Counting TFM hits of IR - now @1776 - year 1996 is WIP - poll for "rAman abdullA"

The 60's styled name and one "Gokulakrishna" as director made me think that the movie maragatha veeNai should have been a Telugu dubbing

It is a Suresh-Revathy film, possibly a musicial (with this many songs listed). After Plum informed me of the hit numbers, I played them on youtube. While the songs are still not very familiar to me (somehow I wasn't privileged to listen to them upon arrival), they're not dubbing songs or anything like that

Typical mid-80's numbers with SJ domination. So, three of those songs that got voted as hits are as below:

#822 maragatha veeNai isaikkum rAgam (SJ-KJY duet, maragatha veeNai)
Sweet duet, somewhat in the 70's MSV mold

#823 kaNNA vA kadhai solla vA (SJ solo, maragatha veeNai)
Excellent solo, #IR_Waltz with SJ doing full justice! I can see how this should have got featured in buses in south TN

#824 oru poovanakkuyil (SJ with chorus, maragatha veeNai)
Another #IR_Waltz with faster tempo, possibly the demand of distributors those days after the popular AN pAvam - to have some kuRumbu song for Revathy!

I don't see any need for "poll" for the next few movies. Let me simply add them here as those are well-known, evergreen hits (regardless of TN or Kerala).

No need to say that the following songs are all SUPER HITS :

#825 kuzhaloodhum kaNNanukku (KSC solo, mella thiRandhadhu kadhavu)
As informed by MSV himself, this was both melody & orch by IR (while some other songs had MSV melody and IR only did orch). patti-thotti-citi hit. This song was so popular in Kerala too and I still recall a coworker from Alappuzha singing that "வந்தாச்சு சித்திரை தான் போயாச்சு நித்திரை தான்" with so much of enjoyment!

#826 thEdum kaN pArvai thavukka thudikka (SJ-SPB duet, mella thiRandhadhu kadhavu)
Exotic arrangements and some great neLivu suLivu in the melody, fantastic song!

#827 sakkara kattikku chiththira kuttikku (SPS/KSC/BSS group song, mella thiRandhadhu kadhavu)
I doubt if there was any MSV-consultancy for this song, as IR had done 100's like this...possibly just his consent for comical abuse of வாராய் என் தோழி வாராயோ

#828 ooru sanam thoongiruchchu (SJ solo, mella thiRandhadhu kadhavu)
Fantastic evergreen number! I wonder this song was "the-other-way-around" song, with IR's melody and MSV orch. Either way, this is the song that shouts aloud about the "combo" in a true sense!

#829 vA veNNilA (SJ-SPB duet, also SJ solo, mella thiRandhadhu kadhavu)
Two versions, both had enough air time those days and later! This is a known case of "almost-reuse" of an older MSV melody.

#830 dhil dhil dhil dhil manadhil (PS-SPB duet, mella thiRandhadhu kadhavu)
How can they not have PS in a MSV-IR album? Thus went this song to her perhaps (and she struggled to deliver IMHO). #IR_Waltz (showcased as Jazz Waltz by music specialists)! Overall, what an album this one is! (Per GA, ARR was playing keyboard for this album)

#831 manRam vandha thenRalukku (SPB solo, mouna rAgam)
Original of the recent-times Hindi hit "cheeni kum hai" The song and the whole album is ever-green!

#832 nilAvE vA (SPB solo, mouna rAgam)
It is interesting that SPB got both 'pAvam' solos in this album while SJ got both thuLLal ones The most balanced TFM album ever I would say (2+2+1 duet for this pair)

#833 pani vizhum iravu (SJ-SPB duet, mouna rAgam)
Terrific rhythm concoction for the song - though the same got repeated for both pallavi and saraNam. Often IR switches to another pattern for the saraNam but retained it in this song (possibly liked it that way). Very trendy and evergree too!

#834 chinnachchinna vaNNakkuyil (SJ with chorus, mouna rAgam)
One of her all-time best numbers, per my reckoning. What a lovely song!

#835 OhO mEgham vandhadhO (SJ with chorus, mouna rAgam)
Fantastic rain song and there were few more that followed this in other movies later

As there'll be no poll / discussion needed for the hits of another hit movie, let's add them too - before we start polling for the subsequent one:

#836 summA thodavum mAttom (Two versions, MV-SPB duet, SJ with chorus, mudhal vasantham)
Both the male duet and the female versions were big hits, often played on public address systems, teakkadais, buses etc. Possibly the biggest hit album among any of the Manivannan movies (with the exception of iLamaikkAlangal, where he wasn't the director when the album came out)

#837 mAnAdakkodi poovAdum oru sOlai (SJ solo, mudhal vasantham)
Superb SJ song, sounds a little bit like IR's late-70's songs but popular nevertheless

#838 ponni nadhi veLLam inRu (SPB solo, mudhal vasantham)
Possibly a "bought-out" song from some non-starter 70's project. Some even wondered if this was indeed by IR

#839 ARu adhu Azham illa (IR solo, also UR solo, mudhal vasantham)
Phenomenal hit - popular to this day. (Even the female version was quite popular, often heard on buses but nothing compared to the IR solo)

I don't think the other IR song (poonguyilum pAdudhu) did have that much reception, so leaving that out.

