Brimful of Asha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Brimful of Asha"

Single by Cornershop
from the album When I Was Born for the 7th Time
Writer(s)	Cornershop
Producer(s)	Cornershop

"Brimful of Asha" is an East-West Fusion pop-rock song by the British band Cornershop, which originally reached number 60 in the UK Singles Chart in 1997. A remix by Fatboy Slim became a hit in 1998 on the US and UK charts, reaching #1 in the UK. The lyrics are a tribute to Asha Bhosle, one of the most famous pop singers/film-score vocalists of India (Indian).

This song is based upon the history of film culture in India. Since its introduction, Indian films have relied heavily on song-and-dance numbers attributable to Broadway musicals. Almost always, the singing was performed by background singers while the actors and actresses lip-sync. Asha Bhosle is one of these playback singers who has sung over 20,000 songs .In 1997 she won an MTV music award and later recorded the song "Code Red" which appears on the soundtrack for the movie Bulletproof Monk.

The song is also an answer, from an Indian perspective, to the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner", sharing a Velvet Underground-esque rhythm and chord-structure, and invoking teenage experiences of listening to pop music. As in "Roadrunner", the song's middle section lists the icons and emblems of the experience in a call-and-response with the backing singers, and also, like "Roadrunner", places listening to the radio at the centre of the experience.

[edit] Audio sample

Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from Brimful Of Asha
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Preceded by "My Heart Will Go On" by Céline Dion	UK Singles Chart Number 1 single February 22, 1998 for 1 week	Succeeded by "Frozen" by Madonna