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'Playback' it again, Asha
Vocalist Asha Bhosle's talent is matched by her staggering accomplishments.
Bhosle is a "playback singer," a role not associated with American films since the golden age of musicals. But in India's "Bollywood" film factory in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), music still plays a huge part. And for 60 years, Bhosle has been supplying the vocals that have been lip-synced by actors in nearly 1,000 movies.
According to some estimates, she's sung more than 20,000 songs, though Bhosle herself puts the number at 13,000 — hardly less impressive.
"Filmi," which means "film song," is largely synonymous with popular music in India, making Bhosle one of the biggest musical attractions on the subcontinent. But it's not just about quantity. She is among the most versatile of the playback singers, performing songs in a variety of genres from classical to folk, cabaret to pop.
Western ears have caught on to her work, albeit in bits and pieces. She's been sampled by the Black Eyed Peas and Nelly Furtado, among others, and the British band Cornershop recorded a hit tribute to Bhosle titles "Brimful of Asha."
In 2005, she recorded "You've Stolen My Heart," a tribute to her late husband, famed Bollywood music director R.D. Burman, with the Kronos Quartet.
On a 17-city North American tour that brings her to St. Louis on Sunday, Bhosle recently spoke by phone from Toronto.
Q: So much of your work has been done in recording studios. How do you like touring the world and performing for live audiences?
A: I like it so very much. But I'm here because of my recordings. My first love is the recordings, and people love me because of my film music, film songs. So now I'm singing onstage.
Q: Most Americans are unfamiliar with the role of the playback singer. How would you explain what you do?
A: Like, you know, "My Fair Lady" — that wasn't Audrey Hepburn singing. (It was Marnie Nixon.) You saw that in "Singin' in the Rain" also. They can't sing, the film artists. So they take our voices. I'm singing for every heroine, because they can't sing.
Q: Along with your sister Lata Mangeshkar, you're perhaps the most famous of the playback singers.
A: I've been doing it for 60 years. Many of the film stars, they have come and gone. But I'm still here because I'm a musician, a singer.
Q: One of the aspects of your work that's most intriguing is your versatility. Is that unusual?
A: I don't know about other singers, because they sing one style only. Like low song, cabaret. I'm singing all the styles of songs. If you're not changing your style, you will be stuck there.
Q: It's said that you might be the most-recorded artist in the world. Do you know how many songs you've sung?
A: Thirteen thousand. When I was recording a lot, in one day, I'd sing three songs, five songs. All the time I was busy for so many years, singing like this.
Q: Do you have any idea of how many records you've sold?
A: That, I don't know. I don't keep track of things like that.
Q: Your music is sometimes sampled in Western pop songs. Have you heard any of them? What do you think of the results?
A: I heard so many things, all the time. I like it, yeah. Not so much that they use my music, but my style. If they make something new out of it, that is good. If they just copy an old song, that is bad.
Q: Do you have any plans to retire?
A: When my voice will tell me it can't sing, then I will stop.
Vocalist Asha Bhosle's talent is matched by her staggering accomplishments.
Bhosle is a "playback singer," a role not associated with American films since the golden age of musicals. But in India's "Bollywood" film factory in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), music still plays a huge part. And for 60 years, Bhosle has been supplying the vocals that have been lip-synced by actors in nearly 1,000 movies.
According to some estimates, she's sung more than 20,000 songs, though Bhosle herself puts the number at 13,000 — hardly less impressive.
"Filmi," which means "film song," is largely synonymous with popular music in India, making Bhosle one of the biggest musical attractions on the subcontinent. But it's not just about quantity. She is among the most versatile of the playback singers, performing songs in a variety of genres from classical to folk, cabaret to pop.
Western ears have caught on to her work, albeit in bits and pieces. She's been sampled by the Black Eyed Peas and Nelly Furtado, among others, and the British band Cornershop recorded a hit tribute to Bhosle titles "Brimful of Asha."
In 2005, she recorded "You've Stolen My Heart," a tribute to her late husband, famed Bollywood music director R.D. Burman, with the Kronos Quartet.
On a 17-city North American tour that brings her to St. Louis on Sunday, Bhosle recently spoke by phone from Toronto.
Q: So much of your work has been done in recording studios. How do you like touring the world and performing for live audiences?
A: I like it so very much. But I'm here because of my recordings. My first love is the recordings, and people love me because of my film music, film songs. So now I'm singing onstage.
Q: Most Americans are unfamiliar with the role of the playback singer. How would you explain what you do?
A: Like, you know, "My Fair Lady" — that wasn't Audrey Hepburn singing. (It was Marnie Nixon.) You saw that in "Singin' in the Rain" also. They can't sing, the film artists. So they take our voices. I'm singing for every heroine, because they can't sing.
Q: Along with your sister Lata Mangeshkar, you're perhaps the most famous of the playback singers.
A: I've been doing it for 60 years. Many of the film stars, they have come and gone. But I'm still here because I'm a musician, a singer.
Q: One of the aspects of your work that's most intriguing is your versatility. Is that unusual?
A: I don't know about other singers, because they sing one style only. Like low song, cabaret. I'm singing all the styles of songs. If you're not changing your style, you will be stuck there.
Q: It's said that you might be the most-recorded artist in the world. Do you know how many songs you've sung?
A: Thirteen thousand. When I was recording a lot, in one day, I'd sing three songs, five songs. All the time I was busy for so many years, singing like this.
Q: Do you have any idea of how many records you've sold?
A: That, I don't know. I don't keep track of things like that.
Q: Your music is sometimes sampled in Western pop songs. Have you heard any of them? What do you think of the results?
A: I heard so many things, all the time. I like it, yeah. Not so much that they use my music, but my style. If they make something new out of it, that is good. If they just copy an old song, that is bad.
Q: Do you have any plans to retire?
A: When my voice will tell me it can't sing, then I will stop.
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