Let me now add a poll for the next movie, nee thAnA andhakkuyil - that had the 'poojaikkEththa poovidhu' song (supposedly KSC's first in TFM)

yen jeevan pAduthu (2 songs) KJY solo and SJ solo
kaNNAna kaNNA unnai yenna solli thAlatta (2 songs) K.J.Yesudas / Sangeetha duet and KSC solo
mAnang karukkuthu mazhai vara pAkkuthu Malaysia Vasudevan / Uma Ramanan
pArthA ithu pachchai kiLi Malaysia Vasudevan / Saibab / Chorus
poojaikERRa poovithu Gangai Amaran / K.S.Chithra [Debut]
kOttaiyilE kuyilirukku ilaiyaRaaja

So, there had been 4 hit songs from that "annakkiLi R Selvaraj" movie nee dhAnA andhakkuyil, couple of them super hits!

#840 en jeevan pAdudhu unnaiththAn thEdudhu (KJY and SJ solo versions, nee dhAnA andhakkuyil)
KJY version was a super hit, heard 100's of times on buses and it was an emotional rollercoaster song! Set in 7/8 with udukkai & all, it's captivating!

#841 kaNNAna kaNNA unnai enna solliththAlAtta (KSC solo and a KJY / Sangeetha duet, nee dhAnA andhakkuyil)
The KSC solo was a hit and I've heard many times on buses as well!

#842 mAnam karukkudhu mazhai varappAkkudhu (UR/MV duet, nee dhAnA andhakkuyil)
That 'vENam mAmA - yammA yammAmmA' portion of UR was very popular - another bus-famous song

#843 poojaikkEththa poovidhu (KSC-GA duet, nee dhAnA andhakkuyil)
The most famous "first recorded TFM song" of KSC, even though many other songs got released prior

Let us now run a poll for the next album, pAlaivana rOjakkaL - podhu udaimai song is known to me but others of this album are not very familiar

kAdhal yenbathu pothu udamai ilaiyaRaaja
thoRanthu vaikkiRa manasu muzhukka Vani Jayaram
seer vanthathu S.P.Sailaja / Chorus
nenaichathellAm ilaiyaRaaja
yentha vazhithAn ponAlum [Pathos] [Bit] ilaiyaRaaja

I guess kAdhal enbadhu was the only hit song from pAlaivana rOjAkkaL - interestingly, the movie was a hit (remake of a Malayalam hit by Manivannan).

Rare case of just one song hit from a hit movie in IR's career

#844 kAdhal enbadhu podhu udaimai (IR solo, pAlaivana rOjAkkaL)
I've heard this song a few times on buses during TN trips. This song seems to be fairly popular on youtube too

Next poll is for the Manobala movie 'pAru pAru pattaNam pAru' (that had the sweet yAr thoorigai thandha Oviyam & thenRal varum songs)

yE jOsiyam solgiREn [kElappa kumba rAsiyil] [Title Song] ilaiyaRaaja
yAr thoorigai thantha Oviyam [Duet] S.P.Balasubramaniam / Uma Ramanan
thendRal varum yennai aNaikkum S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki
nEranthAn Aguthu vA mAmA Malaysia Vasudevan / Vani Jayaram
pAvai oru mEdai Adi pazhagu Malaysia Vasudevan / B.S.Sasireka / Dheeban Chakaravarthy
thiravAi nee kaNNE thiravAi nee S.P.Balasubramaniam / Chorus

Based on the feedback and my own "trips-based" experience, we'll get those two duets from the Manobala movie included now

#845 yAr thoorigai thandha Oviyam (UR-SPB duet, pAru pAru pattaNam pAru)
Very enjoyable duet and I've written about this song on the IR-SPB thread in the hub a few years back as well!

#846 thenRal varum ennaiththazhuva (SJ-SPB duet, pAru pAru pattaNam pAru)
Another sweet duet from the album that played more times in recent years in my car (than probably the # of times I've heard on buses those days)

I don't think we need a poll for the next movie, which was popular in both TN & Kerala (directed by Fazil) with three sweet hits.

#847 oru kiLiyin thanimaiyilE (KSC-KJY duet, also a KSC solo, poovizhi vAsalilE)
Lovely saraNam portions and terrific orch. - the song was heard everywhere in the Cbe-Pollachi area those days and I guess it was likewise popular elsewhere in TN!

