UNSUNG SONGWRITERS

Of course pun intended...ur welcome

Last week witnessed the 68th birthday of Bob Dylan, the undisputed best songwriter of all times. When any self-proclaimed music pundit talks about great songwriter, his would be the first name mentioned- respect. And also Lennon, Paul Simon, John Denver, Roger Waters and relatively contemporary-Billy Joel. I would like to portray a few of my favourite songwriters (tho i'm not that into music, jus happy to listen to good tunes...i'm not a fanatic) who I believe deserve a lot of appreciation, hence I call them my UNSUNG SONGWRITERS (list is not exclusive)

1. Björn Ulvaeus - The main lyricist of the world-rocking Swedish band ABBA, his songs (as well as music) transcend all ages and music lovers everywhere. Remember FERNANDO -

Can you hear the drums fernando?
I remember long ago another starry night like this
In the firelight fernando
You were humming to yourself and softly strumming your guitar
I could hear the distant drums
And sounds of bugle calls were coming from afar
..there was something in the air that night......

or OUR LAST SUMMER (from the movie Mamma Mia)
Those crazy years, that was the time
Of the flower-power
But underneath we had a fear of flying
Of getting old, a fear of slowly dying
We took the chance
Like we were dancing our last dance

These songs are pure delight in both music and lyrics department. Of course there is also Slipping through my fingers, Andante Andante, SOS.....i could go on and on. And dont forget, he also wrote music for a few musicals - one such is CHESS; check out One night in Bangkok & The Arbiter, they rock.

2. Jim Steinman (for Meatloaf) - Writer for the trilogy of Bat out of hell albums (the 1st installment being the 4th largest selling albums ever). I don't know much about his hardrock songs but we all know his song -I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) with that horror-cum-love-story-movie style 12min video (yes longer than November rain) and the song I cud listen over and over again Rock&roll dreams come through. And one for the ladies, the passionate It's all coming back to me now (popularised by Celine Dion) goes like-

There were hours that just went on for days
When alone at last we'd count up all the chances
That were lost to us forever

But you were history with the slamming of the door
And I made myself so strong again somehow
And I never wasted any of my time on you since then

3. Babyface (Kenneth Edmonds) - The list of stars he had worked with is amazing - Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Phil Collins, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Pink, Michael and Janet Jacksons (whew anyone left?) , TLC (remember the cute Left Eye), Ev Vogue...etc etc.
But I would remember him most for the songs he wrote for BoyzIIMen - End of the road which was the longest #1 on billboard charts and I'll make love to you ........respect

4. Freddy Mercury - One could laud him for his amazing vocals (best ever in my opinion) or stage performance. But dont overlook his (as well as the other Queen members) talent as a songwriter. Why, he wrote the great Bohemian Rhapsody.....need i say anything more?
Check out Good old fashioned lover boy , it rocks and the well known to the younger generation number Too much love will kill you was written by Brian May.

Other notable lyricists include Elton John, Kurt Cobain, Eminem, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Dan Seals, Tom Petty, Bono etc etc...well its a matter of opinion...in this case my blog -my opinion!

Growing up in the 80s (Part I)

Anyone who had the privilege of seeing the 80s rolled by wud agree how magical it was.

Forget the technological re-tardiness, you had to be there to see it...unfortunately you cant now.....so let's reminisce and go back to Aizawl in the swinging 80s.

TELEVISION - TVs came to Mizoram in the early 80s (late 70s actually), but the common man could afford it only in the late 80s. No cable back then, we had to be content with cartoons on sundays (HeMan, Spiderman, Jimmy & the magic torch, few others i forgot). Those whose adobes happen to be located higher up along the west hills (McDonald, Dawrpui, Chanmari) and westward had reception to Bangladesh network which aired far better programs including cartoons everyday (see how small our joys used to be) and MacGuyver. I remember seeing my first episode of Thundercats at a fren's house after hearing so many lively discussions amongst the exclusive priviledged lot.

Of course, Chitrahar and later Rangoli were the only source of music videos. But what we'd really be waiting for were the commercials/ads/fakna which often run upto 30mins at a stretch (and ppl nowadays curse long ads tsk tsk). On saturday night, there was this informative "The world this week" which my bro never missed.

Saturday and Sunday nights meant...Movies - colour flicks, then later Sunday's was black n white. News in Hindi - never missed them, even tho nothing made sense without the video footage. Lots of serials and soaps....saw few, actually followed a couple.

Coming back to Sundays, after HeMan came Ramayana (later Mahabharata) which we couldnt watch fully cos of Sunday School. And, right after Sunday school, i remember seeeing an Indian version of star trek aired for a year or so. Much later, the sword of Tipu Sultan was aired.

World cups - My 1st WC goes back to 1986 with Maradonna's magic and hand-of god goal. I saw the semis and final at my uncle's, slept thru most of the matches. And i had actually seen (but dont remember) the final of Euro84.

Olympics, especially the opening and closing ceremonies were a must-see. Saw Ben Johnson winning the 100m sprint, Greg Louganis smashed his head on the springboard and USA beating USSR overall in the 88 Seoul.

