It’s amazing to see several kids—hardly out of primary schools—singing on reality shows old melodies that have been popular, perhaps even before their parents are born.
Parents are frenetically searching for songs in different categories like duets, patriotic songs, solos, sorrowful numbers etc as each participant has to submit a list before the rounds in the show begin. That’s where veteran film music aficionado-turned- song recorder like L. Harinarayana Lal is proving handy with his precious collection of old songs.
Mr. Lal, a former electricity board employee, has a collection of about 18,000 Telugu songs and 9,000 Hindi songs. But he has them all in long play (LP) records and audio cassettes that dominated the music scene before CD and other advanced digital works came on to the scene.
Among the prized possessions of Mr. Lal are songs from Ardhangi, Keelugurram, Balaraju, Rakasharekha,Yogi Vemana, Manohara (in which the legendary Talat Mahmood sang), Manorma and Madanakamaraju. A Telugu version of a duet from Alibaba 40 Dongalu, an MGR-starrer, sung by A.M. Raja and Bhanumathi is among the oldest songs. An LP of Satya Harischandra in which the legendary S.V. Ranga Rao and Lakshmirajyam starred is another rarity. Another collector’s pride is the soundtrack of LV Prasad’s Shavukar released in 1984. He has about 100 LPs each in Hindi and Telugu, Mr.Lal says.
“It has been a hobby since the 1950s to collect records and listen to them. But I began the recording centre in 1978 and the collection stood me in good stead. People in the city and from other areas also come to me for old songs,” proudly says the 72-year-old Lal who runs his shop near Dolphin Hotel here. In the early stages of the trend-setting Paduta Teeyaga, singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam recorded a few songs that were not available to him.
He says his collection goes back to the 1940s. Among his Hindi collection are Anari, Naya Daur, Baiju Bawra, Anmolghadi, Aah and Amar. Organisers of film orchestras fall back upon him whenever they need old songs. A few years ago, he converted about 1,000 songs from records to cassettes and further to CDs that makes recording easy for him and ensures quality. Age had its impact and Mr. Lal who used to record 20 cassettes a day now does only four. The parents of kids participating in realty shows bring a list to him and he gives the recorded songs from his vast list.