#848 chinna chinna rOjAppoovE (KJY solo, poovizhi vAsalilE)
What a lovely song! Evergreen hit!

#849 pAttu ingE rA pA pA (SPS / MV duet with chorus, poovizhi vAsalilE)
Terrific bass score and fantastic interludes / rhythm arrangements - it was reasonably popular but not to the extent of the other two IMHO

Next album too needs no poll as all songs were superhits!

#850 EdhEdhO eNNam vaLarththEn (KSC solo, punnagai mannan)
Even before the release of the movie, this song was popular - to the extent that Palakkad theaters played it during intervals (during Malayalam movies, can you imagine!)

#851 enna saththam indha nEram (SPB solo, punnagai mannan)
Popular to this day and I've heard this song involuntarily in totally unexpected places - such as a music store in Aluva or a tea shop in Chalakkudy

#852 kavidhai kELungaL (VJ-PJ duet, punnagai mannan)
So-called first song that got recorded with "computer music" in TFM and such reporting by magazines made this song popular even before it was heard by anyone

#853 one two three (Francis Lazarus solo, punnagai mannan)
English song but a hit as the whole cassette - including the famous theme music - had been played in every bus in TN those days

#854 vAn mEgam pooppoovAy thoovum (KSC solo, punnagai mannan)
Another Revathy rain song after the mouna rAgam number, supposedly switched to manual playing of drums by Sivamani after ARR struggled to get the sequencer running with correct tempo

#855 kAlam kAlamAga vAzhum kAdhalukku nAngaL arppaNam (KSC-SPB duet, punnagai mannan)
Solo violin special, superb #IR_Waltz and popular to this day. (kodumai on screen)

#856 singaLaththu chinnakkuyilE (KSC-SPB duet, punnagai mannan)
Very sweet melody and lovely ludes! The song was played everywhere in TN, despite having the 'singaLaththu' word - showing the well-known magnanimity of Thamizh people (with Eezham struggle in progress)

#857 mAmAvukku kudummA kudummA (MV solo, punnagai mannan)
Another fast-rhythm song which is popular to this day!

Overall, what an album that was! For a Kamal - KB movie!

Next is an album unknown to me (possibly Telugu dubbing) - rAtchashan...Let me ask help from those who lived in TN :

malli malli idhu jAthi malli S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
kiLiyE iLangkiLiyE kani uNNa vA S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
hEy naughty love boy S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
machchAn machchAn vanthAn vanthAn S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
nee muththam thanthAl inikkum S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra

Since not many cared for that dubbed movie, let me take it out and place another in the poll.

This one is a BM album with at least 2 certified hits that I know of As I'm not sure about the fate of the other two songs inside TN, hosting a poll for forumers / twitters to confirm :

rettai vAl kuruvi (I think even the movie was a hit, I know kaNNan vandhu & rAjA rAja chOzhan are evergreen hits but what about the other two?)

suthandhirathai vAngiputtOm P.Jayachandran / K.S.Chithra / S.N.Surendar / Anuradha / Saibaba / Chorus
thaththedutha muthu piLLai yArO P.Susheela / K.S.Chithra
rAja rAja Sozhan nAn K.J.Yesudas
kaNNan vanthu pAdugiRAn S.Janaki

Looks like the other two songs didn't make much impact inside TN. So, let's catalog the two super hit songs and move on

#858 rAja rAja chOzhan nAn (KJY solo, rettai vAl kuruvi)
Very famous number and popular to this day!

#859 kaNNan vandhu pAdukinRAn kAlamellAm (SJ solo, rettai vAl kuruvi)
What a sweet song! A drums delight - evergreen hit!

The next album seems to be a Telugu dubbed one - salangaiyil oru sangeetham, Vamsy...not sure if TN people made the album a hit...Let us poll!

yAr azhaithathu kanavu rANiyA S.P.Balasubramaniam
yArOdu yAro nee yentha oorO S.P.Balasubramaniam
manadhilE orE koNdAttam ilaiyaRaaja / S.Janaki
kanavA idhu uNmaiyA S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki
salangaiyil oru sangeetham [nadarAjan kudi koNda kalaiyallavA] S.P.Balasubramaniam
Ah vEdhanai [un vEdhanai oru AlAbanai] Rajkumar Bharathy / S.Janaki

BTW, Anbu Sir e-mailed me that rAkshashan was indeed the Thamizh dubbing of a Chiranjeevi Telugu movie called rAkshasudu and shared the vinyl pics of both original and dubbing.

