"Brimful of Asha" | ||||
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Single by Cornershop | ||||
from the album When I Was Born for the 7th Time | ||||
Released | 18 August 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1997 | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Length | 5:17 (album version) 4:07 (single version) |
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Label | Wiiija | |||
Writer(s) | Tjinder Singh | |||
Producer(s) | Cornershop | |||
Cornershop singles chronology | ||||
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"Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook remix)" |
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Single by Cornershop and Norman Cook | ||||
from the album The Greatest Hits – Why Try Harder by Fatboy Slim' | ||||
Released | 16 February 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1997 | |||
Genre | Big beat | |||
Length | 4:03 (single version) 7:35 (extended version) |
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Writer(s) | Tjinder Singh | |||
Cornershop singles chronology | ||||
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"Brimful of Asha" is a 1997 single by British alternative rock band Cornershop. The recording originally reached number 60 on the UK Singles Chart in 1997. After a remixed version by Norman Cook became a radio and critical success, the song was re-released and reached number one on the UK chart in February 1998 and #16 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The lyrics are a tribute to Asha Bhosle.
This song is based upon the history of film culture in India. Since their introduction, Indian films have relied heavily on song and dance numbers. The singing is almost always performed by background singers while the actors and actresses lip-sync. Asha Bhosle is a playback singer who has sung over 12,000 songs and is referred to as "Sadi rani" (Punjabi for "our queen") at one point in the lyrics. In the slower, original album recording, playback singers Lata Mangeshkar (her older sibling) and Mohammad Rafi (one of the top male playback singers of the mid-century) are mentioned. The lyrics in the bridge contain a number of references to non-Indian music, including Georges Brassens' song "Les Amoureux des bancs publics", Jacques Dutronc, Marc Bolan, Argo Records and Trojan Records.
DJ Norman Cook ("Fatboy Slim") was asked to remix the track by speeding it up and modulating the song to a higher key (halfway between B-flat and B, rather than in A). The remix saw major success as a number 1 single.