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

Maalai nilave is a hit for sure - the only song from the movie that was played on Radio and TV those days.  I like all the songs in the album though.

The playlist is on: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLViUvV1AcMZD5swCawP8QBEq5Qe6esC6R

Updating the list with that one addition from "poNNukkEththa purushan"...

#1411 mAlai nilavE manmadhan kaNpadum azhagE (KSC-Mano duet, poNNukkEththa purushan)
Surprised to see just one hit from an album IR gave to GA as director, this song picturization is funny (imitation / mixing of rAjAvin pArvai rANiyin pakkam)

The next album needs a poll as well - not sure how it fared in TN - I'm familiar with one song.

puthiya swarangaL

oru kAdhal rAgam pAdum poovithu Mano / S.Janaki / Chorus
Oh vAnamuLLa kAlam mattum [Male] ilaiyaRaaja
Oh vAnamuLLa kAlam mattum [Duet] K.J.Yesudas / Uma Ramanan
puthu kAvEri karai meethu amarAvathy S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra

I have a vague memory of listening to Oh vaanamulla kaalam and Oru kaadhal raagam songs.  Oh vaanamulla kaalam has 1M+ views on YouTube, if that could help you decide.  The album has sweet melodies.  No clue about the movie or its actors!

Though "puthiya swarangaL" album is little known outside of IRF circles, one song somehow made it to the masses (at the minimum, it reached me).

We can use the "YT-1 million" as collateral evidence but cannot solely base it IMHO.

This is because there are multiple songs which were truly massive hits when arrived but do not have a decent YT presence, let alone 1 mn views.  This can be due to many reasons - fellow without rights uploaded, got max hits but later removed kind situation. Or horrible quality video. Or horrible picturization. Or removed due to other issues.

Fortunately for this song, it has both "remembrance from old timers" and "YT views" - so, let us add it to the list.

#1412 O vAnamuLLa kAlam mattum (UR-KJY duet, puthiya swarangaL)
Very sweet duet and can keep playing in your mind long after you hear it once - even for days! Such a haunting melody!

Moving on to the next album - puthu nellu puthu nAththu - this is another IR-BR combo album that will need a poll  

I know a couple of songs were super hits (karuththa machchAn, for e.g.) but not sure if all of them reached the masses.

 

salangai saththam kEtkuthadi [Title Song]	ilaiyaRaaja
bharaNi bharaNi pAdi varum	ilaiyaRaaja / Chorus
chittAn chittAn kuruvi unakkuthAnE	Mano / S.Janaki / Chorus
karuththa machchAn	S.Janaki
yE marikozhunthu yennammA krishNavENi	K.S.Chithra / Uma Ramanan
poo poo poo poo pootha sOlai	S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki

Hit album.  Superb folk album with a good variety.  Pretty skeptical about "Salanga chaththam", but other than that, the songs were a rage. 

Karutha machchaan (Urumi accent for a female romantic solo! - Hats off, Maestro IR!) stayed on Number-1 spot for weeks on Cibaca Geethamaalai on AIR.  Poo poo, Chittaan chittaan, Ae marikozhundhu and Bharani bharani were often played on Radio and TV. 



The album is on Mio and Spotify too: https://mio.to/album/Puthu+Nellu+Puthu+Naathu+%281991%29

I'm leaving out the title song (just to make sure that some naysayer does not come and question our qualifications)

Documenting rest of the songs from PNPN :

#1413 baraNi baraNi pAdi varum thAmirabaraNi (IR with chorus, puthu nellu puthu nAththu)
One of the two songs that I paid attention only in the internet era. Not sure if I've heard it when the album arrived or not but definitely not paid attention.

#1414 chittAn chittAnguruvi unakkuththAnE (SJ-Mano duet, puthu nellu puthu nAththu)
One of three songs from this album which I heard frequently those days without even knowing which album they were from. A rare thing for IR-BR combo

#1415 karuththa machchAn (SJ solo, puthu nellu puthu nAththu)
Super hit song that I've heard frequently those days - without knowing that this was from PNPN - it is popular to this day!

#1416 E marikkozhundhu ennammA krishNavENi (UR / KSC female duet with chorus, puthu nellu puthu nAththu)
Sweet song and this is the second that I got to know closer in the internet era

#1417 poo poo poo poo pooththa sOlai (SJ-SPB duet, puthu nellu puthu nAththu)
What a lovely song - sweetly sung by the celebrated pair, with the somewhat "different" sounding rhythm arrangement by IR! This got covered in the IR-SPB series in mayyam (wrongly as a 1990 album)