I'll be posting those sleeve pics in the appropriate threads!

app_engine wrote:#840 en jeevan pAdudhu unnaiththAn thEdudhu (KJY and SJ solo versions, nee dhAnA andhakkuyil)
KJY version was a super hit, heard 100's of times on buses and it was an emotional rollercoaster song! Set in 7/8 with udukkai & all, it's captivating!

Eppadi Sir eppadi? I was going from Dharmapuri to Salem last week and heard this in a bus at midnight. The choice of bus was based on the music 

Based on inputs from twitter / e-mail and the voting here, I need to list 3 songs from the salangaiyil oru sangeetham album (which was the Thamizh dubbing of the super hit album in Telugu, AlApana)...

#860 yAr azhaiththadhu kanavu rANiyA (SPB solo, salangaiyil oru sangeetham)
Heard the song on raajafm.com for the first time I think and later on youtube ...never knew it was popular in TN as well

#861 yArOdu yArO nee endha oorO (SPB solo, salangaiyil oru sangeetham)
Ditto comments as the above

#862 kanavA idhu uNmaiyA (SJ-SPB duet, salangaiyil oru sangeetham)
I should have heard this one on some occasions - as this one was somewhat familiar even when I heard this on raajafm.com or other net sources

Let me now add a poll for the next album on the spreadsheet, another dubbing movie (songs of which I've never heard - I have received the vinyl cover pics of this from Anbu sir and posted in those threads)

Shri Shirdi Saibaba :

jai pAndurangA K.J.Yesudas
yengaL pAvangaL theera K.J.Yesudas
bAbA sAibAbA S.P.Balasubramaniam
azhugindROm anAthaigaL[sAi bAbA] S.P.Balasubramaniam / P.Susheela / Chorus
Andavan mAnida uruvinilE P.Susheela / Chorus
jai shri shirdi nAthA [slOgams] V.Ramakrishna
mangaLam [swamy sAi nAthAyA] P.Susheela / Chorus
slOgams K.J.Yesudas

Saibaba movie and the songs were super duper hit in Telugu.  They became the gold standard for any occasion for many years.  I used to hear these songs in every nook and corner of AP.  Undoubtedly one of the biggest hits in Telugu!!

vss1902 wrote:Saibaba movie and the songs were super duper hit in Telugu.  They became the gold standard for any occasion for many years.  I used to hear these songs in every nook and corner of AP.  Undoubtedly one of the biggest hits in Telugu!!

Thank you for this info!

Just FYI, I'm documenting only TFM (Tamil film music) hits in this thread, listing and counting them based on their popularity in TN.

I think we need to have another thread for documenting all IR hits in Telugu / Kannada / Malayalam & others

As there had been no response to the dubbed version of Shirdi Saibaba in Thamizh, we'll pass and take up the next album.

No need to conduct a poll for "sippikkuL muthu", let's add them here as those are certified evergreen hits (both in Telugu original and Thamizh dubbing).

#863 varam thandha sAmikku (PS solo, sippikkuL muthu)
Fantastic sweet lullaby, classic!

#864 manasu mayangum mouna geetham pAdu (SJ-SPB duet, sippikkuL muthu)
Terrific 7/8 number, another evergreen classic!

#865 thuLLiththuLLi nee pAdammA seethaiyammA (SJ-SPB duet, sippikkuL muthu)
No need to talk about its sweetness, heard the song almost exclusively on buses those days

#866 rAman kadhai kELungaL (SPS-SPB duet with chorus, sippikkuL muthu)
reethi gowLai rAgam was unused in TFM prior to IR but after chinnakkaNNan azhaikkiRan, he himself made use of it every now then, with other MDs following as well

#867 kaNNOdu kaNNAna en kaNNA (SJ-SPB duet, sippikkuL muthu)
SJ does both adult and child voices in this typical 80's IR number and it was a patti-thotti hit

#868 dharmam saraNam kachchAmi (SPS-SPB duet, sippikkuL muthu)
Saddening song but even such numbers could become popular those days!

With that K Viswanath - Kamal classic covered, let us move on to the next poll - siRaippaRavai (I wasn't familiar those days with songs other than Anandham pongidappongida)

yArunnu kEtkiRiyA S.Janaki / Saibaba
Anandham pongida pongida [Duet] K.J.Yesudas / Sunandha / Chorus
pAvam oru pakkam Malaysia Vasudevan
sollithArEn neeyum seiyiRiyA [Duet] Malaysia Vasudevan / Vani Jayaram

#869 Anandham pongidappongida (Sunanda-KJY duet, siRaippaRavai)
Until the internet era, never knew which movie this song was from. However, it was familiar enough thanks to the usual channels (buses / recording centers etc.) Those days the power of IR made sure that the song reached masses regardless of whether even the movie name was known or not

I don't think other songs of the Manobala movie made any inroads into the psyche of TN public. So, let us move on to the next album.

