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

OK. let us include those two in the hit list and continue...

#1003 sondham onRaiththEdum annakkiLi (KSC-Mano duet, ennai peththa rAsA)
Sweet duet with some delectable saraNam portions, like I said earlier - reached even Palakkad, certified hit.

#1004 peththa manasu (IR solo, ennai peththa rAsA)
One of the many ammA songs that IR did for grAmarAjan and reached TN's patti-thotti. This movie supposedly intro'd Raj Kiran as an actor, one who later became very capable on-screen (he produced the movie too it seems)

Next album is the famous guru-sishyan, that needs no poll as all songs were very popular everywhere.

#1005 vA vA vanji iLamAnE (KSC-SPB duet, guru sishyan)
Typical late 80's IR number with KSC where SPB sounds like Mano The song was a big hit without question and so was the movie!

#1006 nARkAlikku saNdai pOdum (MV-Mano chorus song, guru sishyan)
Jail song IIRC - not my favorite but was popular nevertheless

#1007 jingidi jingidi enakku (KSC-Mano duet, guru sishyan)
What a terrific song! Though I didn't like it those days due to the irritable pallavi lines, during the raajafm.com time period I understood what a terrific orch this song has and also excellent, extraordinary singing by KSC. Fantastic number!

#1008 kaNdupudichchEn kaNdupudichchEn (SPB solo, guru sishyan)
Perhaps the most popular song of the album

#1009 uththama puththiri nAnu (SL solo, guru sishyan)
Perhaps the least popular song of the album - however, should be called hit by general standards

Next album that should be polled is idhu engaL needhi (SAC direction it seems) - None of the songs sound familiar to me, let us see what TN residents of that time period say.

neethi ithu yengaL neethi ilaiyaRaaja
padithEn padithEn kAdhal pAdam Mano / K.S.Chithra
puththisAli rAjA veRRi mAlai soodu Mano / K.S.Chithra / Shoba Chandrasekar / Prabahar
kadaiyai konjam thuRakiRiyA Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus
chinna thambi unnai nambi Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus

Padithen padithen kaathal paadam - I've heard it on Ceylon radio channel more than a handful of times.  

Anyway, the ball is in your court!

BC wrote:Padithen padithen kaathal paadam - I've heard it on Ceylon radio channel more than a handful of times.  

Anyway, the ball is in your court!

This is some song that I've not even heard on raajafm.com   And there seems to be no support in twitter either...need to pass

The only song that I've heard is 'idhu engaL neethi' from that finderskeepers hi-res collection that came out in the new millennium  However, cannot be called a TN-hit...

The next album from 1988 that comes into poll is another not-so-familiar one, "maNamagaLE vA"

 

kangaLai thiRanthu vidunga	K.S.Chithra
tell me tell me tell me oh my love	Arunmozhi / Chorus
AvAram poovai thottu	P.Susheela
ponmAnai pOlAdum peN pAvaiyE	Malaysia Vasudevan / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
kanni manam kettu pOchu	S.Janaki

Let us see what the 1088 residents of TN think

Played 'AvAram poova thottu' - of course, this was a hit, heard it many times on buses...need to pay attention to other songs too, to refresh memory!

'Aavaaram poovai' is definitely a very popular one.  'Tell me' song is slightly less popular.  But both songs are regulars on AIR and Doordarshan, so much that I vividly remember Prabhu crooning as if he is a Western singer and Radhika roaming all over the village in under 5 minutes!!!

avaram poova thottu and kanni manam .. rendu paatum Radio hits dhan.. radio days..

pin naalil... apodhu vandha local cable.. IR songs. idhil indha paatu rendum kandipa varum.. Radio pola
paatai cableil kaetu iruken.

Adding the two hits from maNamagaLE vA (need to give in to the TN-ers who voted the tanglish song  )

#1010 tell me tell me (Arunmozhi and chorus, maNamagaLE vA)
Honestly, I'm not familiar with this song at all - heard it for the first time only during this thread exercise - but TN-ers feel strongly about it and so including it in the hit list.

