AMALIA RODRIGUES, LISBOA; CARLOS GARDEL, BUENOS AIRES; P. RAMLEE, KUALA LUMPUR; UMM AL KHALTHOUM EL KAHIRA

After writing a blog about Dame Vera Lynn who passed away on 18/6/2020, I thought of other icons of music from other countries that I could think of and also have some sort of a connection.
Portugal and Fado 
The current diva of Fado in Lisboa is from Mozambique but mention this name to a Portuguese person, you would see the joy in his/her face 
AMALIA RODRIGUES  23/07/1920. HER BIRTHDAY, DIED 1990

A Minha Canção É Saudade

De ilusões desvanecidas

Fumo de esperanças perdidas

Minha canção é saudade

Mãe, que de tranças caídas

Via tudo em cores garridas

E em todos via bondade

 

Mãe, que de tranças caídas

Via tudo em cores garridas

E em todos via bondade

 

E nesta sinceridade

De amor e sensualidade

Ponho a alma ao coração

Numa angústia, uma ansiedade

Minha canção é saudade

Do amor sonhado em vão

 

Numa angústia, uma ansiedade

Minha canção é saudade

Do amor sonhado em vão

 

Nesta saudade sem fim

Choro saudades de mim

Sou mulher mas fui pequena

Também brinquei e corri

Mas quem sabe se sofri

Se é de mim que tenho pena

 

Também brinquei e corri

Mas quem sabe se sofri

Se é de mim que tenho pena

My Song is of Longing

Of faded illusions

Smoke of lost hopes

My song is of longing

Mother with fallen braids

Saw everything in bright colors

And in everyone she saw kindness

 

Mother with fallen braids

Saw everything in bright colors

And in everyone she saw kindness

 

And in this sincerity

Of love and sensuality

I put my soul to my heart

In distress, an anxiety

My song is of longing

Of love dreamed in vain

 

In distress, an anxiety

My song is of longing

Of love dreamed in vain

 

In this longing without end

I cry longing for me

I'm a woman but I once was small

I also played and ran

But who knows if I suffered

If it's for me I feel pity

 

I also played and ran

But who knows if I suffered

If it's for me I feel pity

The King of Tango 

Carlos Gardel 

Even after so many years after his tragic death in Medellin, Carlos Gardel's name evokes nostalgia and that peculiar feeling in the heart of a Tango lover whether he is a Porteno or Extranjero..

For a period of five years, you could see me often in the streets of Buenos Aires, enjoying the famous cafe, walking along the path of Jorge Luis Borges in Palermo, late nights of Malbec and delicious meals ..

MOVE CONTINENTS AND THERE IS P RAMLEE WHOM I CALL CARLOS GARDEL OF MALAYSIA 

He was more than a singer as this short presentation will reveal to you .I got to know P Ramlee only much later, already at a time when the Muslim women were wearing women into hijabs and a liberal muslim political system , but he stood for me as a symbol of the purity of Malay thought that existed without the influence of Religious and political thought. My fondness for the Malay people remains the same.

I have maintained close relationship with Malaysia, with some close and good friends in KL.

An added pleasure has been friendships with succeeding Malaysian Ambassadors to Cuba, starting with Datuk Jorgi Samuel who is now their ambassador to Thailand , then Omar Khairy, followed by the current ambassador Dato Roslan 

P.Ramlee

When you are a child you are impressed by feats that seemed beyond your brain could comprehend .

Having middle eastern connections, I heard lots of "facts" about Arabs, Muslims, Iranians but the ones I liked were the ones about the culture of what we now call The Middle East.

three to four hours

Her songs deal mostly with the universal themes of love, longing and loss. They are nothing short of epic in scale, with durations measured in hours rather than minutes. A typical Umm Kulthum concert consisted of the performance of two or three songs over a period of three to four hours.

Her songs lasted more than one hour ? In any case, that name stuck in the head, Umm Kulthum of Egypt 

INDIA OH MOTHER INDIA with millions and millions of people, you must have so many ICONIC singers and actors (all actors are good looking! vow)..

Being an anthropologist, when I saw a movie about Inter racial love starring Denzel Washington MISSISSIPPI MASALA. (I remember a line by Gene Hackman  Mississippi has FOUR "eyes" but still is very blind), there was a song which reminded me as a national anthem of Cultural Frankensteins of Cuba. Shoes from Japan, Pants from England, Hat from Russia but the Heart from India..

The you tube video shows the good looking actor RAJ KAPOOR acting the song while the vocals are by MUKESH, who along with so many musicians in INDIA is iconic.

The number of HITS these singers had in that vast country of millions would make the singers of the west jealous 

Asha Bhosle 10200 songs recorded

Mohammed Rafi 5000

Lata Mangeshkar 6500

Mukesh the singer above 1300

I am sure each person has their iconic singers from the past . Just because we were not alive at the time of Bethoven or Tchaikovsky does not mean we cannot enjoy their music. Many of the iconic singers are not our generation but their songs are timeless..