I know for a fact that poovE sempoovE and enadhu vizhi vazhi mElA were immensely popular from "sollaththudikkudhu manasu". Let's find out how far the rest of the songs from that album reached in TN :

poovE sempoovE un vAsam varum [Male] K.J.Yesudas or Sunanda version
yenathu vizhi vazhi mElE P.Jayachandran / S.Janaki / Chorus
kuyilukoRu niRamirukku Malaysia Vasudevan
thEn mozhi anbu thEn mozhi Mano [Debut] / Chorus
vAyai katti vayithai katti [yevanevano yezhuthiyathai] ilaiyaRaaja

Based on the feedback, adding 3 hits from sollaththudikkudhu manasu

#870 poovE sempoovE un vAsam varum (KJY solo, also Sunanda solo, solla thudikkudhu manasu)
Super hit song and very popular to this day! (Funny it got picturized on Radha Ravi)

#871 enadhu vizhi vazhi mElE (SJ-PJ duet, solla thudikkudhu manasu)
Very popular and got frequently played in the available channels those days

#872 thEn mozhi (Mano solo, solla thudikkudhu manasu)
Supposedly Mano's first released song with IR and its moderate success made sure he continued to be in the reckoning for long

Moving on to the next album - thAikku oru thAlAttu - here too I was familiar with almost all songs except the title one, as they got played frequently in the buses in Cbe / Pollachi area. However, would like it to be corroborated by TN-ers :

jOdi nalla jOdithAn [Title Song] ilaiyaRaaja
kAdhalA kAdhalA kaNgaLAl yenai theeNdu ilaiyaRaaja / K.S.Chithra
ArArirO pAdiyathArO K.J.Yesudas
alaiylE mithanthava kadalilE vaLarnthava ilaiyaRaaja / Malaysia Vasudevan / P.Susheela / Chorus
thaNNi thavikuthu thaNNi thavikuthu S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki
iLamai kAlam yengE T.M.Soundarajan / P.Susheela

kAdhalA , thaNNi thavikkudhu, ArArirO & TMS-PS songs were quite frequently heard by me. Not sure about the others.

Looks like my experience with thAikku oru thAlAttu is quite similar to what TN-ers had

So, 4 hits (though one with a "borrowed / remixed tune")

#873 kAdhalA kAdhalA kaNgaLAl ennaiththeeNdu (KSC-IR duet, thAikku oru thAlAttu)
Very sweet number and was a favorite with buses those days!

#874 ArArirO pAdiyadhArO thoongippOnadhArO (KJY solo, thAikku oru thAlAttu)
How can a movie directed by a KL iRakkumadhi director in 80's (Balachandra Menon) not have KJY number? And what a song / melody that IR chose to give him! Phenomenal song!

#875 thaNNi thavikkudhu thaNNi thavikkudhu vaNNakkiLi (SJ-SPB duet, thAikku oru thAlAttu)
Fast paced duet for the top pair in TFM, beautifully executed and heard in buses / tea shops quite a lot those days!

#876 iLamaikkAlam engE (PS-TMS duet, thAikku oru thAlAttu)
"Remix" of unnai onRu kEtpEn of pudhiya paRavai, for NT's sake and had interestingly TMS singing this number - despite not working with IR for years and MV successfully replaced him as NT's playback. (Also interesting is to pick a Saroja Devi song for Padmini )

Moving on to the next poll from 1986 - thazhuvAdha kaigaL (I knew a few songs before but never heard the 'nAnoru chinnappA dhAn' prior to the UR thread)...

vizhiyE viLakondRu yERRu P.Jayachandran / S.Janaki
oNNA reNdA thAmarai poo P.Jayachandran / S.Janaki
nAn oru chinnappAthAn Uma Ramanan / B.S.Sasireka / Chorus
poongkuyil ponmAlaiyil pAduthu S.Janaki
thottu pAru kuththamillai P.Jayachandran / S.Janaki
kudumbathai uruvAkka sonnAl Uma Ramanan / B.S.Sasireka / S.P.Sailaja / Saibaba / Chorus
peththethellAm kaththu kodukkum peththa manam ilaiyaRaaja

App

  Not to take away any of your research on Raja's work in 1986 - this was a truly magical year for Raja.

  In my view, if you take all the hits in 1986 for Raja, he achieved in one year, what other composers took to achieve in their entire career. Period!

  In this year, he had films like Sindhu Bhairavi, Kadalora Kavidhaigal, Amman Kovil Kizakkaale, Aruvadai Naal, Kaadhal Parisu, Mella Thirandhadhu Kanavu, Mouna Ragam, Punnagai Mannan, swatimudyam, Vikram, Poomukhappadiyil Ninneyum Kaathu - he just hit almost every other ball out of the stadium.

