JOIN USGlobal group of vintage music lovers meet in city
RMIM, a global group of Indian vintage music enthusiasts, hosted a meet on Saturday and Sunday.
The group was formed in 1992 as an unmoderated Usenet newsgroup but has now transitioned to Facebook, WhatsApp and other mediums. For the past 27 years, group members have been hosting annual meets in cities across the world.
The chief guest at this year’s RMIM Meet was Sudha Malhotra, noted singer of Hindi film songs from the 1950s and ‘60s. The event commemorated the birth centenary of two legends of Hindi film music – Shamshad Begum and director Chitragupta.
In between all the musical presentations, quizzes and discussions, Metrolife asked some participants about their love for the Golden Era (1930s to ‘60s) of Indian film music and how music has evolved over the years.
Dr Suresh S Chandvankar, Founder of Society of Indian Record Collectors
How do you define vintage music?
The definition of vintage will change from time to time, period to period. I think something which has to be preserved is referred to as vintage. In music, whatever is recorded in Shellac records or cassettes is considered as vintage.
How have you been preserving vintage music?
From the past many years, we have been conducting guided listening sessions for people of all ages in Mumbai. They choose a theme and we play selected 8-10 vintage songs and then ask for their thoughts. Mostly, the older ones get nostalgic whereas the youngsters think of it as boring and ‘not moving’. But once I tell them about the time period in which the song was recorded and the meaning it had, they also appreciate the songs.
Any comments on the trend of remaking old Bollywood songs?
I don’t see anything wrong with this. In fact, most of the songs today take inspiration from retro compositions. It is good to relive the songs; just that one should not forget their roots.
Thoughts on RMIM?
It has its roots in the pre-www days, when many of the Indians who went to America found themselves missing Bollywood melodies and looked for ways to relive that connect. From then till now, I think they have been doing a good job in preserving the songs from the Golden Era.
Sunny Mathew, Owner of Discs & Machines - Sunny’s Gramophone Museum and Records Archive
When did you start collecting vintage musical equipment and records?
It happened 32 years ago when I happened to see a real gramophone. It was the first time I had seen a gramophone as big as that. I was fascinated and have been collecting these since, along with Shellac records and many other vintage gadgets.
How do you source them?
I travel across the world and collect them. People who don’t use these wait for people like me to contact them or sometimes notify me themselves if they possess any such gadgets.
What difference do you see in the instruments back then and now?
Instruments back then were a little complicated but had their own charm. To record a song of three minutes, one would spend almost two minutes on adjusting and fine-tuning the variable speed, tonearm, stereo cartridge, amplifier and so on. Thus, the song would leave a deep impact. The case is different now. Music is just a click away and one doesn’t realize the effort that goes into making a song.
Gurinder Singh, Member of RMIM from USA
How do you define vintage music?
According to me, vintage period is from the early 30s to late 60s. We hum the songs of that period even today, a good reason why we call it the ‘Golden Era’.
Your thoughts on remakes of songs....
My blood boils when I hear them. It destroys the charm of the original composition and disturbs the entire composition.