R D Burman’s 80s
Since Alex greatly offended me yesterday by suggesting R D Burman was about nostalgia (!) I have drawn up a comprehensive list of his songs just from the 80s (this task would be many times more difficult for the 70s). I have included a representative selection from the entire decade. These aren’t necessarily the very best songs but those that show his range. For this reason I have sometimes left out important songs while including multiple ones from the same album in other instances. I’m sure I’ve neglected a few here. My overall thesis is actually borne out by this selection. RD indiscriminately gave good songs for all kinds of films and barring the Bachchan stuff most of these were flops and hence he got unfairly tagged that way. Eventually the projects dried up for him but whenever he got a chance he kept producing good stuff. To my mind these songs are for the most part better than the competition just as the very best albums of this decade are also by RD by a mile. Perhaps I will make a separate list for the latter at some point.
SATYAMSHOT 
May 18, 2011 at 4:52 PM
Brilliant assortment,
Again I take credit for Squeezing this out of satyam—lol
Im pleasantly surprised and even amazed to see a few of them there….
Eg –the Inaam dus hazzar, Manzil Manzil, Bemisaal…
Its the hidden gems of RDB that give me more pleasure.
By the way—would be worth transplanting this here—lol
Dont agree entirely with the link below but an “interesting ” read.
A cursory glance rings out many such “chronicles of plagiarism”
But then sometimes it is difficult to prove/disprove and differentiate plagiarism form inspiration from variation from spin…..lol
http://realityviews.blogspot.com/2010/06/part-two-rdburman-and-his-copied-or.html
http://realityviews.blogspot.com/2010/06/part-one-rdburman-and-his-copied-or.html
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May 18, 2011 at 5:19 PM
Yes there is indeed a difference between plagiarism and inspiration. Nothing more to add to this!
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May 19, 2011 at 6:52 AM
Just a Q…
ED was never acknowledged in his life time, he was ignored and thn lett alone to die, how many FF awards he got in his prime, thn given later days and Worthless FF fellows than instituted award on his name, As NYT says in respect to oscar, ” Consolation prize for life time ignoring”… He suddenly became Mythic figure after death, and new crop of directors owing single most influence to him and than remix wave.. he mirrors the Pyasa in some way,.. As you said somewhere that how ur peers respect n say abt tells more than volumes of articles… in that respect RD is Matchless…
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May 18, 2011 at 5:27 PM
I thought I was the only staunch RD fan around here!
Thanks.
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May 18, 2011 at 6:04 PM
Like food, one music cannot be labelled as better than the other.
80s is alien to me, and I consider it as the worst period in Hindi film industry, fashion wise, films wise, and especially music wise …. when melody was lost, and though rhythm and beat was made much use of, it was jarringly done. RDB’s music in the 70s was better than in the 80s IMO, and he could never match his father’s talent.
Not to say that it is’nt the best period according to others satyam included . Hope I haven’t offended you 😉
The above illustrates my POV about **music and food.**
I have to say the same about ARR. He’s quite over-rated. Recognition in the west seems to add extra weight to ones perception of talent.
Which doesn’t mean I haven’t liked his music. I loved it in Kandukondain x2. There was melody *and* rhythm/beat there. In Taal the songs ‘before’ the pop singer period were excellent. The wedding song, the rain song (with an extremely graceful Aishwarya) were among his best…not forgetting JA, and Dil Se (that boat song was fabulous).
In short, his earlier work was far better than later efforts.
This is of course as I hear it, and see it….heavily dependent on my personal taste, just as I like my food.
So,
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May 18, 2011 at 6:23 PM
I see. Are you as clueless about food as music??
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May 19, 2011 at 7:17 AM
LOL!!
Clues are for those who are searching, investigating, trying to to find answers, once found you don’t need them (and can be called cluless) 😉
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May 18, 2011 at 8:01 PM
I’d actually say RD was more talented than his father.
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May 18, 2011 at 11:05 PM
I don’t think one can write off an entire decade as bad. There were quite a few good movies in the 80s – Kudrat, Satte pe Satta, Naseeb, Ek Baar phir, Ek Baar Kaho, Masoom, Angoor, Chashemey Budoor, Mr India, Mandi, Arth – these are a few that com to my mind.
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May 19, 2011 at 7:19 AM
True, but Lotuses have the habit of existing in muck.
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May 18, 2011 at 7:00 PM
what a mind boggling collection of some amazing songs. Thanks to Alex for instigating Satyam to come up with this and thanks to Satyam for doing it!
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May 18, 2011 at 10:59 PM
RD gave good music indiscriminately! He had to. How can he cheat the producer by giving substandard music just because it starred lesser known faces? Will a mother feed the gifted one more nourshing food and neglect the other ones less gifted? Can it be really called waste? Though the films failed, the music lives on.
Lata, Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore, Asha all sang in their best voices whether the actor is a leading character or a side actor.
I personally prefer his romantic numbers to his robust ones, though he excelled in both.