"richshaw mAmA" is the next album on poll (vaigai nathi Oram got covered in the IR-SPB series):

oththipO oththipO konjam OramAi oththipO	Mano / Chorus
thanga nilavukkuL nilavoNNu	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Chorus
yeNNam yennum [vaigai nathi Oram]	S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki
vaigai nathi Oram [1]	S.Janaki
vaigai nathi Oram [2] [Pathos]	ilaiyaRaaja
yE pAttu pOttAchu pAdi pAthAchu	Mano / Swarnalatha
annakiLi nee sirikka [jimukku chikkAn]	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Baby Prasanna
thAi thanthai yArum indRi [annakiLi nee sirikka] [Pathos]	Mano / Baby Prasanna
maNakkum malligai manjathil virichu	S.P.Balasubramaniam / S.Janaki

nalla album...

vaigai nadhi oram song... andha situation.....indha paatai parkum podhu enaku, sandhanathil nalla vasam eduthu paatai ninaivu paduthum.

thanga nilavukul paatu. SPB avargalin oru GEM.

indha time ellam..Cable kaalam. no video. audio only. adhil indha padathu paatu ellam kaetu iruken.

ini varum kaalam, 1993..... Sun tv vandha kalam... adhil dhan paatu.... kaalam maara arambitha neram.

Another hit album.  Nearly all songs were hits.  Thanga nilavukkul, Vaigai nadhiyoram, Annakili nee sirikka and Oththippo were frequently played on Radio and Oliyum OLiyum on Doordarshan.

Here is the jukebox on IR-O:

Adding the rickshaw mAmA hits to the list:

#1418 oththippO oththippO konjam OramA oththippO (Mano with chorus, rickshaw mAmA)
Heard it a few times those days on rides and also confirmed with TN-ers that this was moderately popular

#1419 thanga nilavukkuL (SPB solo, rickshaw mAmA)
Very sweet number, beautiful singing by SPB - got covered in the IR-SPB series

#1420 vaigai nathi Oram (SJ-SPB duet and other versions, rickshaw mAmA)
Sweet melody and memorable song. Talked about that "kaL vadiyum pookkaL" phrase in the nostalgia post at hub :
Post on tfmpage

#1421 annakkiLi nee sirikka (Baby Prasanna - SPB, rickshaw mAmA)
Me not much familiar with this song but voted by TN-ers, so makes it to the list!

Next album appears to be a "Telugu dubbing" (not very sure) - let us have a poll for this "sambavam"

Oh babyO pAvaiyO I love you	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
ithO oru prEmai koNdu	S.P.Balasubramaniam
mella mella malarnthathu kAdhal	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra
yeppa yeppa yeppa yena yEngiya vayasukku kalyANam	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra

A dubbed album of Nirnayam (a Telugu superhit album).  And so, the songs were not popular.

Original Telugu album:

Usha wrote:nalla album...

vaigai nadhi oram song...  andha situation.....indha paatai parkum podhu enaku,  sandhanathil nalla vasam eduthu paatai ninaivu paduthum.

thanga nilavukul  paatu. SPB avargalin oru GEM.

indha time ellam..Cable kaalam. no video. audio only. adhil indha padathu paatu ellam kaetu iruken.

ini varum kaalam, 1993.....  Sun tv vandha kalam... adhil dhan paatu....  kaalam maara arambitha neram.

Ma'm, this was still 1992.  Cable TV came to Madras only in 1993.  Only DD-2 was available at this point, but that too only as a tune-in channel.

BC,

naan sonna cable tv kaalam. adhu periya varam enaku. naan kalyanam agi, vandha oor oru telungu base. tamizhku chance illai.
TV... delhi tv matum dhan varum. tamizh paatuku vazhiyae illai. engalidum paatu kaetkum set kidaiyadhu.

raja paatu kaeka vazhi illadha kaalam. romba sogam enaku. indha nilaimaiyil... engal area pakkam oru tea kadai. tamzhi karar.. Raja
songs ellam vaipar. apodhu enga area amaidhiyaga irukum. adhanal... engal friends, relatives ... yaridam raja paatu patri pesinalaum,
naan solven... Tea kadaiyil kaeten endru solli vittu... paatai patri solven.

en kanavar solvar."yen ipadi tea kadaiyil kaeten endru solgirai"...

naan solven....."ingu dhan tamizh paatukae vazhi illai. apodhu epadi avargaluku theiryum naan paatu kaeten endru?"

apadi naan unmaiyaga irundhu solli iruken.

indha nilaiyil... 91 enaku paiyan pirandhan. 92... oru vayadhu paiyan... enaku periya accident. head injury. pizhaithu veetuku vandhen.

padukaiyil sila madham........ indha kaalathil dhan. cable TV... raja songs pudhiyadhu ellam kaeten....

thalai bayangaramaga valikum. anal andha vali ellam Raja songs kaetka kaetka sari ana madhirii oru feelings...

adhanal dhan andha nybagathil naan sonnen, cable tv endru.

ingu tamizh paatuku vazhi illadhadhal.. seekiramagavae cable tv vandhu vittadhu. apadi oru special engaluku indha cable tv... Raja paatu.

