The evergreen SPB - my fav songs

The GRAND voice of the man himself  SPB has made millions of tamil film music listeners, his fans or rather fanatics. I am one of the fanatics of the evergreen play back singer just because of ONE reason, that is, he brings life into the songs he sings. I love the way in which he sings the songs His improvisation (for example laughing in the middle of the song at the appropriate time) is great! 

Whatever he sings, peppy or pathos, he brings the particular mood of the song through his magical voice. That is why he is still the ICON for many of the play back singers in tamil film music industry. I think he has sung around 39000 to 40000 songs in various languages. It is rather very difficult to list out the top 10 songs, so here some of my most favorite songs of him :-




1.Madai Thiranthu from Nizhalgal - This song is my all time favourite because of the fact that whenever i feel dull, lilstening to this song recharges my mind. His voice modulation in this song is absolutely breathtaking.

2.Mandram vantha from Mouna ragam - One of the most difficult songs to sing just because of the pitch level esp. in the charanam. SPB delivers it with ease and perfection.

3.Ilamai idho idho song from Sakalakalavallavan -  What a grand song man! The energy with which it is sung is just marvelous. 

4.Minnale nee from May matham - The music in this song by ARR along with the MAGIC voice of SPB are wonderful. SPB brings the pathos mood to this song with his brilliant variations.

5.Oru Kadhal enbathu from Chinna Thambi Periya thambi -  Though i think it is a song which many would not have heard, i like this song becuase of SPB’s romantic voice. This song is a duet, but the way in which it was delivered by SPB is fabulous. 

6.Poovil vandu koodum from Kadhal oviyum - Defying his critics that he cannot sing a pure classical or carnatic song, all the songs SPB sung in the movie were purely classical, esp. this song which i love the most. 

7.Kadhal rojave from Roja - One of my all time classics - the music in the song and the voice of the evergreen master blends really well, the net result being a GRAND treat to our ears. I prefer to hear this song late night because of its melody. Just experience it! 

8.Ilayanila from Payanangal Mudivathillai - One of the finest pieces of music by the great mastero ILAYARAJA. The way in which it was sung by SPB, i really doubt if any one could replace the finest singer of all time, SPB 

9.Sundari kannal oru sethi from Thalapathy - its a milestone movie for Ilayaraja, Rajini kanth and manirathnam.. Infact, a wonderful combination in tamil musical arena is Ilayraja - SPB. one of the fabulous and my favorite is this song. he has sung it along with S. Janaki.

10.Enna Satham Indha Neram from Punnagai Mannan - Again, the meeting of two great talents - Ilayaraja and SPB - creates magic. Really, the experience of listening to both of them at their finest is heavenly. Raja’s incredibly tender handling of the guitar and flute is brilliantly complemented by SPB’s superlative rendition.

11.Nalam Vaazha  from Marupadiyum - This is the Tamil equivalent of Tum Itna Kyon Muskura Rahi Ho from Arth. By equivalent, I mean the movie situation is the same. But the song is entirely different and the pain more intense. With due respect to Jagjit Singh, his charming interludes cannot match Ilayaraja ’s genius, and personally, I find SPB’s performance more touching.

12.En Kadhaale from Duet - Now for some A R Rahman. SPB opens his heart in this song, tearing you apart in the passionate highs. Not to mention Kadari Gopalnath’s superb saxophone solos in the interludes.

13.Thodha Thodha Malarndhadhenna from Indira - Well, SPB has to share credit with Chitra here. Difficult to say who’s better in this song, but one thing’s for sure - they have both given what will rank among their best performances and that for such legendary singers is something. Even in his early movies, A R Rahman knew just how to extract the best out of all singers - the renowned and the unknown.

14.Nilave Vaa from Mouna Raagam - A lot of people would say this song ought to be ahead of Nilave Vaa, as SPB has arguably sung this one better than the other song in question. But when I rate a song, it’s not only on the basis of SPB’s performance. I take the overall musical experience into account and on that count this is just a shade below Unnai Nanachen in terms of intensity.

15.Malare from Karna - One of the last few songs in which one got to see such splendid competition between SPB and S Janaki. Again, the verdict:it’s too close to call. They both excel. Kudos to Vidyasagar for bringing the legendary pair together for this lovely melody.

16.Mannil Intha Kadhal from  Keladi Kanmani - Can any SPB list not have this song? The song where this untrained singer sang an entire stanza breathless and did it again in the next stanza too! But the point is not really that it’s a ’breathless’ song, it’s the elegance with which this astonishing feat is achieved that makes it one of SPB’s very best songs.  

17.Vannam konda vennilavae from Sigaram -This is a special song with music n sang by SPB.

18.Mun paniya from Nandha - After the arrival of so many new singers and their domination this song is come back for SPB and proved that he is the king ever. The voice and rendition in each and every line has something new to deliver and especially the ending ?Valkiraen naan un moochilae? is out of world.  

19.Kadhalin deepam from Thambikku endha ooru - Anyone who is a big fan of Rajini in his hey days (when he had lots of hair) and has watched DD in the 80s would have seen this song in an advert for Bush TV. With the luscious Madhavi as the inspiration being the song, this slow and contemplative romantic number is one of those early songs which helped in catapulting Rajini to super star status .

20.Taj mahal from Amaravathi - Not many would have heard of this composer but yes, besides Amaravathi this guy also gave the musical hit Thalaivasal. This particular choice of mine is a soft romantic number in which SPB and Janaki combine magnificently to create the perfect ambience of love. No loud instrumentation here - its a very pleasant hear.