S.D’s music is pure Indian as he was not influenced by western trends.
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May 19, 2011 at 2:29 AM
RD was leagues ahead of his father. Between him and Rahman it’s close call and we will have to wait till Rahman finishes his innings before making a final pronouncement. Both are the closest to a thing called genius we have in film music. The other prodigious talent in Indian music is Ilayaraja. Thee music of these three goes beyond the genre called Film Music.. and is just good music, period. Their work will last a hundred years and more of that I am certain.
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May 19, 2011 at 4:14 AM
I do not know whether this song is from the 80s but is one of my fav and I think is signature RD – sounds like a simple song but very difficult when you try to sing along!
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May 19, 2011 at 4:15 AM
2 years off!
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May 19, 2011 at 5:43 AM
beautiful song!!!
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May 19, 2011 at 11:01 PM
it is mid 70s movie but beautiful song indeed – all songs from ghar were melodious!
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May 19, 2011 at 11:40 PM
Ghar…78..
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May 19, 2011 at 4:24 AM
I also have to agree with oldgold that I like the RDB of the 70s than the 80s. 80s did not really have any good male singers after the passing away of Kishore and Rafi. Someone also I think had righty pointed out RD ended up giving good music to some really bad films and some indifferent tunes to good films .
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May 19, 2011 at 5:05 AM
Satyam Thanks for wonerful compilation..
So good to see so many RD music lovers. I m one such. To me RD comes 1st and thn rest follows….
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May 19, 2011 at 5:37 AM
Sorry, don’t mean to take away the attention from Pancham, but in case anyone is interested (probably not) there’s a nice two part article on Roshan.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C05%5C17%5Cstory_17-5-2011_pg9_14
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C05%5C18%5Cstory_18-5-2011_pg9_15
Regarding RDB, he’s not in my top five favourite MD’s…i acknowledge he made lots of great songs, but also so much crap!! I def prefer the melody of Madan Mohan, Roshan, Khaiyyam. And in terms ofmore innovative stuff, Salil Da was wicked.
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May 20, 2011 at 12:08 AM
Mine includes Ghulam Mohammad, Naushad, Hemant Kumar, C.Ramachandra, Vasnat Desai, O.P.Nayyar, SJ,SD with the above mentioned.
But I think here the discussion is about modern music appealing to someone craving for a different sort of music which has less melody, less depth and more style. Which goes with burgers, finger chips and pepsi. It is not to demean anyone but to explain the changing of tastes due to various factors.Meena Kumari is passe and Kareena is in.
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May 20, 2011 at 12:11 AM
Vasant Desai
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May 19, 2011 at 5:50 AM
Only ardent admireres of RD would know that he was even a better singer than most singers!
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May 19, 2011 at 6:49 AM
Satyam, why have you not included Love Story in this compilation. I recollect music of this film was very popular and well appreciated.
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May 19, 2011 at 8:05 AM
Thanx pranav…lol
I have a bit of an ability in the art of “instigation” and “inducement”.
By the way, what do the people(who missed the previous debate on the ghai-arrahaman) thread feel about AR Rahman vs rd burman or even before that , RDB vs SD Burman…..(continuing from that previous thread)
Also, have a glance at the two links I have put above on the “chronicles of plagiarism- rd burman part1&2)– obviously I don’t agree with that entirely(as always)— hahaha– what do u think– did rd lift those or get “inspired”?
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May 19, 2011 at 8:40 AM
>did rd lift those or get “inspired”?
When an iconic thing is copied (like copying Taj Mahal), it’s inspiration, but when copying something not so well known, something obscure then it’s ‘lifting’.
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May 19, 2011 at 8:49 AM
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May 19, 2011 at 8:50 AM
what one wouldn’t give today for the likes of Pritam to be inspired by Mozart!
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May 19, 2011 at 9:04 AM
I was going to link to this song to show a Mozart ‘inspired’ song, but didn’t bother. LOL!
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May 19, 2011 at 9:09 AM
I’m not sure if you linked to it to point out SDB ‘also copied’. LOL:
But I do prefer him to his son.
As I mentioned earlier, my personal taste wants melody, in addition to other things. Folk songs can have a dominating beat/rhythm, but an underlying melody is important.
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May 19, 2011 at 9:57 AM
not at all.. I actually find it to be an inspired song in the best sense..
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May 19, 2011 at 10:24 AM
IMO RDB was more verstatile and his output was much more (I think only LP compared to him in terms of quantity).
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May 19, 2011 at 9:27 AM
Never knew…
I think most MD have copied or inspired by other music.. Salil da take russian revolution song and put it in Do Bheega Zameen.. SJ also did …
So moot question comes, Is that Deep copy or Shallow copy( here they put there own signature and own it)
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May 19, 2011 at 9:58 AM
But consider those sources.. these were composers well-versed in various musical traditions, or at least knew something of them. Today the problem with someone like Pritam is that he simply lifts pop tunes and so on.
