Some 1980s Tamil film music for you today. Not that old chestnut, I hear you say. I'm afraid so.
I was rooting around in the bargain bins of a local second-hand record shop recently when I found a copy of "Ilectro!: Euphoric Electronics and Robotic Funk by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja", released on the always interesting Finders Keepers label in 2013. The cover alone was enough to persuade me to hand over the money.
To quote from the liner notes: "This compilation focuses on Ilaiyaraaja's growth in the mid-1980s as a confident young composer adding freak pop fuel to the flickering flame of Kodambakkam’s [an area in Chennai where studios were located] Kollywood film industry, while embracing domestic synthesiser technology and fusing the power of electro and synth pop to his Carnatic canon". So now you know.
Ilaiyaraaja is still going strong at 82 and earlier this year became to first Asian film composer to have a symphony performed in London (with the Royal Philharmonic). Very impressive and a far cry from his 80s days.
But we're here to dance. Let's gather together the cast of thousands and get the show started.
"Unithaan" - Ilaiyaraaja
"Aththi Marakkili" - Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja had perhaps the biggest hit of his illustrious career in 1991 with his music for the film "Thalapathi". The soundtrack was included in The Guardian's list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" and the song "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" was placed fourth in a BBC World Service poll of "World Top Ten Popular Songs of All-time" (although with "Believe" by Cher at #8 I'm not sure how much faith to place on this list).
Here are the hits.
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