This song is based on the history of film culture in India. Since their beginnings, 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 elder sister) and Mohammed 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.[6]
Critical reception
Kevin Courtney from Irish Times named "Brimful of Asha" Single of the Week, adding, "This three-chord paean to the joy of vinyl is already a classic, but Fatboy Slim's bouncy, big beat remix will plant the tune firmly on to the dance-floor and give Cornershop a much-deserved commercial boost."[7] British magazine Music Week rated the original version of the song five out of five, writing, "The Asian-rock outfit deliver their most compulsive slice of pop to date, mixing a Velvet Underground-style groove with a truly ticklesome lyric, strings and a top tune."[8] In 1998, also Music Week named the Norman Cook remix Single of the Week, adding that his remix of this "hugely infectious tune stands out and will at last provide Cornershop with a much-deserved big break. Stock up—this one will surely fly."[9]
A reviewer from NME commented, "Sadly not a song about the joys of chain-smoking, but in fact a celebration of the Asian music and films of our Tjinder's youth. The cognoscenti of the youth revolution will no doubt have heard this already on either its previous release or the album, but this may be the record to take the 'Shop into the crazy Global Hypermarket of the Top Ten. Not because it's a marvellously infectious good-time dance pop number, but because it repeats the line, "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow"."[10]James Hyman of Record Mirror gave the remix five out of five and named it Tune of the Week, remarking that "this gentle jangly big beat brew certainly hooks with its Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow mantra." He concluded, "Seriously a monster!"[11]David Fricke from Rolling Stone said, "You can almost smell the weed that went into the rhythms and smiles of "Good Shit" and "Brimful of Asha"."[12]
English DJ Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim, was asked to remix "Brimful of Asha", which he did by speeding it up and modulating the song to a higher key (halfway between B-flat and B, rather than in A). This new version was realized by sampling the Dave Pike Set's 1970 song "Raga Jeeva Swara" and the Monkees' 1966 song "Mary, Mary".[citation needed] The remix was released as a standalone single became a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart in February 1998.[17]
In 2003, Q Magazine ranked the Fatboy Slim remix at number 840 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever"[18] and in 2004, the magazine featured it in their "The 1010 Songs You Must Own".[1][dead link] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 105 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[19] In August 2010, Pitchfork placed the remix at number 113 in their list of "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s".[20]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".[21] The remix was included in Pitchfork's 2010 list of "25 Great Remixes" of the 1990s.[22] The remix is featured prominently on the French children's TV channel Gulli, playing before each episode.
^Pitchfork Staff (27 September 2022). "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 October 2022. ...she offered the silky, languorous indie-pop Cornershop song as a reference...
^Brimful of Asha (European CD1 liner notes). Cornershop. Alternation. 1997. INT 8 84508 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (UK CD2 liner notes). Cornershop. Wiiija. 1997. WIJ 75CDX.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (European CD2 liner notes). Cornershop. Alternation. 1997. INT 8 84544 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Cornershop. Wiiija. 1997. WIJ 75.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (UK & Australian CD single liner notes). Cornershop. Wiiija, Shock Records (Australia). 1998. WIJ 81CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Cornershop. Wiiija. 1998. WIJ 081.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Cornershop. Wiiija. 1998. WIJ 81.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (UK cassette single sleeve). Cornershop. Wiiija. 1998. WIJ 81MC.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Brimful of Asha (European CD single liner notes). Cornershop. Wiiija, PIAS. 1998. WIJ 81CD, 706.0081.24.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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