Replacing the sambhavam poll with thAyammA poll

yenga pAttukku pAduRa pAttu	Malaysia Vasudevan / Mano / S.N.Surendar
oru muththu kiLi kaththum mozhi	Mano / Arunmozhi
pazhaiya kanavai thEdi ivaL pAdum poongkodi	K.S.Chithra
ALaipArthA sAmiyAru	Malaysia Vasudevan / Mano

No song plays in my mind when I read the first lines....let me give this album a listen!

Only the song "Oru muthukiLi" was a moderate hit.

Usha wrote:BC,

  naan sonna cable tv kaalam. adhu periya varam enaku. naan kalyanam agi, vandha oor oru telungu base. tamizhku chance illai.
TV... delhi tv matum dhan varum. tamizh  paatuku vazhiyae illai. engalidum paatu kaetkum set kidaiyadhu.

Got it.  Thought you were a Chennai-ite.

We'll have let this "thAyammA' pass - absolutely no responses in twitter   Pretty obvious this was not a hit album.

The next one does not need a poll - songs are super hits and popular to this day. Let me add them :

#1422 chinna thAyavaL thandha rAsAvE (SJ solo, thaLapathi)
Vaali had sneaked in the "IR reference" (not sure if MR knew it or not) - very emotional number - similar to "thenpANdi cheemaiyilE" of nAyagan.

#1423 adi rAkkammA kaiya thattu (SL-SPB with chorus, thaLapathi)
Not just in popularity or cassette sales records, this song scored very high even after many years - when internet was becoming popular in late 90's, in a BBC poll

#1424 yamunai AtRilE eerakkAtRilE (Mithali solo, thaLapathi)
I believe there are two versions - one of them was very popular!

#1425 mArgazhi thAn OdippOchchu bOgiyAchchu (Chorus song, thaLapathi)
Not a personal favorite - but the song was popular nevertheless

#1426 kAttukkuyilu manasukkuLLa (SPB-KJY duet, thaLapathi)
Super hit song (and visuals). Not sure if this was the 1st "duet" for these two great singers under IR's baton. Or if this is the ONLY duet for them in rAsA music

#1427 sundari kaNNAl oru sEthi (SJ-SPB duet, thaLapathi)
Possibly IR's favorite in the album - this song has become a regular in his recent concerts (and speeches)

#1428 putham puthu poo pooththadhO (SJ-KJY duet, thaLapathi)
Not in the movie but was / is popular, almost same way like others.

Adding a poll for next album, thAlAttu kEtkudhammA - songs not familiar to me.

 

nEnthukitta nEththikadan theerthuputtEn aiyanArE	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Saibaba / Sundarajan / Chorus
sonna pEchchai kEtka mAttOm	P.Susheela / Minmini / Yuvan / Kalpana
chutti chutti poNNUkku metti oNNu pOdattA	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
aNNanukku aNNanmArE	Malaysia Vasudevan
kAlamennum noolilE [ammA yennum vArthaithAn]	ilaiyaRaaja
yammA yammA lady doctor	S.P.Balasubramaniam / K.S.Chithra

Annanukku, Nenthukitta, Chutti chutti and Sonna pecha were hits.  Heard pretty frequently those times.

Album jukebox:

 

indha paatu ellam. gramathilum hit dhan. Bus.. idhilum hit dhan indha paatu ellam.

Most twitters say 'thAlAttu kEtkudhammA' was a hit album (except the lady doctor one which made it to "midnight masAlA TV songs" it seems ) Also, looks like the songs were more popular in rural area!

BTW, all songs are first-time-listen for me

So, adding the relevant ones to our list :

#1429 nEnthukkitta nEththikkadan theeththupputtEn ayyanArE (Saibaba / Sundarrajan / SPB, thAlAttu kEtkudhammA)
Typical folk celebration song with chorus  - one among 100s of such made by IR, has millions of views on YT

#1430 sonna pEchchai kEkka mAttOm (Minmini / Kalpana / Yuvan with PS, thAlAttu kEtkudhammA)
Another group song which was popular with masses apparently

#1431 chutti chutti poNNukku metti onnu pOdattA (KSC / SPB with chorus, thAlAttu kEtkudhammA)
I'm quite surprised as to how I missed all these songs during all those TN bus trips in 90's

#1432 aNNanukku aNNanmArE (MV solo, thAlAttu kEtkudhammA)
Another millionaire in YT - power of IR to turn pathos numbers into super hits those days! urumi mELam is terrific in this song!

#1433 ammA ennum vArththai thAn (IR solo, thAlAttu kEtkudhammA)
rAsA and ammA song can never go wrong! Power to melt any kal nenjan!

