Recorded 1997 | Genre Indie rock Writer(s) Tjinder Singh | |
Released 18 August 1997 (1997-08-18) Length 5:17 (album version)4:07 (single version) | ||
"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.
Contents
Background
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.
Music video
The music video directed by Phil Harder for the song was produced by Harder/Fuller Films.
Norman Cook remix
In October 2011, NME placed the Fatboy Slim remix at number 105 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". In August 2010, Pitchfork Media placed the remix at number 113 in their list of "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s". NME ranked the remix at number 2 in their list of "The 50 Best Remixes Ever", saying it "does what the truly great remixes do – render you unable to enjoy the original". The remix was included in Pitchfork Media's 2010 list of "twenty-five great remixes" of the 1990s.