words. SPB ROCKS!!

As I close my eyes and hear the jumpy tune of 'Santhoshakke haadu' (Geetha 1983) with its foot thumping rhythm, I see the image of the bearded man in a hurry, the daring Shankar Nag in his dark glasses. When I hear the classic 'elliruve manava kaaduva roopasiye' I can only picture Ananth flying his helicopter over thick forests. If I listen to 'naa haadalu, neevu haada beku' from kalla kulla the picture that comes to mind is that of Sahasa Simha Vishnuvardhan. But still, one key ingredient in all these songs is the voice of perhaps the most versatile and beloved singer SP Balasubramhanyam. SPB or Balu as he is lovingly called is the most successful play back singer in the South Indian film industry. He is definitely the one singer who has given the most popular songs in Kannada film industry. SPB himself has talked about the love he has received from Kannadigas and has shared his love for the Kannada film industry.(See video link at the end) He has given his musical voice to all prominent actors in the Kannada film industry including Dr. Vishnuvardhan, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Ambarish, Suresh Heblikar, Srinath, Rajesh, Dwarakish, Narasimha Raju. In the movie Bahaddur Gandu, the song 'gandu endhare gandu, bhoopathi gandu' sung by SPB is picturised on Dr. Raj. So SPB seems to have left his mark across the board in Kannada movies.

Though not classically trained SPB has the talent and the spirit to bring out the most creative musical performance. In fact one of the advantages of his lack of classical background is that it gives him the freedom to be unbound by the framework of classical music.

I had the opportunity to see him live at the Kannada musical night on May 9th at Hayward California. Most of the songs he sang were my favorites. It was somewhat reassuring to see 1200 other people like the same songs as I did and respond they way I would. SPB delivered the program professionally. They did not waste time between songs. SPB would add tidbits about various songs and established an affectionate bond with the crowd. After doing the traditional somber songs, he sang jeeva vene (Hombisilu) the popularity of which is a great symbol of Kannadigas good taste in music. Then SPB chose my favorite "Entha Soundarya nodu" from mathu tappada maga composed by Ilayaraja. The background music (BGM) in this song reminds me of the BGM in nagu naguta nali nali - the ever green PBS song for Dr. Raj from Bangarada Manushya composed by GK Venkatesh. That is not at all surprising since Ilayaraja arranged the music for over 200 Kannada films as an assistant to GKV.

During the program SPB did sing many melodious songs including 'jotheyali jothe jotheyali(Geetha), ‘naguva nayana’ (Pallavi Anu Pallavi). They were all melodious and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I love SPB for his jovial and cool spirit which he brings into some of his songs. I feel SPB is the only singer who has established a type of singing which is very original and creative. It is not just his musical ability I am talking about here. It is his ability to innovate in singing which is so distinctively SPB. That makes his songs more entertaining. I honestly feel, it is very rare to find a singer who creates his own style, sticks to it and is successful. I feel most of the singers of the current generation are some what normalized. They do not have a very original style of singing. They try to follow in the lines of legends like Rafi or Kishore. Initially SPB was trying to follow in Ghantasaala's footsteps but luckily for us music lovers, he got out of it and established his own domain where he innovated as he desired and people have simply loved it.

There are the classic SPB hits which are so universally appealing that they speak for themselves. I am referring to Neera biTTu (Hombisilu), aakashadinda dharegilidu rambhe , maamaravello , nammora mandara huvve. These songs are a great joy to listen to. Apart from these, for an example of SPB's creativity, listen to this song from Maagiya Kanasu. The song "ellelloo neene, elliruve jaane" I get goose bumps when he says ellellu neene ehE eHe, elliruve jaane ohO ohO". Another good example is 'hema hema. naakondla naaku' (Shubha mangala) Similarly the rustic songs 'notadaage nageya meeti' and 'teranEri ambaradaage" from Parasangada Gende Thimma" set a new trend in Kannada films resulting in songs like “entha marulayya idu”, "kempaadavo ella kempadavo". There are many such examples including those where SPB displays his talent for comedy in songs. "vahare mere murgha' (Sipaayi Ramu), "nammoor nage naanobne jaana' and "barhtale kanasina raani" are a few of the good funny songs.
SPB also has distinguished himself with his unique talent to morph his voice to suit the actor on whom the song is being picturised. In one of his interviews he says that it is easy for him to mould his voice to suite comedic actors because they have a very distinct mannerism and so it makes sense to imitate their voice. In the case of the regular heroes of Indian movies he says he imitates their style of speaking and adopts it in his singing. This explains why SPB's voice seems to suite a wide range of actors. It is worth noting that he does not try to imitate the actor’s voice as much as the rhythm in their speaking.

It was the first time that I saw SPB live and it was a thrilling experience. I was totally in awe at this great talent who at 65 still sings like he sang 30 years ago. How much can we be in awe of a person who still has the spirit to sing jumpy numbers, romantic poems and who can rock the audience and drive them crazy with his ability to sing cool romping numbers. Two songs towards the end of the concert were very well chosen and drove the audience wild and screaming. He gave a small tidbit about Hamslekha and his song about places in Mysore. The audience smelled what was coming and hooted with excitement. And them SPB put the mike near his mouth and belted in a high pitch ‘are yaarri hedarkoLLoru, bedarkolloru’. The voice shot out like an arrow from great depth and went flying and weaving through the audience. Now the audience went wild as SPB rendered this cool song “koorak kukkralli kere wa wa”. The best was the next song, the grand finale “santhoshakke” from Geetha. It was totally cool when he sang “Hai folks. Good evening. Happy mother’s day. Listen to the crowning music from your fabulous Sanjay”. Enough said. I should just let you experience yourself, the joy this song brings(click here to listen).

Here are some video links which you may enjoy. Thanks to those who uploaded these songs. These videos are really a gold mine.

A Japanese fan singing santhoshakke from Geetha

SPB on the love he has received from Kannadigas.

SPB singing kurigalu saar in Mysore Ananth Swamy’s style.

SPB singing DVG’s baduku jataka bandi

SPB and Ajay Warrier singing C Ashwath and Mysore Ananthasamy’s “Jolly baarinalli koothu”.

SPB Live Jotheyli Jothe Jotheyali from Geetha

The awesome song 'naagara holeyo ammale (naagara hole)

elliruve manava kaaduva roopasiye (bayalu daari)

aakashadinda (chandanada gombe)

neera bittu nelada mele (hombisilu)

Audio

tarikere eri mele - one of the best rock song in Kannada (Devara duddu)

click on 'tarikere' and click 'play selected'

naguva nayana (pallavi anupallavi)

koorak kukkralli kere (nenapirali)

yelu male meleri (Jogi)