  Just this year alone is enough to shut all detractors up.

  No singing competitions, no teasers, no promotions - pure quality.

ravinat wrote:App

  Not to take away any of your research on Raja's work in 1986 - this was a truly magical year for Raja.

  In my view, if you take all the hits in 1986 for Raja, he achieved in one year, what other composers took to achieve in their entire career. Period!

  In this year, he had films like Sindhu Bhairavi, Kadalora Kavidhaigal, Amman Kovil Kizakkaale, Aruvadai Naal, Kaadhal Parisu, Mella Thirandhadhu Kanavu, Mouna Ragam, Punnagai Mannan, swatimudyam, Vikram, Poomukhappadiyil Ninneyum Kaathu - he just hit almost every other ball out of the stadium.

  Just this year alone is enough to shut all detractors up.

  No singing competitions, no teasers, no promotions - pure quality.

Tamizh padam matum dhan app solli irukar.. innum Telugu, kannada, malaiyalam film list irukae........

So, four hits from that R Sundarrajan / Vijayakanth comedy movie that did family planning propaganda and won TN Gov award for that year

#877 vizhiyE viLakkonRu EtRu (SJ-PJ duet, thazhuvAdha kaigaL)
Sweet number that had been played on buses and other channels frequently - to such an extent that a non-native (me) was very familiar with this number

#878 onRA reNdA thAmaraippoo (SJ-PJ duet, thazhuvAdha kaigaL)
There is a Malayalam song "veeNe veeNe" with the same melody and quite popular. This is actually a very comical song, presented in a "serious" melody

#879 thottuppAru kuththam illa (SJ-PJ duet , thazhuvAdha kaigaL)
I've frequently heard on buses at that time period this number (especially during night travels ) - terrific song with SJ's typical sounds

#880 kudumbaththai uruvAkka chonnA (SPS, BSS, UR, Saibaba group song, thazhuvAdha kaigaL)
The song that was perhaps the reason for the state award Another bus-only-heard number those days!

Moving on to the next album from 1986, dhooraththup pachchai, let us add a poll for that for TN-ers!

vizhiyE nalamA unai nAn kEtkiREn Gangai Amaran / Vani Jayaram
idhuvaraiyil muthaliravu kanavugaLilthAn Krishnachandran / S.P.Sailaja
dheebangaLE oLi thoovungaLE S.P.Balasubramaniam
Anantha mAlai thOL sErum vELai Krishnachandran / S.Janaki

(I need to listen to these as none rings a bell in my brain at this time )

Moving on (looks like that Suhasini-Karthik movie songs didn't make much impact on TN public).

I know few songs of unakkAgavE vAzhgiREn were super hits. To such an extent that even though I didn't know which movie the song was from, kaNNA unaiththEdukiREn vA was a such a big favorite (simply thru involuntary listens during bus travels). I found out the name of the movie only after coming to tfmpage many years later.

Want to hear from those with inside-TN experience of that album next, with a poll.

iLanjchOlai poothathA yenna jAlam vaNNa kOlam S.P.Balasubramaniam
kaNNA unai thEdugiREn vA S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki
Oh yenthan vAzhvilE oru ponvizhA S.Janaki
vERa vElao Oduma intha nEramthAn S.P.Balasubramaniam
kangaL reNdum sandham solla Malaysia Vasudevan / S.Janaki

Adding the certified hits from unakkAgavE V

#881 iLanjOlai pooththadhA (SPB solo, there is an MV version too it seems that I've never heard, unakkAgavE vAzhgiREn)
Terrific song, in one of my forum posts I've talked about how this impressed some of my Detroit friends

#882 kaNNA unaiththEdugiREn vA (SJ-SPB duet, unakkAgavE vAzhgiREn)
What a terrific number with awesome interludes! As detailed in my post in the IR-SPB thread in mayyam.com, this song was well-known to me during bus travels but didn't know the name of the movie until I came to tfmpage.com

#883 O endhan vAzhvilE oru pon vizhA (SJ solo, unakkAgavE vAzhgiREn)
Another song introduced to me by TN buses

#884 kangaL reNdum sandham solla (SJ-MV duet, unakkAgavE vAzhgiREn)
Excellent #IR_misrA number. When BRangan wrote about his meeting with Gautam (prior to release of NEPV album), he mentioned this song telling that kAtRaikkonjam niRkachchonnEn sounded like this one Both are somewhat faster #IR_misrA numbers!

