3 Kung Fu Classics

Gordon Liu  in - The 36th  Chamber  of  Shaolin (1978) produced by Shaw Brothers

Blast from the past !  Boxer Rebellion(1975) Another  Shaw Brothers classic. Starring  Alexander Fu Sheng and  Chi Kuan Chun !

Macho man takes on  eunuch !  The hot Don Wang Tao stars - in the kungfu flick  Eunuch of the Western Palace (1979) 

London Olympics : medal tally

BeeGees - Alone (lyrics)

 Alone  by BeeGees
I was a midnight rider on a cloud of smoke
I could make a woman hang on every single stroke
I was an iron man
I had a master plan
But I was alone

I could hear you breathing
With a sigh of the wind
I remember how your body started trembling
Oh, what's a night it's been
And for the state I m in
I m still alone

And all the wonders made for the earth
And all the hearts in all creation
Somehow I always end up alone
Always end up alone

So I play, I'll wait
Cause you know that love takes time
We came so far
Just the beat of a lonely heart
And it's mine
I don't want to be alone

Well, since I got no message on your answer phone
And since you're busy every minute.
I just stay at home
I make believe you care
I feel you everywhere
But Im still alone

I m on a wheel of fortune with a twist of fate
Cause I know it isn't heaven, is it love or hate
Am I the subject of the pain
An I the stranger in the rain
I am alone

And if there glory there to behold
Maybe it's my imagination
Another story there to be told

So I play, I'll wait
And I pray it's not too late
We came so far
Just a beat of a lonely heart
And it's mine
I don't want to be alone


(Gone, but not out of sight
I m caught in the rain and there's no one home
Face the heat of the night
The one that you loves got a heart that's made of stone

Shine and search for the light
And sooner or later you'll be cruising on your ocean

And clean out of sight
I m caught in the rain and there's no one home)

R.I.P Robin Gibb (Bee Gees)

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE  -  chords & lyrics
I saw your[C] eyes in the [Em]morning [Dm]sun
[A]I feel you[Dm] touch me in the[E] pouring[G] rain
And the [C]moment that you wander [Em]far from[Am] me
I wanna [Dm]feel you in my arms [G]again

And you [F]come to me on a [Em]summer breeze
Keep me [F]warm in your love and then [Dm]softly leave
And it's[Em] me you need to show [-F]
How [G] deep is your love?
Chorus:
How [C]deep is your love
How deep is your love
[Am]I really need to [Dm]learn
Cause were [C]living in a world of [Em]fools
Breaking us [A]down
When they all should let us[Dm] be
We [F]belong to you and [C]me

I [Em]believe in [Dm]you
You [A]know the [Dm]door to my[E] very [G]soul
Youre the[C] light in my deepest [Em]darkest [Am]night
Youre my [Dm]saviour when I [G]fall
And you [F]may not think
I [Em]care for you
When you [F]know down inside
That I [Dm]really do
And it's [Em]me you need to show [-F]
How [G] deep is your love ? …
Chorus
(Repeat and fade)

Donna Summer : album covers

Hot Donna Summer

The disco/pop music-world have lost two prominent figures this month - Disco Queen Donna Summer and Robin Gibb of the BeeGees. Their music is well familiar to me and I grew up listening to them. So let's set aside our celebtration of 'Disco King' Bappi-da's music and remember the departed disco legends, starting with Donna Summer. 

Like her songs, her name itself had a feel-good effect. Besides her great singing abilities, she was a great performer, who also looked hot and sexy. Donna Summer proved that you don't have to look at picture,figure or movie to feel sensual - songs like Love to love you,baby and I feel love  can have the same effect!

Her name was part and parcel of the 80s hit-charts consistently. Among her many hits, the song 'I don't wanna get hurt'(1989) is special for me, because I discovered Donna Summer through this song. Since then there was no looking back. By and by, I discovered her earlier hits too (esp. in her collaboration with Giorgio Moroder- the pioneer of Italo-disco).Certainly she is one of my favourite singers of all time.

After dominating the hit-charts consistently for a decade and a half, Donna Summer and her brand of feel-good dance music became out-of-fashion.The next decade (90s) saw the emergence of new artists (Whitney Houston,Tracy Chapman, Mariah Carey- to name the few) and  music-forms ( such as rap, reggae,r&b,bhangra,rock-metal etc.)  Later that decade saw the re-emergence of the disco-sound with ABBA,Beegees,Boney M,Modern Talking, (Bappi-da and  Biddu in this part of the world) all gaining iconic status. So does the Disco Queen Donna Summer.

NB : Bappi-da's earliest disco-hit 'Ramba Ho'(1981) was inspired by Donna Summer (and Giorgio Moroder) super-hit 'I feel love'. As this year marks the 30-th anniversary of Bappi-da's colossal hit album Disco Dancer (1982) which made Bappi Lahiri a household name in the Indian sub-continent, if not in Asia and the whole developing world,  I'll be focusing more on Bappi-da and disco-music through out the year.

Rema & Bappi Lahiri

 

song : chandamama

singer : Rema Lahiri

composer : Bappi Lahiri

lyrics : Shailey Shailendra

album  : Dance Songs For Children (1986 -Hindi pop)

Trivia : Chandamama is a Hindi/Bengali word used for children to describe moon (literaly means 'moon-uncle'). Chandamama is also the name of a renowned children's publication.

Rema is very much a daddy's girl- in 'size' and in voice. Infact she is a female version of Bappi-da (sans jewelleries and sunglass). Like Bappi-da, she is blessed with a good voice. She sings with a constant warmth & smile (like Bappi-da) that suits perfectly for any dance number.

I am surprised that Rema didn't make it big on her own. Perhaps she started early and burned out early. Or perhaps Bappi-da never sticked to one singer for too long, and Rema was no exception. Anyway, like her daddy, the love and passion for music is unmistakable in her singing style. 

Check out Rema's songs (as adult) in albums include  Super Rema (1995) Bappiwood(2003) which can be heard in the website - www.bappilahiri.com/albums.asp