#1011 AvAram poovaiththottu (PS solo, maNamagaLE vA)
Like I posted already, this had reached even KL and no question about the song being popular. Definitely heard often on TN buses! Interestingly, this is one of those songs whose movie name I never knew and found out only during this thread exercise

Moving on to the next movie / poll, 'nAn sonnadhE sattan' (It's a mystery how a movie with a relatively less-known Saran Raj got all Asha Bhosle songs   Two of them. adhikAlai nEram and oru dEvadhai vandhadhu were recommended by the lone "recording center" fellow in Palakkad and became my favorites!)

 

athikAlai nEram kanavil unnai pArthEn	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Asha BhosalE
kaithALam pOdum yen koottam	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Asha BhosalE
kolaigal seitha kuRRam yendRu sattam irukkuthu	ilaiyaRaaja
oru dEvathai vanthathu	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Asha BhosalE / Chorus
unnai suththum kAththAdi	Asha Bhosale
kANNA unthan kAdhal meerA nAnthAnaiyA	Asha Bhosale

First time listen of these songs:

unnai suththum kAththAdi (AB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P87gcKbcDY



kaNNA undhan kAdhal meerA (AB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V068tgbQO-A



All songs in the MIO site here:

https://mio.to/album/Naan+Sonnathey+Sattam+%281988%29

OK, based on the responses here and in twitter, we'll take those two duets as hits from this album...let's catalog and keep going

#1012 adhikAlai nEram kanavil unnaippArththEn (AB-SPB duet, nAn sonnadhE sattam)
Had this one and the other duet in a sony "recorded cassette" during bachelor days and enjoyed frequently! Lovely melody. I'm glad this received attention from the TN public, despite being part of a low profile movie!

#1013 oru dEvadhai vandhadhu (AB-SPB duet, nAn sonnadhE sattam)
I'm sure I've covered both these duets in the IR-SPB thread of the hub also. Bus & recording center hits!

Moving on to another unknown movie - nARkAlikkanavugaL - I don't think I've heard this album, let me try to search and give a listen!

 

oru vArthai sollu yenai vAri koLLu	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
raththam kudikuthu kottam adikuthu	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Chorus
jilu jilu kuLu kuLu rubber panthugaL	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
yengE romba thooram	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra / Chorus

Heard a couple of songs from nARkAli, they are sweet. However, the album has to be ignored for this thread

Moving to the next poll - pAdAtha thEneekkaL (I know vaNNa nilavE was a hit, don't know about others)!

vaNNa nilavE vaigai nathiyE K.J.Yesudas / KSC solos
vAdagai veedithu vAsanai poovithu Mano / Vani Jayaram
Athi antham illAthavanE ilaiyaRaaja / P.Susheela / Krishnamoorthy / Manorama / S.S.Chandran [Actor]
dar dar doctor S.P.Balasubramaniam

Never heard about "Naarkaali" movie!  

As for the next movie, "Paadatha Theneekkal", Vanna nilave is a hugely popular number - excellent pathos song.  

Dar dar doctor and Aadhi antham are interesting songs, which I like - may not be considered a "hit" in your jargon!

@sicmafia opined that 'vAdagai veedidhu' must have been popular because Rex sir used it in his 365 quiz

Also, the song had gone to Hindi also for kAmAgni it seems. So, I visited the 365 quiz and also tried to listen to the song (actually struggled to locate in YT) and get other opinions to qualify this number.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiDAFkcDLxI


I will have to politely disagree that this can be counted Of course, it has excellent orch by IR - but don't think reached far and wide in TN.
(365 quiz is frequented by DHIRFs and not general public IMHO; also the responses even there are limited for this number, compared to a typical "hit").

So, with that, I add one very popular number from this album to our count and move on

#1014 vaNNa nilavE vaigai nadhiyE (KSC and KJY solos, pAdAdha thEneekkaL)
Terrific song with a tinge of sadness inbuilt. The movie could have been a remake (like pAlaivana rOjAkkaL / pAsappaRavaigaL, with mukA dialogs...Kochi Hanifa director IIRC).

