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

Taking inputs from here and twitter, let me include songs from that Parthiban movie in our list.

#1278 yAradi nAn thEdum kAdhali (IR with chorus, poNdAtti thEvai)
Stylish title song, vocal harmony / rhythm styled like 'rAjA rAjAthi rAjan indha rAjA'

#1279 enadhu rAgam mouna rAgam (SJ-Arunmozhi duet, poNdAtti thEvai)
Though it didn't reach me those days, was quite popular in TN

#1280 ArArO pAttuppAda nAnum thAyillai (KSC-Arunmozhi duet, poNdAtti thEvai)
Evergreen stunner, fantastic melody with misra nadai and lovely KSC vocals!

#1281 thottavudan mottavizhndhu (KSC with chorus, poNdAtti thEvai)
Another song that did not reach me while being reasonably popular inside TN. Well, the movie was a hit and the songs had decent playtime on TN media as well.

#1282 ammA nAn pachchappuLLai (MV with Parthiban, poNdAtti thEvai)
themmAngu #IR_Waltz - he made 100's of them and almost all are enjoyable

New poll for "pudhiya rAgam" - only one song plays in my mind when I read the song names (deivangaL kaN pArththadhu)
mAlai soodum mAlai nEramthAnE K.S.Chithra
Oh janani yen swaram nee Mano
dheivangaL kaN pArthathu Mano / S.Janaki
vAdumO Oviyam pAdumO kAviyam Mano / S.Janaki
malligai mAlai katti ilaiyaRaaja

A golden album of IR.  Mano's voice adds to the beauty of Oh Janani and Deivangal songs.  Multiple cassette-rewinding memories for me, personally.  

IMHO, ALL the song are superhits, except Malligai maalai.  The first 4 songs were often played on Radio and featured on DD.  If I remember it right, AIR even carried a special segment for this album (maybe the influence of Jayachitra!).

Mio has all the songs in excellent quality, for those who have not listened to this album:

https://mio.to/album/Puthiya+Raagam+%281991%29

BC wrote: Mano's voice adds to the beauty of Oh Janani and Deivangal songs.  

No, it sadly does'nt. He was single handedly responsible for a lot of IR songs post 1986 not making it to my favourite list. Not sure what IR found in him to give him so many songs. In fact somebody like Jayachandran got sadly left out during this period, singing lesser and lesser songs.

In fact if app_engine has time he can open a thread "Post-1985 melodies that went to Mano/Arunmozhi instead of Jayachandran" and it will be a lengthy topic

I used to feel that way as well as because his voice resembled SPB's, it always sounded like a cheap imitation of SPB's.  However, he has rendered some great songs in the 90s - especially Vaarayo song from Athma, Kathum Kadal from Kattumarakkaran, Nikkatuma Pogattuma from Periya Veetu Pannaikkaran.  Even his mid 80s songs in enga Ooru Paatukkaran , Shenbagame Shenbagame, Paadu Nilave potti song were very good.  Also my perspective on Mano's voice has changes significantly since the mediocre voice and singing that has been on the rise in the 2000s.  He is far better than many of these singers.

counterpoint wrote:
No, it sadly does'nt. He was single handedly responsible for a lot of IR songs post 1986 not making it to my favourite list. Not sure what IR found in him to give him so many songs. In fact somebody like Jayachandran got sadly left out during this period, singing lesser and lesser songs.

In fact if app_engine has time he can open a thread "Post-1985 melodies that went to Mano/Arunmozhi instead of Jayachandran" and it will be a lengthy topic

Mano is not in the same league as a SPB/KJY.  But, it is UNFAIR to say he ruined a "lot of songs".  Mano's voice carries its own charm and is easily distinguishable.  He NEVER imitated SPB, when he was introduced by IR in the beginning of the late 1980s or thereafter.  I can never imagine songs like Shenbagame, Thenmozhi, Nee oru kaadhal sangeetham, Inge iraivan etc. in anyone else's voice.

I have heard his voice live, with just a humble "mike" on stage, in my school annual function, without any bells and whistles.  HE SOUNDED GREAT!  His ability to produce those minute nuances is excellent.  Those nuances sound beautiful in his voice.  He did complete justice to albums like Idhayathai Thirudaadhae, though the original album was rendered by the mighty SPB in Telugu.

