Golden Voice and More

Once upon a time, there was a golden voice on radio. It was that of Ameen Sayani, who was a host of a countdown of the week's hit songs-usually film songs. Starting with sales figures for records (LP or EP), those old-fashioned things, he moved on to using opinions of fan clubs around the country also. The program began as Binaca Geet Mala after the toothpaste brand, from Radio Ceylon, and morphed into Cibaca Geet Mala after a rebranding exercise. The country was also 'rebranded' so it was Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation which broadcast the show. Anyway, this popular hit parade had countless fans including me. Now, I am listening to some CDs by him (Ameen Sayani) called Geetmala ki chhaon mein that recount the glory days. Makes for fantastic listening. It is interwoven with interviews with various luminaries, and comes in yearwise volumes. One of the gems was listening to RD Burman talk about his inspiration- jazz, brass instruments and the cabaret format- for his songs from Teesri Manzil.

I am also listening to/viewing a show on Mastii channel called Golden Era, hosted by Annu Kapoor, of Antakshari fame. It is also similar, and pertains to the songs of my times. Very enjoyable!