The next album for poll from 1988 is pArththAl pasu (never heard of this movie those days myself)...

Adai mARRa nEramillai K.S.Chithra
chinnamaNi ponnumaNi S.P.Sailaja
en rAsA yArO yeppO varuvArO K.S.Chithra / Chorus

I remember hosting that 'en rAsA yArO' in the misra nadai thread (thakita-thakadhimi 7 beat cycle, sweet)

So, nothing to include in this thread for pArthAl pasu. Let us pass.

Next one is pAsappaRavaigaL - with that very popular 'then pANdiththamizhE'.

However, I don't know about the other song. So, poll.

then pANdiththamizhE - two versions, KSC-KJY duet and a pathos
mAppiLLai mAppiLLai maNNAngkatti thOppilE ilaiyaRaaja / Malaysia Vasudevan

Not sure if there were any other songs.

I clicked "No" anticipating the non-selection into the "hit"-list!  It is a good folk number, but not as popular as "Thenpaandi thamizhe".

It was a moderate hit as I have heard it enough.

I agree the song 'mAppiLa mAppiLa maNNAngatti thOppula' is quite catchy, the responses to the polls here and in twitter had been quite lukewarm and also mixed as to whether the song was really a hit. With such questionable background, let us not include but leave that out of our list (which is not so small after all, that we should pad up with disputed numbers).

So, that makes just one from pAsappaRavaigaL.

#1015 thenpANdiththamizhE (KSC-KJY duet, pAsappaRavaigaL)
What an absolutely sweet and brilliant number! With the phenomenal interlude, nice singing and a sweet melody, this song was an instant winner - with everyone embracing the song with love. Since this is about aNNan-thangai pAsam business and not the usual romance that goes with duets, there had been obviously less competition and thus more pull to the song on that count. (On the flip side, some who concentrate on lines more than music - like my better half who happens to have a couple of nAththanArs i.e. my sisters - could get a little jealous if the husband enjoys this song a little extra )

The next album is poonthOttak kAvalkAran (IMO all songs but one automatically qualify as hits because of their indisputable reach everywhere)...needs a poll for that one song at the minimum...

kAvalkArA kAvalkArA [Title Songs] ilaiyaRaaja
yennuyirE vA yennuyirE S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
sinthiya veNmaNi siRpiyil muththAchu K.J.Yesudas / P.Susheela
pArAmal pArtha nenjam Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
adi kAnakarugkuyilE [mAppiLLai nalla piLLai] K.J.Yesudas / Chorus
pAdAtha themmAngu nAn pAda vanthEnE S.P.Balasubramaniam

Though the kAvalkArA didn't reach me at Palakkad, TN-ers had it played frequently it seems, thanks to the movie becoming a huge hit. So, this album is a 100% for our thread.

#1016 kAvalkArA kAvalkArA (IR solo, poonthOttakkAvalkAran)
Title song, as per the prevailing sentiment that if IR sang then the movie will do well. Worked for this movie

#1017 ennuyirE vA ennuyirE (KSC-SPB duet, poonthOttakkAvalkAran)
One of my all-time-fav SPB numbers and I've written a long post (with bAdam halwA picture) in that hub thread those days. Very popular everywhere and heard the song 100's of times those days on buses mainly.

#1018 sindhiya veNmaNi sippiyil muththAchchu (PS-KJY duet, poonthOttakkAvalkAran)
Child-making-process explained explicitly in the pallavi by GA Very popular song that got played thru out TN but not many got the exact meaning of the first line quickly

#1019 pArAmal pArththa nenjam (KSC-Mano duet, poonthOttakkAvalkAran)
Some sweet chorus and signature drum work, this song was an instant winner and can take one to that time period instantly!

#1020 adi gAna karunguyilE (KJY solo, poonthOttakkAvalkAran)
Terrific themmAngu in the voice of Dasettan that made me dance the very first time I heard the song! What a lovely rhythm arrangement and other thuLLal orch! No need to talk about the reach and popularity it had everywhere!

