BHOSLE, ASHA
Best of Asha Bhosle
(Manteca)
cd
14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What with all these Bollywood soundtrack compilations coming out it's about time that there was a disc that features the work of one of the all-time greats in the genre. Asha Bhosle is, as stated in the liner notes, the "indisputed Queen of Bollywood." With over 20,000 recorded songs to her credit she is second only to her sister, Lata Mangeshkar, who holds the Guiness Book of World Records title for most recorded songs by a singer (at 25,000)! Born in 1933, Asha got her start in films in 1949, when she was only 16 and has been singing the songs -- which are the very backbone of Indian films -- for 50 years since. Given her lengthy and prolific career, this compilation of a mere 14 tracks is a paltry representation of her life's work. But as paltry as it is in scope it's still quite a great collection. The tracks here are taken mostly from films made during the 60's and 70's and feature all those things about Indian film music we love: beautiful string arrangements with all manner of additional instrumentation (east and west), be it electric guitar, organ, orchestral bells, harp, vibes, you name it, it's probably on here. There are a couple of disappointing things about this collection however; one is that a couple of tracks here -- most likely ones from the late seventies -- are a little heavy on the synth action, the other is that if you already own the excellent "Bollywood Funk" comp on Outcaste than you're getting a bit of redundancy, as two tracks overlap on both discs. You'd think that for someone with so fecund a recorded output, Manteca records wouldn't have managed to pick two gems that weren't also released on another collection the same year! But then again, one of 'em is one of the best, most infectious Bhosle tracks we've heard ("Dum Maro Dum" from the soundtrack to Hare Rama Hare Krishna)... regardless, it's still a grand sampling of great Indian film music, featuring a superb singer to boot.
RealAudio clip: "In Aankhon Ki Masti"
RealAudio clip: "O Mera Sona"
RealAudio clip: "Lekar Ham Diwana Dil"