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May 19, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Thanks so very much Satyam for putting this post up. For me, RD has been the best composer Indian films have ever produced as his sense of rythmn and melody has yet to be matched. As a kid we would watch certain movies even if we thought they weren’t going to be up to much if RD was the composer.
Infact for the past fortnight when I’ve been on nightshift I’ve been singing RD away to myself with some strange glances from co-workers who haven’t got the faintest idea what I’m singing.
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May 19, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Glad you enjoyed it Aramak.. such a list for the 70s for him would be forbiddingly difficult! Even here I had to leave out stuff. I might put up a post for the best albums of the 80s at some point because I am quite sure they all belong to RD. With the possible exception of Karz and one or two others.
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May 19, 2011 at 10:26 AM
just updated with list with a new one. meant to add this but forgot. Dekho idhar dekho from Phir Wohi Raat. It’s at the end.
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May 19, 2011 at 1:03 PM
songs from Hum Kisse se Kum Nahin, Zamane ko Dikhana Hai, Yadon ki Baraat superb. RD and Nasir Hussain were an awesome combo
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May 19, 2011 at 12:34 PM
Wonderful post, Satyam. You’ve given me the playlist for the entire day!
RDB is a personal favorite and while I prefer his work from the 1961-1975 period, I agree that he was still the best thing about the 80s Hindi Film music scene.
I don’t want to overload the post with YT links, but can’t resist these:
Yeh zindagi kuch bhi sahi – Romance
Aisa sama na hota – Zameen Aasman
Aayega mere sapno ka raja – Kaun Kaisey
Aur kya ahd-e-wafa – Sunny
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May 19, 2011 at 12:59 PM
All the links are welcome Shalini.. as I said the list was already long enough and I wanted to be more representative but with some of his albums it’s hard to make the choice.
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May 19, 2011 at 11:49 PM
with Gulzar Intro
another one from Libaas
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May 22, 2011 at 10:37 PM
awesome soundtracks both libaas and ijaazat.
wish we could see libaas!
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June 2, 2011 at 4:57 PM
two lesser known RD numbers from the 70s:
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June 2, 2011 at 5:03 PM
and now a somewhat obscure Kishore number composed by Salil Choudhry (who among other things also composed for the Malayalam classic Chemeen):
what I did not know before I searched for this video was that the original was sung in Bengali by Lata:
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June 2, 2011 at 5:09 PM
and even if I don’t know the language Bengali has always had my vote for ‘sweetest’ Indian language..
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June 2, 2011 at 6:19 PM
Lovely songs.
I agree about Bengali being the sweetest Indian language.
Internationally I find French sweet as well, and urdu as another lovely Indian language.
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June 2, 2011 at 9:06 PM
They say maximum expressions/vocab are in bangali among all indian languages followed by gujarati….
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June 2, 2011 at 6:56 PM
Followed by gujarati!
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June 2, 2011 at 7:59 PM
Agree–French and Bengali are quite sweet..
ODnt understadn bengali at all except one phrase…
but the most effective is the eye language—lol
Useful link–
http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/parts_body_language/eyes_body_language.htm
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June 2, 2011 at 8:09 PM
talking of languages—german takes the cake in abruptness derived from brusque cultural inluences—no offence meant to germans—hav some good friends…..lol
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June 2, 2011 at 9:05 PM
talk to a lady in french,gentlemen in english, rogue in german…Alex, I will have to switch in german to talk to you now….LOL
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June 2, 2011 at 11:00 PM
I just cant say that bengali is the sweetest but their rosgollahs and other bengali sweets are sinfully great. Their emphasis on Os turn me off and it is a torture for a non bengali to tok(talk) like that. Just like the rolling of Rs in American accents. Anyone who hears Mamta addressing the bengali public will have a different take. German is one language which has more manliness of the military variety.
Calcutta is so easy for the tongue while Kolkota makes me avoid it. Vande becomes Bande, Vrinda becomes Brinda while Vincent may become Bincent and Viraat Biraat. Batting for B. Big B will be happy.
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June 3, 2011 at 1:22 AM
Superb analysis Vati…agree with ya on all points. Kemon acchey apni? I think Bangali people will say the same thing about us…that Badi becomes Vadi, Brinda becomes Vrinda…for them….so confusing. I guess its like that in all languages. Peter Sellers NEVER fails to make me laugh with his french accent in all the pink panther series or a spanish person speaking English or the VERY best is mallu speaking hindi….btw did you eat your lunj today? hahahahha
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June 3, 2011 at 1:29 AM
No lunj. My language has very clear and individual phonetics. Guess.
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June 3, 2011 at 2:08 AM
Tamil
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June 3, 2011 at 2:19 AM
No. Its Telugu and Kannada and Marathi.
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January 10, 2013 at 2:20 PM
Not sure if this was shared, here is a docu on RD. Enjoy friends.
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March 13, 2013 at 2:34 PM
Superb………..
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March 13, 2013 at 3:16 PM
Superb. Thanks Rocky ..
Pancham still mesmerizes after 4 decades
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