Moving on to the next poll, vidinjA kalyANam (I've heard a couple of songs during trips to TN)

kAlam mazhaikAlam ilaiyaRaaja
kAlam iLavEniRkAlam K.S.Chithra / Chorus
adiyeduthu nadanthu varum azhagurANi Malaysia Vasudevan / Gangai Amaran / Chorus
dance pappA dance pappA Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus

Finishing up 1986 with this post

#885 kAlam iLavEnil kAlam (KSC with chorus, vidinjA kalyANam)
Never knew the name of the film when the song was on buses those days!

#886 dAnce pApA dAnce pApA (MV with chorus, vidinjA kalyANam)
Another song which was "bus-only" for me those days. For some reason, based on the way MV was singing, I associated this with Satyaraj - even without knowing the name of the movie and other details!

#887 vikram vikram nAn vetRi petRavan (KH with chorus, vikram)
We got so much fascinated with the trailer of this movie - that featured this song - when we saw it in a theater near Gandhipuram bus stand of Coimbatore! Futuristic and catchy when it arrived and it amazes me even now whenever I listen to it!

#888 vanithAmaNi vanamOhini vandhAdu (SJ-SPB with KH dialog, vikram)
Popular to this day! Evergreen super hit song!

#889 sippikkuL oru muthu vaLarndhadhu (SJ-KJY duet, vikram)
Sweet number and evergreen - even without having appearance in the movie

#890 EnjOdi manjakkuruvi (SPS-KSC-SPB-GA-Samuel Grubb group song, vikram)
Popular to this day - it received probably the biggest crowd response in the recent IR concert at Toronto, Canada

#891 meeNdum meeNdum vA (SJ-SPB duet, vikram)
Super hit #IR_misrA that had KH & Dimple on screen

So, we are closing 1986 and at the end of this year, IR had 891 hits in TFM alone!

Starting 1987 with two super hit albums where all songs were popular and thus need no polls

#892 hEy you come to me (SPB with chorus, Anand)
Songs of this movie were proof that Coimbatore bus fellows had so much stress on sound quality for their audio systems Enjoyed the orch. so much even in city buses those days!

#893 Ola OlakkudisaiyilE (SPB with chorus, Anand)
Another "frequently-heard-inb-buses" song from that time period.

#894 thodAdha thALam pOda vENdum (SJ-SPB duet, Anand)
Ditto as the two songs above and got covered in the IR-SPB thread of mayyam

#895 ArArO ArArO (LM solo, Anand)
Though a hit song, this was somewhat a disappointment to me at that time because of the hype However, LM herself rates it as a tough song.

#896 I want to tell you something (SPB solo I thought but Anbu sir's spredsheet includes SPS, Anand)
Superb vocal harmony song that had the buses reverberate those days!

#897 poovukkuppoovaalE (SPB solo, Anand)
For some reason I have not covered this number in the IR-SPB thread but this song was a hit as well. Even recently I saw this included in some hit MP3 collections. One of my misses. BTW, the director of this movie died a few days back & the news item got included in the "Anything about IR on the net" thread

#898 vA vA anbE anbE (KSC-KJY duet, agni natchaththiram)
I won't hesitate to rate this album as one of the best ever by IR (and one of the most popular ever). The song is such a sweet one!

#899 ninnukkOri varNam (KSC solo, agni natchaththiram)
Popular across south India and not just TN During the recent concerts of IR in NA, this received great crowd response when KSC transitioned from mAlaiyil yArO.

#900 oru poongAvanam (SJ solo, agni natchaththiram)
Honestly I didn't plan it that way but this song fittingly got a "century" number
Best of the album IMHO!

#901 rAjA rAjAthi rAjan indha rAjA (IR solo, agni natchaththiram)
IR meta - popular to this day! It got featured even in unexpected places like a popular documentary on Mumbai dabbAwAlA

#902 rOjAppoo Adi vandhadhu (SJ with chorus, agni natchaththiram)
I lost count how many times I would have heard it even during the walkman-sony cassette days! Can use all superlative words to praise!

#903 thoongAdha vizhigaL reNdu (SJ-KJY solo, agni natchaththiram)
The definition of a "racy" (running) song - the transition from the pallavi to the first interlude is like passing the baton in a olympic relay race and one of the best ever!

From the next album, "chinnakkuyil pAdudhu", I could locate a few hits but not sure about the rest. So, a poll is necessary

chithirai mAsathu poongkARRu Malaysia Vasudevan / K.S.Chithra
unai nAnE azhaithEnE K.S.Chithra
chinna kuyil oru pAttu pAduthu ilaiyaRaaja
kaNNumaNi kaNNumaNi yen ponnumaNi ponnumaNi S.Janaki
appAvukku paiyan vanthu ilaiyaRaaja / Chorus

Adding hits from chinnakkuyil pAdudhu...

