Obituary
Most widely known among civilians as the subject of Cornershop’s Brimful of Asha (the slower version of which was superior to the faster hit dance mix version, say I). I must admit I don’t know much of her work myself, except that she made a good song great when she collaborated with Boy George.
Bow Down Mister
Great singer. Saw her in concert in the 80s.
Bhosle recorded more than 12,000 songs over almost eight decades. Because of her vast output and the timespan of her recordings I find it very hard to pin down a good playlist. Her work in the 1960s and 1970s, which is often retrospectively labelled ‘psychedelic’, is perhaps the most interesting. This one – Pyar Zindagi Hai – pops up on a lot of compilations and is bonkers.
She’s on the new Gorillaz album. The song is called The Shadowy Light and it’s absolutely beautiful, as is the whole album. Damon Albarn’s masterpiece I’d say.
https://youtu.be/rY0Li5QtELQ
I love this. It’s like Bill Haley meets The Goon Show meets MGM musicals. The first Indian rock and roll song…? Dunno but it puts a smile on my face.
For the Melbourne show , no posters or advertising anywhere in English speaking mainstream press. All shows sold outs and the big banks had their brands plastered over the programme.
According to a friend of mine, her sister – Lata Mangeshkar – was an even bigger star. She was called “The Nightingale of India” and was given a state funeral.
Thanks for mentioning this sad news @Gary.
It’s crazy. In the UK we know of her only thanks to that Cornershop song. In India she was a mega-star.
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https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/asha-bhosle-death-legacy-iconic-playback-singer/article70853682.ece
Interesting article….
Bhosle’s linguistic versatility saw her record songs in multiple Indian languages, including Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and more. This prolific output earned her a place in the Guinness World Records for the most studio recordings. Over her illustrious career, she was also honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Vibhushan.
Here’s an interview from 1984
She also had a chain of Indian restaurants in Birmingham, Dubai and Mumbai called Asha’s. Very upmarket and very good. Despite being a Brummie I have to admit to being introduced to the restaurant by our Glaswegian mate @el-hombre-malo
This BBC obituary is very informative….
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6ppd0qdp1do
It mentions that she was a great cricket fan and recorded this catchy single with Aussie cricketer, Brett Lee.
My parents listened to Asha, Lata etc and their voices are amongst my earliest memories. Haunting and beautiful nightingales both
I stumbled across this track from 2002 which features Asha and Michael Stipe and very agreeable it is too.
Here’s the background
1 Giant Leap is the debut album by English electronic music duo 1 Giant Leap. Beginning in October 1999, its two members, Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman, travelled across the world for six months to record vocals and music by various vocalists and musicians from Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, before returning to London in March 2000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Giant_Leap_(album)
@black-celebration mentioned Asha’s older sister, Lata, who tended to overshadow her. I think we should have a listen.
No expense spared for this concert! It is all pretty impressive and she has a fine set of pipes.
Let’s have another song. It’s not every day that one sees a bevy of backing vocalists in saris.
Another remarkable life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lata_Mangeshkar
Here she is at the RAH in 1974.