And certainly, Arunmozhi (though a good singer in songs like Varaadhu vandha naayagan) is way lesser in vocal prowess when compared to that of Mano.  So, again, it is highly unfair to put Mano in the same pedestal as Arunmozhi.

Above all, I believe in IR's ability to choose a voice for a certain song.  He would never have used Mano for the sake of it or just to give him a high-paying job (when Mano was doing odd jobs in the studio those times, like writing swarams and being a track-singer).

Kr wrote:Also my perspective on Mano's voice has changes significantly since the mediocre voice and singing that has been on the rise in the 2000s.  He is far better than many of these singers.

Better late than never!

So, looks like all songs of pudhiya rAgam were TN hits! I'm surprised but it's not my job to judge but I'm happy to add these to the list

#1283 mAlai soodum mAlai nEram thAnE (KSC solo, pudhiya rAgam)
GA shows up on screen for this song (as conductor for stage music show) with Jayachithra the singer

#1284 O janani en swaram nee (Mano solo, pudhiya rAgam)
Another "stage" song, this time it is Raguman. Interesting to see this guy snatching away the "mike Mohan" roles in this time period

#1285 deivangaL kaN pArththadhu (SJ-Mano duet, pudhiya rAgam)
Only song familiar to me, part of some collection and got played often on drives - nice song!

#1286 vAdumO Oviyam pAdumO kAviyam (SJ-Mano duet, pudhiya rAgam)
Looks like the movie had all songs on stage If not for this exercise, I wouldn't have listened to all these songs - sounds very dull to me - I would have even suspected if this were indeed an IR album of 90's

#1287 malligai malar katti (IR solo, pudhiya rAgam)
Slow pathos song in IR's voice - sounds like one of his devotionals

Overall quite a "dull" album IMHO. Nevertheless, it was a hit in TN and let me acknowledge it here

Next poll is for that bubbly puthuppAttu (was Panju the diretor?) - phenomenal nEththu oruththara oruththar song and others!

nERRu orutharai orutharu pArthOm	ilaiyaRaaja / K.S.Chithra
sontham vanthathu vanthathu	K.S.Chithra
yenga ooru kAdhalai paRRi yenna ninaikiRE	ilaiyaRaaja / Asha Bhosale
senchAnthu kuzhambAlE	K.S.Chithra
bhoomiyE yenga sAmiyammA [oththa nellu pOttAl]	Mano / S.Janaki / Chorus
kuththAlathil thaNNi illainnA	Gangai Amaran / S.P.Sailaja / Chorus
his le betish	S.Janaki
kumbidum kai pOlE	K.S.Chithra / Chorus
thavamAna thavamirunthu	K.S.Chithra
veththalai pAkku pOda kaththukka	K.S.Chithra

IMHO, a super-hit album; not sure about the short songs, except Senjaandhu and Vethala paakku, both being moderate hits.  Usually, in cassette shops, the short songs were added as fillers if you got your songs recorded.  

Mio carries all the songs for those who have not heard the short songs in this superb album.



This link has the Thavamaana short song: https://mio.to/album/Puthu+Paatu+%281990%29

Leaving out the short songs and the German song (which weren't widely popular as the other super hits), let us complete the listing for the Panju sir movie.

#1288 nEththu oruththara oruththaru pAththOm (KSC-IR duet, puthuppAttu)
The song with an unique "IR-loop" or interesting hook Was a patti thotti hit when arrived!

#1289 sondham vanthadhu vanthadhu (KSC solo, puthuppAttu)
Lovely song with a IR-signature kind of rhythm arrangement!

#1290 enga ooru kAdhala paththi (AB-IR duet, puthuppAttu)
Fun song and IR seems to have enjoyed singing this, with Asha Bhosle who too perhaps enjoyed doing a few numbers in TFM in that time period - sheNbagamE being the best and most phenomenal one!

#1291 bhoomiyE enga sAmiyammA (SJ-Mano with chorus, puthuppAttu)
Typical village song which is IR's kOttai and he always delivers with a lot of power!