#904 chiththirai mAsaththu poongAththu (KSC-MV duet, chinnakkuyil pAdudhu)
What a sweet rhythm concoction! The song reached me in KL and was quite popular in TN as well

#905 unai nAnE azhaiththEnE (KSC solo, chinnakkuyil pAdudhu)
Super hit number that was heard in buses all the time those days!

#906 chinnakkuyil oru pAttuppAdudhu (IR solo, chinnakkuyil pAdudhu)
Initially I was wondering what song is this - after it got a vote, I played the song and then realized "ஓ, இந்தப்பாட்டா" - reasonably popular song!

#907 kaNNumaNi kaNNumaNi (SJ solo, chinnakkuyil pAdudhu)
Super hit number, especially that "கட்டிப்புடிச்சான் யம்மா" phrase

I need to add the solo super hit song from chinnaththambi periya thambi (for which they credited GA in the disc but he himself disclosed in a TV program that it was an IR song "loaned")

#908 oru kAdhal enbadhu (SJ-SPB duet, chinnaththambi periya thambi)
Terrific orchestration plus fantastic melody (esp. saraNam) and a super hit song for a hit movie.

While there are well-known super hit songs from "en jeevan pAdudhu" movie, there are some that need voting...

yengirunthO azhaikkum Lata Mangeshkar (also IR version & duet version with Mano)
orE muRai un dharisanam S.Janaki
kAdhal vAnilE Odum mEgamE S.Janaki
mounam yEn mounamE vasantha kAlamA Mano
ANpiLLai yendRAl oru meesai uNdu Mano / S.Janaki / Chorus
katti vachchukO yenthan anbu manasai Malaysia Vasudevan / S.Janaki

Continuing with the catalog, based on feedback...

#909 engirundhO azhaikkum (LM solo & other versions, en jeevan pAdudhu)
For some reason, this song too didn't appeal to me much (like ArArO ArArO). While vaLayOsai is one of my all-time-big-fav songs, other songs of LM, regardless of their popularity, didn't leave a mark in me

#910 orE muRai un dharisanam (SJ solo, en jeevan pAdudhu)
An all-time-fav classic! What a song!! Lost count how many times I would have listened to this song on walkman those days (despite that little thing not having a rewind feature - used to reverse the cassette, forward and then play)

#911 katti vachchukkO endhan anbu manasa (SJ-MV duet, en jeevan pAdudhu)
Another all-time-fav classic from the album IR gifted to R Sundarrajan!

Other songs from this album didn't get any favorable responses and me too being unfamiliar with them, skipping those sweet numbers.

Let me catalog "enga ooru pAttukkAran", the patti-thotti-citi hit of TN, without any polls. I've personally listened to them everywhere from north to south of TN (besides Kerala)...

#912 enga ooru pAttukkAran (IR-GA-Chorus, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
Title song of the big hit movie directed by GA. Made Ramarajan a big star with tons of sweet songs for him by rAjA

#913 sheNbagamE sheNbagamE (Sunandha-Mano versions, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
First time listened to this song in a tea stall in Madurai with excellent speakers! I think Mano became big with this song (though he had others before)

#914 sheNbagamE sheNbagamE (AB version, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
I need to add this as a separate entry for two reasons. One, was enormous popularity as a single, of course. Other is the distinct difference in feel / orch. etc from the other song and not an ordinary "pathos version" of the same song. So, one extra count for the special hit

#915 azhagi nee pErazhagi (Mano, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
Not sure if the azhagi was a woman or cow I've never watched this movie but know that this song was on the air all the time in south TN those days!

#916 pEchchi pEchchi nee perumaiyuLLa pEchchi (Mano, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
Mano became a big pAttukkAran with this album - getting 6 super hit songs, including his sheNbagamE solo version. He had 3 solos and 3 duets - all super hits! Reason why he is so loyal to IR to this day! (One should see his body language and gratitude towards IR in person on stage concerts)

#917 madhura marikkozhundhu vAsam (KSC-Mano duet, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
What a sweetie! Love the saraNam so much!

#918 jinjinakku jinakku (SJ-Mano duet, enga ooru pAttukkAran)
Too many good things - all bundled in one single album! Solid proof that IR was not partial towards Kamal-Rajini but every one, including the pAvam pasu nEsan meant the same to him!

Need to add a poll for the album "ennai vittu pOgAdhE" as I'm not very familiar with its status inside TN.

oorellAm thirunALu nAn kEtta nALum vanthirichu Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus
oorukkuLLa oththaiyila pORa poNNai Malaysia Vasudevan / Sundarajan / Saibaba / Chorus
yelumbAlE koodu katti ilaiyaRaaja / Saibaba / Chorus
vAlAttum oor kuruvi Mano / K.S.Chithra
ponnai pOla AthA yennai peththu pOttA ilaiyaRaaja
veLLai niRathoru pachchai kiLi piLLaiyE S.Janaki