Next poll for "thambi poNdAtti" (that has Arunagirnathar song with same melody as 'mAnguyilE poonguyilE')

un yeNNam yengE yengE	Sunandha
kaNNan vanthathAlE nanmai vanthathu	Uma Ramanan
sonnAlum vetkam aiyA	Arunmozhi
yen mAnE meenE vaNNam minnum ponnE	Mano / K.S.Chithra / Chorus
yERu mayil yERi viLaiyAdu mugam ondRE [1]	Sunandha / Kalpana / Prasanna
yERu mayil yERi viLaiyAdu mugam ondRE [2]	Swarnalatha / Minmini / Kalpana / Prasanna

Un ennam yenge (my personal favorite from the album), Yerumayil eri (based on Maanguyile poonguyile), Kannan vandhathaale and Yen maane - all 4 songs were seen only on TV when the movie released; not much buzz after that.

Though a couple of songs from 'thambi poNdAtti' are perceived to be popular by some IRFs, there's no consensus even about those songs.

Accordingly, let us not include them in our list (just to avoid any unnecessary qualifiers). So, the album gets a skip.

Moving on to the next poll - thambikku oru pAttu. This album too is not familiar to me and I'll wait for TN-ers to confirm:

 

thAyendRum thanthaiyendRum [Title & Theme Song]	ilaiyaRaaja
muthu muththu muththAramthAn	Swarnalatha
AhO aiyAhO thErOttamA	Mano / Chorus
thai mAtham kalyANam	P.Jayachandran / Swarnalatha / Chorus
arasamaram puLLai kodukkumA	Malaysia Vasudevan

Not a superhit album, but the 3 songs: Muthu muthu, Thai maadham and Thaayendrum were moderate hits.

Looks like the "thambikku oru pAttu" songs were of "moderate hits" category (going by the responses / web presence etc).

Let us add them in that way

#1434 thAyenRum thanthaiyenRum pAdum thAlAttu (IR solo, thambikku oru pAttu)
One of those countless title songs by IR - which were / are mainstay of many country side buses as well as individual collections over the years!

#1435 muthu muthu mutharanthAn (SL solo, thambikku oru pAttu)
What a sweet song in one of the sweet / unique voices ever heard in TFM!

#1436 thai mAdham kalyANam (SL-JC duet, thambikku oru pAttu)
After listening to the song, I realized this is part of the #IR_misrA series and got covered in that thread as well

Moving on to the next album, "thanga manasukkAran"

maNikuyil isaikkuthadi [1] [Happy]	Mano
maNikuyil isaikkuthadi [mAnE mayanguvathu] [2] [Pathos]	Mano / Chorus
maNikuyil isaikkuthadi [3]	B.S.Sasireka / Minmini
pAttukkuLLE pAttirikku	Mano / S.Janaki
poothathu poonthOppu	Mano / S.Janaki
udukkai saththam kEtta thAyi [theeyai mithippOm]	Mano / Chorus

Manikkuyil isaikkudhadi, Poothathudhu poonthoppu were superhits, a TV and Radio regular.

Paattukkulle paattirukku (starts off like Maanguyile poonguyile, but veers off from the original after the prelude; IR retained only the rhythm) and Udukkai saththam were moderate hits, but the latter was very popular in temple events, especially Maariamman temples and also it has 3M views on YouTube, not surprisingly!

Looks like "thanga manasukkAran" was a super hit album (just that I didn't notice when it arrived).

Adding the songs to our list:

#1437 maNikkuyil isaikkudhadi (Mano - happy / pathos versions ; there's also a female duet, thanga manasukkAran)
I've earlier covered the female duet in the BSS thread but didn't realize the popularity of the Mano version

#1438 pAttukkuLLE pAttirukku (SJ-Mano duet, thanga manasukkAran)
As mentioned by BC, this one starts like mAnguyilE and is another #IR_Waltz. First time listen for me.

#1439 pooththadhu poonthOppu (SJ-Mano duet, thanga manasukkAran)
My fav of the album, lovely singing by SJ - heard this many times during TN bus travels, like many other IR hits


#1440 udukkai saththam - theeyai midhippOm (Mano with chorus, thanga manasukkAran)
Another first time listen! With millions of views in YT in recent times, this must have been quite popular in TN rural area.

Moving on to the next album, "unnai vAzhththi pAdukiREn" - not much familiar to me.

 

Oh kAlai kuyilkaLE kavithai pAduthE	S.Janaki / Chorus
unnai vAzhththa vanthEn	K.J.Yesudas
ippOthum nippEn yeppOthum nippEn	Mano / Chorus
oru rAgam tharAtha veeNai	K.J.Yesudas / S.Janaki
oru mAlai chandran [pAl nilavu]	S.P.Balasubramaniam / Minmini