#1292 kuththAlaththil thaNNi illainnA (SPS-GA duet, puthuppAttu)
Another funny song - IR was probably in a very jolly mood while doing this album for Panju sir - he even did a German song (in SJ's voice)

Having documented that interesting album's hits, let us get the next poll going - rAjA kaiya vachchA - a rocker of an album!
maruthANi araichchEnE ilaiyaRaaja / Mano / S.Janaki
un kaNakkuthAn thappAchchammA Mano
mazhai varuthu mazhai varuthu K.J.Yesudas / K.S.Chithra
kaNNeer thuLi yEn kaNNilE K.J.Yesudas
kAdhalukku rAjA sirikkum rOjA Mano / S.Janaki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia5crpXri4c

Another superb album.  Voted for all songs except Kaadhalukku raja which is a moderate-hit.  Others are super-hits, with Mazhai varudhu & Un kanakku thaan being mega-hits.

Looks like another "all-songs-hit" album, with different people voting for the relatively less-known songs as 'kAdhalukku rAjA' and 'kanneerththuLi'. So, let me add all - with these two in moderate category.

#1293 maruthANi araichchEnE (SJ - Mano - IR, rAjA kaiya vachchA)
What a lovely themmAngu with great orchestration! Though I was late in listening to most songs of this album (having missed in 1990), this was impressive from first listen in the new millennium!

#1294 un kaNakkuththAn thappAchchummA (Mano solo, rAjA kaiya vachchA)
Fun song, much like the gundu onnu vachchirukkEn - enjoyable and had all the elements to be a hit in that time period!

#1295 mazhai varudhu mazhai varudhu kudai koNdu vA (KSC-KJY duet, rAjA kaiya vachchA)
Popular to this day - what a lovely song! (I'm not a fan of saraNam or the pAdal varigaL but the pallavi melody is drenched in honey!)

#1296 kaNNeerththuLi En kaNNilE (KJY solo, rAjA kaiya vachchA)
It's possible this was mainly on radio-TV and not on the cassette / recording groups. Nice song, however!

#1297 kAdhalukku rAjA (SJ-Mano duet, rAjA kaiya vachchA)
My most fav song in this album, even though I became familiar with this only in the last few years   Countless number of repeats while driving, despite me being not that much of a Mano fan. SJ rocks as usual and the arrangements are the main attraction of this song. Especially the background score for the saraNam - awesome! I'm not surprised this wasn't as popular as other songs in 1990 but it reached me after 2010 involuntarily and hit me so hard 20 years after release qualifies this to be in this important list

Let us now move on to the next poll, "sAmy pOtta mudichchu" (nice album for R Sundarrajan, not sure how the songs fared with TN public).

ponneduthu vArEn vArEn	Mano / K.S.Chithra
mangalathu kunguma potuu	K.S.Chithra
kOdaiyidi saththam ippO kEtkuthadi mElE	Mano / S.Janaki / Chorus
neelavENi ammA neelavENi	Malaysia Vasudevan / K.S.Chithra / Saibaba / Chorus
mAthuLang kaniyE nalla malar vana kuyilE	ilaiyaRaaja / S.Janaki

A good album.  My votes for all songs EXCEPT Maadhulangkaniye.  

Ponneduthu vaaren, Mangalathu kunguma and Neelaveni are more popular than Kodai idi which is a "moderate" hit.  All those 4 songs were mostly played on Radio.

My mind only plays 'mAdhuLanganiyE' song when I read the list of songs for sAmi pOtta mudichchu but that wasn't a hit - quite interesting!

Adding the 3 hits from the album - as confirmed by TN-ers :

#1298 ponneduththu vArEn (KSC-Mano duet, sAmi pOtta mudichchu)
Sweet melody, brings to one's mind a 90's small town of TN vividly!

#1299 mangalaththu kungumappottu (KSC solo, sAmi pOtta mudichchu)
Another sweet song - actually almost all songs of this album sound "similar" with the exception of neelavENi. It's difficult to differentiate between the songs easily for anyone to stand out.

#1300 neelavENi (KSC-Saibaba-MV with chorus, sAmi pOtta mudichchu)
Fun song in quite a different style (not regular IR-ish IMO)

Considering other albums typically given to R Sundarrajan by IR, this is quite "average" as there's not even one "extraordinary" number IMHO.

Well, having documented the mass hits, let us move on to the next poll - this is an album very unfamiliar to me (even the name) "Sir, I love you"
 

uthikindRa sengkathir [Title Song]	ilaiyaRaaja
ingE iRaivan yennum kalaingan	Mano / P.Susheela
vAnanmpAdi pAdum nEram	K.S.Chithra
kaNNAl kAdhal uNdAchu	Malaysia Vasudevan
vAthiyArai konjam pArungadi	K.S.Chithra / Chorus

Voted for Inge iraivan and Vaanampaadi paadum neram.  Both are hits, played often on Radio and Doordarshan.  Both are my favorite-ever songs too.  Mano and Chitra have sung those so beautifully.