#1021 pAdAdha themmAngu (SPB solo, poonthOttakkAvalkAran)
IIRC, I didn't know those days that this song was from that album. This one too got covered in the SPB thread.

With that let us move on to the next album, rAjAthi rAja, that does not need a poll All the songs, including the one that was not on the movie, were hits - even the short ones!

#1022 mAmA un poNNakkodu (SPB with chorus, rAjAthi rAjA)
Rajini-Nadhiya dance number, with one of the interludes having 'rAjA rAjAdhi rAjanindha rAjA' of agni* getting played by a band, typical of wedding parties. Super hit movie, album and song!

#1023  meenammA meenammA (KSC-Mano duet, rAjAthi rAjA)
This is for the sophi-Rajini, romancing Radha. Excellent orchestration with some good recording quality for that time period. Got played everywhere those days and the song is popular to this day!

#1024 malaiyALakkaraiyOram thamizh pAdum kuruvi (Mano solo, rAjAthi rAjA)
Since I was literally living in the same area which the song refers to, felt closer to this number those days. A personal fav.

#1025 AththukkuLLE aththimaram (SPB solo, rAjAthi rAjA)
Short song but even this got played on buses without fail when other songs of the album were playing Proximity advantage to become a hit

#1026 en kitta mOdhAdhE (KSC-Mano duet, rAjAthi rAjA)
Another funny dance number, which was supposedly an "answer" to a song composed by Chandrabose that ridiculed IR's claim of 'eppavum nAn rAjA' in agni*. (I don't remember that exact song but it supposedly had some line like 'rAjAthi rAjanaiyum thOkkadippEn' or something like that, as reported by magazines those days of the so-called-rivalry ). This song got penned by Ponnadiyan but the beginning of the pallavi could have been provided by IR himself. BTW, this movie was produced by IR's family, with R Sundarrajan as the director. Later another movie came with 'en kitta mOdhAdhE' as its title. (Possibly Ramarajan)

#1027 un nenjaiththottu sollu en rAjA (KSC-PS duet, rAjAthi rAjA)
This was not in the movie (at least not in the version I saw) but was still popular, playing everywhere.

#1028 vA vA manjaL malarE (KSC or SPS -Mano duet, rAjAthi rAjA)
What a lovely song with a voice-harmony kind of construct. Though Anbu sir's spreadsheet says KSC, I think it is S P Shailaja. At least it sounds to me like her and she has a unique and unmistakable voice!

#1029 ulaga vAzhkkaiyE (SPB with chorus, rAjAthi rAjA)
Another short song, for the jail setting and this too got played in buses frequently those days!

Moving on to the next album, that needs a poll due to my unfamiliarity with most songs

Album - sarkkarai pandhal
vEtham Onga isai nAtham Onga [Title Song] ilaiyaRaaja / Chorus
uRrumunnu uRumuthadi uRumi mELamthAnE Malaysia Vasudevan / K.S.Chithar / Chorus
mazhai mEgam moodum nEram Asha Bhosale
sollattumA kaNNA sEthithAn Sunandha
anbenum pidiyuL agapadum alaiyE Sunandha

I guess sakkarai panthal was pretty much unknown album in TN and not just to myself. Let us skip it

The next one needs no poll - even though a flop movie (directed by Chithra Lakshmanan, who is now running a vambu YT channel, hosting such loudmouths as Amar Singh), all the 4 songs were popular - let us catalog it here!

#1030 Adum nEram idhu thAn (P Suseela with chorus, soora samhAram)
Extraordinary rhythm arrangements made this song an instant winner with whoever listened to it - just one listen is enough to like it! One of my all-time-fav numbers, for all special occasions! (Even though it is for a peculiar situation in the movie, there's no indication in lyrics or the style of singing by PS)

#1031 nAn enbadhu neeyallavO (KSC-Arun mozhi duet, soora samhAram)
Excellent melody and orch but since I'm not a fan of Napoleon's singing, cannot enjoy

#1032 neelakkuyilE (KSC- Arun mozhi duet, soora samhAram)
Terrific song, with awesome brass sections. In spite of AM, I like this song!

