‘Brimful of Asha’

Corner Shop

Use of Goodwin’s theory1. Genre conventions;The band is called Corner Shop, they are a British rock band formed in 1991. I have chosen to look at the song ‘’Brimful of Asha’’ by them, which was released in 1997 which didn’t get to number one until Fatboy Slim remixed it, then the original was re-released.

The band consists of 7 members currently, only two of which are from the beginning in 1991, these are Tjinder Singh who is vocals and guitar, and Ben Ayres who does guitar and keyboard. The band also consists of Nick Simms on drums, Peter Bengry on percussion, Adam Blake on Sitar, Pete Downing on guitar and James Milne on bass.

Conventions of Rock bands

Typical rock bands are seen to be people who are more likely to be rebellious, and irresponsible. They are known for the saying ‘’Sex, Drugs and rock and roll’ showing that people often stereotype rock bands to be party animals, and like to be seen as doing things that are more rebellious such as taking drugs and getting into trouble with the police.

They conventionally have a lot of tattoo’s and piercings, and can be associated with haircuts such as the Mohawk, or dark hair. Rock bands would mainly wear black clothes, and sometimes things such as other bands T shirts, which can also link to advertising other similar bands.

Rock bands would use instruments such as the guitar, drums, and bass. Along with vocals, in which would be the main focus in music videos.

What’s a stereotypical rock video?

Usually rock video’s are both narrative and performance, they are often dark and the weather usually seems to be dull or raining. Locations such as small rooms, stages, and the woods are used.

The story line is often based around love, and more often than not, the bad side of it, and usually has the band members involved in the narrative side which then creates a relationship between them and the viewer. Often the rock videos have a lot of concept behind them, and the story often relates to one of the band members feelings or experiences which means that songs are often more personal to the band, therefore also making the song seem more powerful and intense.

In the performance side there is usually a focus on the singer which includes close ups etc, but also a big interest on the guitar, and there is guitar solo’s which focus on the guitarist.

Do they use or go against conventions?

I think Cornershop’s video ‘Brimful of Asha’ goes against a lot of conventionsas they use more concept within their video as it shows the Indian movie industry and how it developed. Their video isn’t about love or relationships its about the history of film in India. The bands appearance also doesn’t fit in with conventions as they dress more casual than you would expect from a rock band as in the video we see the lead singer wearing a shirt and most of the other members are just wearingcasual clothes such as T-shirts. They also go against the conventions with their videoas its not the usual dark, grimy setting, its just in a living area that involved a younggirl looking through the different records.

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There's dancingBehind movie scenesBehind the movie scenesSadi Rani

She's the one that keeps the dream aliveFrom the morningPast the eveningTo the end of the light

Brimful of Asha on the 45Well it's a brimful of Asha on the 45And dancingBehind movie scenes

Behind those movie scenesAsha BhosleShe's the one that keeps the dream aliveFrom the morning

Past the eveningTo the end of the lightBrimful of Asha on the 45Well it's a brimful of Asha on the 45

And singingIlluminate thee main streetsAnd the cinema aislesWe don't care bout no

Mohamed Rufhi-45Lata Mangeshkar-45Solid state radio-45Fer-guh-son mono-45

Bonn publeek-45Jacques Dutronc and the Bolan Boogie, the HeavyHitters and the Chichi musicAll India Radio-45

Two in ones-45Argo Records-45Trojan Records-45Brimful of Asha on the 45

77,000-pieceOrchestra setEverybody needs a bosom for a pillowMine's on the RPM!!

Gov't warnings,'bout their promotion of a simple lifeAnd the dams they're buildingBrimful of Asha on the 45

Well it's a brimful of Asha on the 45Everybody needs a bosom for a pillowEverybody needs a bosomMine's on the 45

Does it link?

Music link with video

I don’t think that the video links in with the lyrics too obviously, as the video itself doesn’tshow the past in the Indian music industry, however it does show the girl looking through records etc, so it can link as she’s almost going through the years of the music. The other thing that links is the fact that the band is playing on record cases, so it links with the whole theme of it being around the music industry.

The beat of the music is pretty repetitive throughout the song, however we can see that the girl is dancing along to the beat of it, and in a certain bit she puts down records one by one to the beat of the music.

The demands for the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist

may develop motifs which reoccur across their work…

Throughout the video we see close ups of the band, mainly the lead singer, this helpscreate a bond with the band and the audience, allowing them to feel like they knowthe band. Close ups also mean that the audience can start to become familiar with the

band as they can see who they are listening to throughout the video. I don’t think that Cornershop has any motifs, however they are known for their ironic name, as most English people would believe that its middle ages Indian people that do work in the Corner shops, so this adds humour and irony into their band.

Performance based, narrative based, concept based..

This video is both concept and performance based. The concept around the song is about the Indian Music Industry and what happened, they include names of people that were seen as historic icons within the music industry. They also have performance as we see a lot of scenes of them playing on the front of the record cases, but also them all playing in a all white room, which then contrasts them against it. Unlike most other rock videos, this one doesn’t really have a narrative involved, as their song involves deep meaning instead of showing a situation they are singing about history of their country and how things happened.

Voyeurism…I think that the video doesn’t have too much voyeurism, because we do see this girl, and we are watching her dance to the records, however its not very narrative so we don’t actually see anything big or dramatic happen within her life or anything that the audience can relate and then gain a relationship with this character. I think that the video itself isn’t the important part, its the concept and meaning behind the lyrics that is the main thing, and the band wants you to sit and be listening to what they say.