Does anybody have the song Udhikkindra sengathir?  It is nowhere on the Internet.  Even the uploaded movie on YouTube does not have that song.

Per most TN-IRF's opinion, adding those two songs from that album hitherto unknown to me...

#1301 ingE iRaivan ennum kalaignan (PS_mano duet, Sir I love you)
Sweet melody - though nothing new - IR had done 100's of such songs ; however, like veettu sAppAdu, this has its own charm.

#1302 vAnampAdi pAdum nEram (KSC solo, Sir I love you)
Another sweet song but one among such 100's that IR had made

Moving on to the next poll - this one for "siRaiyil pooththa chinna malar" (one with that popular 'vAsa karuvEppilaiyE)

athisaya nadamidum abinaya saraswathiyO	K.J.Yesudas / K.S.Chithra
vachchAn vachchAn kathavai thiRanthu vachchAn	K.S.Chithra / Chorus
yeththanai pEr unnai nambi rAsA	K.S.Chithra
AlOlam pAdum thendRalE	Mano / S.Janaki
vAsa karuvEppilaiyE	Arunmozhi / S.Janaki
adi thAnA pazhutha [valiya vanthu]	Mano / Saibaba / Gousalya / Kovai Soundarajan / Chorus

Going by the # of views, this movie must have been popular (though I'm familiar with only two songs):

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

Adhisaya nadamidum, Aalolam paadum and Vaasa karuveppilaye are hits, for sure.  Others were not.

As confirmed by TN-ers, let us include 3 hits from that album for a Vijayakanth movie

#1303 athisaya nadamidum abhinaya saraswathiyE (KSC-KJY duet, siRaiyil pooththa chinna malar)
Sweet melody - beautifully executed by the chEttan / chEchchi pair

#1304 AlOlam pAdum theNralE (SJ-Mano duet, siRaiyil pooththa chinna malar)
Song with a right mix of emotions and a sensational melody - SJ excels as usual

#1305 vAsa karuvEppilaiyE (SJ-Arunmozhi duet, siRaiyil pooththa chinna malar)
Possibly the most popular number of the album - myself listened to this number of times during bus drives in TN even many years later! The way in which SJ sings this song confirms one why TN dearly loved this voice for anything called "folk"!

Moving on  to the next album, this one too having jail in its title "siRaiyil sila rAgangaL"

yEzhu swaram sErnthu oru pAttil irukuthu ilaiyaRaaja
kAdhalukku pAttethaRku ilaiyaRaaja / Mano / S.Janaki
thendRal varum theru K.J.Yesudas / K.S.Chithra
kalludaikka ALillAmal ilaiyaRaaja / Mano / S.N.Surendar
Asaiyirukku MGR Aga Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus
kai pidithu kai adithu K.J.Yesudas / K.S.Chithra

Thendral varum theru and Kai pidithu are more popular numbers than Kaadhalukku paattetharku which could be "moderate" hit.  The rest were not popular.

Adding 3 hit songs from the second jail movie...

#1306 kAdhalukku pAttedhaRku? (SJ-Mano-IR, siRaiyil sila rAgangaL)
Nice song with a mild indication that SJ was "slowing down". TN-ers call it popular while for me this is new song

#1307 thenRal varum theru (KSC-KJY duet, siRaiyil sila rAgangaL)
Introduced to me by Jayachandran on Maestro's App (never heard this one before) and what a lovely melodious song!

#1308 kai pidiththu (KSC-KJY duet, siRaiyil sila rAgangaL)
Another sweet duet, possibly heard during its time in my bus rides - this sounds very familiar to me.