#1033 vEdhALam vandhirukkudhu (SPS-Mano with chorus, soora samhAram)
Least popular song from this album, IMO. Not a fav for me. However, for practical purposes, being often-heard-involuntarily while travelling inside TN, I'll have to give this a space in this thread.

Next album is unnAl mudiyum thambi, another Kamal movie (whose Telugu original won NA for IR, possibly because of the lobbying powers of KB. I don't care anymore for such awards). While some songs are super hits, I'm not very sure about others as to how TN received them. So, poll is needed.

akkam pakkam pAradA chinna rAsA [Title Song] S.P.Balasubramaniam
unnAl mudiyum thambi thambi S.P.Balasubramaniam
ithazhil kathai yezhuthum nEram S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
yenna samaiyalO yethurthu kEtka yArum illai S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra / Sunandha
punjai uNdu nanjai uNdu pongi varum gangai uNdu S.P.Balasubramaniam
nee ondRuthAn yen sangeetham K.J.Yesudas
mAnida sEvai thurOgamA K.J.Yesudas

IsaiRasigan wrote:உன்னால் முடியும் தம்பிக்கு எல்லாம் poll-ஆ ? அநியாயங்க.

அந்த ரெண்டு தாசேட்டன் பாடல்களும் தமிழ்ப்பொதுமக்களை எந்த அளவுக்குச் சென்றடைந்தது என்று தெரியாதுங்க...நான் கேரளத்தில் வாழ்ந்தேன், கூடுதல் கேட்டதில்லை என்பது தான் உண்மை.

Now documenting unnAl mudiyum thambi in the thread

#1034 akkam pakkam pAradA chinna rAsA (SPB solo, unnAl mudiyum thambi)
Looks like this is the title song with very basic accompaniments and was always 'involuntary' listen for me (as this one is not a personal favorite)

#1035 unnAl mudiyum thambi thambi (SPB solo, unnAl mudiyum thambi)
Quite popular and was played frequently on radio, buses and tea shops. However, I'm not sure if people craved for it and recorded in their cassettes that much.

#1036 idhazhil kadhai ezhudhum (KSC-SPB duet, unnAl mudiyum thambi)
Not just the most favorite of the album, this song is a huge favorite among all of IR's works

#1037 enna samaiyalO (Sunanda-KSC-SPB, unnAl mudiyum thambi)
samaiththuppArungaL of maNippur mAmiyar re-done, played frequently on radios and other mass media those days.

#1038 punjai uNdu nanjai uNdu (SPB solo, unnAl mudiyum thambi)
Nice song with a lot of motivational lines. Quite popular as well!

#1039 mAnida sEvai dhrOgamA (KJY, unnAl mudiyum thambi)
Seems to be a well-known among TN-ers (going by the poll results and feedback). This too reached them reasonably well it appears (while the other KJY song did not and cannot be included)

The next album does not need a poll as all songs were hits - some of them super hits and are popular to this day - varusham 16

#1040 pazhamudhirchchOlai (KJY solo, varusham 16)
Special rhythm for pallavi, different charaNams - full meal kind of song and was patti-thotti hit, despite sounding like a semi-classical in parts

#1041 E ayyA sAmi (KSC-SPB duet with chorus, varusham 16)
Energetic thuLLal song and very popular, sweet...

#1042 poo pookkum mAsam (PS with chorus, varusham 16)
Another number with special rhythm arrangement for pallavi with typical tablA stuff kicking in right at first interlude and maintained in saraNam.

#1043 gankaikkarai mannanadi (KJY solo, varusham 16)
Emotional 7 beat cycle number but a hit nevertheless!

#1044 karaiyAdha manamum uNdO (KSC-KJY duet, varusham 16)
Beneficiery of being part of a super hit album This one too reached everywhere and got played along when the other songs got featured in buses and tea shops!

I think 1988 is complete.

There may be another album that Anbu sir added later on (a dubbing one) but I doubt it had any hit songs. Don't want to drag the year just for that unknown album...Will start 1989 ASAP.