Saw Pat Cash winning Wimbledon with his trademark checked headband. Saw McEnroe and Boris Becker battled it out, Martina-Graf rivalry and later Graf-Seles.

Movies of the 80s are now described as cheesy. But hey, nothing can beat the thrill of seeing the hero beat up and kill villains after villains in the one-man-army flicks - Rambo or Commando. Action movies like Karate Kid, Rocky series, Bloodsport, The Champ, American Ninja have become cult movies. To top it all, the martial art movies (Kungfu film as we wud call them) like Jackie Chan's, 36th chamber of shaolin(lost count of how many times i saw) and the countless Chinese movies were pure joy.

But i guess as far as movies in Mizoram go (at least in Aizawl), if you had been there in the 80s, you would have seen at least half of these listed

1. Grease2

2. Girls just wanna have fun

3. Terrence Hill & Bud Spencer series

4. Qayamat se quamat tak

5. Khoon Bhari Maang

6. Indian version of Tarzan( Vai tarzan)

7. Raiders of the lost ark

8. Terminator

9. ET

10. Evil dead

and Ka nu khawnge i awm

Movies were rented at Rs10 per night and Rs5 for half-day. If u borrowed 2 or more sometimes they will throw in an extra one free of charge. But u had to check that the film(the reel as we called it) was even and not serrated(a tlang kir) at the edge as that wud result in jumpy pictures and cause "dirty head" (a head bal) to the VCR player, and rewinding the tapes seemed like the longest 2 minutes of a lifetime.

Hulkamania conquered the entertainment world with his crazy antics, superhuman strength and showmanship, and everyone caught the wrestling bug , then available only on VHS tapes. Music videos were available only on tapes as well. I remember seeing Starship's Nothing gonna stop us now, Dire Strait's Money for nothing and Queen's I want to break free.

Those were the magical days for ppl like me...i can go on & on but that's it for now. I'l try and cover music, video games and other forms of entertainment in Part II, til then LONG LIVE THE 80s.

The Day Before Tomorrow

It rained again today, bringing a much needed respite from the sweltering summer heat. And there was a spectacle in the form of a rainbow, tho a short and faint one as opposed to the ones we used to see back home.

And oh there was a battle for supremacy amongst the elements - the unforgiving sun and the relentless rain (called ni leh ruah indo in my language) - with the latter winning by a good margin. I didnt mind getting wet on my way back from work tho I was wary of my cell phone in my pocket. And there was a brief hailstorm (rather shower of hailstones) a couple of days back. Vellore's weather is becoming less predictible than ever.

MoneyMoneyMoney must be funnee!

Warren Buffet's advice to young people: "Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:
A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
B. Live your lives as simple as you are.
C. Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.
D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life."

I would like to add, the richest person is one who lives within his means and not the one with most money!

The mind of a shoe-thrower

"What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas"...lamented Black Eyed Peas.

Yea I ask you...what's wrong in the world of journalism that every other day we have to hear about some cranky journalist hurling a shoe at some political leader (way to go Bushy for showing the way)

Now, lets not ponder upon the many possible reasons why a grown man with a respectable career would throw his footwear at another (?)respectable man - he lost his turn to ask questions, he's fed up of the recession and he is likely to get the boot(pun intended), he had a bad lunch, his big toe is itching and he had to take off his shoe and thought"Hey, why not", the ac in his office conked off or his dog has worms......we don't care.

What we would like to know is what would be going thru his mind before during and after the great throw. Let's crack our skulls together....

Before - Is it a pre-planned operation or a spur-of-the moment thing? Lets assume it is pre-planned, how would one prepare himself for such a task. He would have to abstain from all alcoholic beverages for at least a week (why?cos it screws up your co-ordination duh) and having seen the Bush jig on TV, I realised how important it would be to have a perfect hand-eye co-ordination for the job. Any special exercise or training required?
(Nowadays there are plenty of online training sites for this kind of job but mind you there's more to than just clicking a mouse)

Next, what kind of shoe would you throw? An old one or a new pair specially bought for the auspicious occasion. Personally I think a pair of Bata leather shoes would be perfect considering the aesthetic form and aerodynamic built.


D-day - How do you actually throw it? Which side shall you throw? In case you miss, have you taken off the other side for a second take? When is the right time? Where should you aim for?
For a right handed thrower, it would be ideal to use the left one holding it upside down at the front end , chuck it with a left-sided arc action to get a good trajectory using Bernoulli's principle (like the swinging of the cricket ball)


Another big q- When? obviously Bush's case was not timely done. The right time would be when it is least expected....like when the would-be victim is gabbing away, not when he pauses for a response. Remember, you are unlikely to get a decent second chance.



Finally to top it, what do you do after the deed is done? Well, you can chant a hate slogan and curse "Death to blah-blah-blah", "no more Bush" (Moses would agree since he had to wander 40yrs in the desert after talking to one)....and be considered a hero, a role model for school kids and a future recepient for a bravery award (posthumously or in jail).

Unfortunately, in India you will not even make headlines, not even the frontpage, only a small column on the right hand side on page 5 somewhere under the article which talks about artificial reproduction attemted in Pandas in captivity.