Now we are moving on to an album well-known to me (had this cassette when arrived, this was in 1990 before my accident) - but will still need a poll to judge how it fared in TN - thAlAttu pAda vA!

sontham yendRu vanthavaLE [Title Song] ilaiyaRaaja
veNNilavukku vAnathai pidikalaiyA Arunmozhi / S.Janaki / Chorus
varAthu vantha nAyagan Arunmozhi / S.Janaki
neethAnA neethAnA nenjE neethAnA [Duet] Arunmozhi / S.Janaki
neethAnA neethAnA nenjE neethAnA [Male] Arunmozhi
Odai kuyil oru pAttu padikkaliyA Arunmozhi / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
ammamammA pon mAlai thendRal S.Janaki

Hit album, IMHO.  A little bit skeptical about the popularity of Sondham endru (title song by IR) and Ammamammaa (SJ) could be moderate hits.

Arunmozhi's voice was a refreshing one for those times, though he is more of an amazing flautist than a singer.

Remember the good old school days' music period where our teachers sang the Vinaayagar hymn: Mudhaakaraatha modhakam (prelude of Varaadhu vandha naayagan) IR's tune saying "Nice melody"!  After that song came out, I make sure that during every Vinakaya Chaturthi, I sang/sing that hymn in this tune as prayer.

Per TN-ers, thAlAttu pAda vA was a "whole-album-hit"  It was just a coincidence that me too had that cassette and was familiar with all the songs / loved each one of them.

Happily documenting them here!

#1309 sondham enRu vanthavaLE (IR solo, thAlAttu pAda vA)
Title song sung by IR, per prevailing sentiment

#1310 veNNilavukku vAnanththa pidikkalaiyA (SJ-Arunmozhi with chorus, thAlAttu pAda vA)
SJ had sung a number of great songs with relatively new / less experienced / younger singers (great example is "EdhO mOgam") and this is comes under that category! Though I'm not a great fan of AM singing (while I'm always amazed by him with his virtuoso with flute), he did a decent job in this album

#1311 varAdhu vantha nAyagan (SJ-Arunmozhi, thAlAttu pAda vA)
Terrific song and instantly catchy - SJ is phenomenal here!

#1312 neethAnA neethAnA nenjE nee thAnA (Two versions, one SJ-AM duet and another Arunmozhi solo, thAlAttu pAda vA)
Another instantly liked song and enjoyable to this day!

#1313 olaikkuyil oru pattuppadikkaliyA (KSC-AM duet, thAlAttu pAda vA)
Sweet song, nicely executed by both singers!

#1314 ammammammA pon mAlaiththenRal (SJ solo, thAlAttu pAda vA)
SJ executes a complicated pallavi full of sangathis effortlessly - very impressive!

With that sweet album of 1990 covered, let us go the next poll for next album (not much familiar to me) - thanga thAmaraigaL :

 

dhEviyE nAn saraNam	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
kAdhalichupAru kiLiyE	Malaysia Vasudevan
kutta kutta kuniyiRAn	Malaysia Vasudevan / Chorus
vAzhAtha peNNin manam [yArOdu nAn solvathu]	K.S.Chithra
mAmanai pAru mAlaiyai pOda vA rAmAyi	Chorus
vachchu vidavA vAsa poovu	Mano / Chorus

Deviye and Yaarodu naan (Vaazhaadha pennin manam) - both are Tier-2 hits (only on Radio).  Good compositions, nevertheless.

Taking into account opinions of number of TN-ers, adding one song from 'thanga thAmaraigaL' (movie had Arjun - Roobini it seems)

#1315 dEviyE nAn saraNam (KSC-SPB duet, thanga thaAmaraigaL)
Sweet song with a strong rhythm arrangement. While not a super-duper hit, this song got played by media other than those of IRFs

Next poll is for the album "thangamalai thirudan" (what an unusual name for a 1990 movie - was it dubbing?)

ponnE anbAna yenthan kaNNE	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
chamakku chamakku chA kattikO kattikO	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
saththiyamE yen pAthai	S.P.Balasubramaniam
sri AnjanEyam	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
subavELai nALai ingu ithu pOl varumA	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra

Telugu album "Kondaveeti Donga" is a superhit.  

Dubbed movies' songs usually have little to no broadcast.  

So, it is not surprising to see that NONE was a hit, but what is amazing is how these songs have nearly 2M+ views today (rough number combining the number of views of each song across multiple YouTube channels including the dubbed movie which has nearly 1M views!).  Maybe a majority of those people are Telugus.

Found this REMIX of Chamakku song (by who else?! THAMAN) in a 2018 Telugu movie ("InTTelligent"! is the movie name.  For a moment, I forgot the spelling of Intelligent!) with nearly 3M views!