There is another album called 'kAdhal geetham' and it sounds like dubbing from some other language.
(Direction Ashok Kumar and all songs by VM, in 1988-89, possibly came out without IR's knowledge or involvement)/

Never heard of any songs in it. I'm listing them here for just curiosity (not going to run a poll).

No need to split our hairs for this album IMHO, will let it pass...

adhE kAdhal adhE geetham	S.P.Balasubramaniam
peNmai koNda mounam	S.P.Balasubramaniam
peNmai yenbathu ada uNmai illaiyA	S.P.Balasubramaniam
vAzhvA sAvA vidai solla nee vA	S.P.Balasubramaniam
manjal andhi vELaiyO	S.P.Balasubramaniam
kaNgalilE kanavO ithazh punnagaiyE kalaiyO	S.P.Balasubramaniam
sonthakAra ammaNiyum [Happy]	K.S.Chithra
sonthakAra ammaNiyum [Pathos]	K.S.Chithra

With that, let me summarize the counts at the end of the year 1988 for this #IR_Hit_History, before moving on to the next year...

Year	Cat A (Super Hits)	Cat B (Hits)	Cat C (Moderate Hits)	Year Total
1976	7	4	2	13
1977	21	14	15	50
1978	25	15	10	50
1979	33	29	33	95
1980	40	6	10	56
1981	54	38	N/A	92
1982	77	33	N/A	110
1983	56	24	N/A	80
1984	62	35	N/A	97
1985	107	27	N/A	134
1986	77	37	N/A	114
1987	68	25	N/A	93
1988	47	13	N/A	60
Total so far	674	300	70	1044

Though the year 1988 had not brought as many hits as in the previous years of 80's for IR, it is still an unparalleled and enviable record, from an overall view / comparison with any other MD in any field.

Let us see what 1989 brings...

Let us start 1989 with a blockbuster album / movie, aboorva sagO

#1045 puthu mAppiLLaikku (SPS-SPB duet, aboorva sagOtharargaL)
Both the movie and album are personal favorites. Actually when covering this album in the IR-SPB thread in the hub, I've narrated an interesting recollection of events in my first workplace As the mayyam.com is no longer accessible to people in India, I've copied those posts into a thread in our forum as well!

https://ilayaraja.forumms.net/t323-some-posts-from-ir-spb-thread-in-mayyam-hub-as-that-website-is-not-viewable-in-india

#1046 rAjA kaiya vachchA (KH solo / SPB solo two versions, with KH-Manorama dialog as prelude, aboorva sagOtharargaL)
Vaali wrote the first line to praise IR And that one is definitely not flattery!

#1047 aNNaththa AduRAr (SPB solo, aboorva sagOtharargaL)
Innovative rhythm arrangement propelled this different kind of song, popular to this day!

#1048 unna nenachchEn pAttuppadichchEn (SPB solo, aboorva sagOtharargaL)
patti-thotti hit, despite being a pathos number. Popular even today!

#1049 vAzha vaikkum kAdhalukku jAy (SJ-SPB duet, aboorva sagOtharargaL)
Another personal fav, terrific orch and modern, stylish even after three decades!

There was another song recorded for this movie but not included, either in the disk or talkie (someone hosted it on YT, Anbu sir's sheet also counts that 'ammAva nAn kAlaiththottu' - possibly the initial one for the aNNAththa situation but not as interesting as the popular one.). In any case, not many even know about the existence of this song and let us not reckon it here.

The next album needs a poll as I don't know much about its reception in TN or anywhere  

With the name 'anbu kattaLai'.

ponmAnE ponmAnE unnodu ondRAnEn Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
veththalai veththalai kozhunthu veththalai K.S.Chithra
oru koottin kiLigaLthAn yengengO ilaiyaRaaja
rAthiri nEram rANiyai pArum S.Janaki
sonna pEchai kELu pAppA Mano / Chorus

Tried to give a listen to the songs on YT - realized all these became familiar to me only in recent years, possibly thanks to raajafm.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns2nI5m2LuU


There seems to be not much response from TN-ers also.

I'm not sure if we should consider any for our pattiyal...