Playback singer: Difference between revisions

[[South Asian cinema|South Asian films]] produced in the Indian subcontinent are particularly known for using this technique. A majority of [[Cinema of India|Indian films]] as well as [[Cinema of Pakistan|Pakistani films]] typically include six or seven songs. After ''[[Alam Ara]]'' (1931), the first Indian [[talkie film]], for many years singers made dual recordings for a film, one during the shoot, and later in the recording studio, until 1952 or 1953. Popular playback singers in India enjoy the same status as popular actors and music directors<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wolk |first=Douglas |date=April 1999 |title=Kill Your Radio: Music on The 'Net |journal=[[CMJ New Music]] |issue=Electro Media |page=61}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=D. Booth, Gregory|title=Behind the curtain: making music in Mumbai's film studios|year=2008|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-532764-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/behindcurtainmak00boot/page/275 275–276]|url=https://archive.org/details/behindcurtainmak00boot/page/275}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Srinivasan, Meera|title=Fans spend a sleepless night|url=http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/27/stories/2009022759331200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301224259/http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/27/stories/2009022759331200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 March 2009|date=27 February 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=18 August 2009}}</ref> and receive wide public admiration. Most of the playback singers are initially trained in classical music, but they later often expand their range.<ref>{{cite web|title=Realising a dream|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/17/stories/2003021701130200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030701125829/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/17/stories/2003021701130200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 July 2003|date=17 February 2003|author=Rajamani, Radhika|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=22 July 2009}}</ref> [[Mohammed Rafi]] and [[Ahmed Rushdi]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Rushdi remembered as magician of voice|date=12 April 2011|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/12-Apr-2011/rushdi-remembered-as-magician-of-voice|publisher=[[The Nation]]|access-date=8 March 2019|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313171030/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/12-Apr-2011/Rushdi-remembered-as-magician-of-voice|url-status=live}}</ref> are regarded as two of the most influential playback singers in South Asia.<ref>*{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mohammed-rafi-mn0000582254 |title=Mohammed Rafi |last=Harris |first=Craig |website=www.allmusic.com |access-date=28 August 2018 |archive-date=29 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829072129/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mohammed-rafi-mn0000582254 |url-status=live }}

*{{cite web |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/mohammad-rafi |work=[[The Times of India]] |title=Articles about Mohammad Rafi |access-date=15 April 2013 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

*{{cite web|title=Ahmed Rushdi, Remembering a legend|url=http://dawn.com/2012/04/11/remembering-a-legend-ahmed-rushdi/|work=Dawn News|date=11 April 2012|access-date=28 December 2012|archive-date=7 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207155713/http://dawn.com/2012/04/11/remembering-a-legend-ahmed-rushdi/|url-status=live}}

*{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/5631/remembering-ahmed-rushdi/|work=The Express Tribune|title=Remembering Ahmed Rushdi|date=12 April 2010|access-date=28 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427003202/http://tribune.com.pk/story/5631/remembering-ahmed-rushdi/|archive-date=27 April 2010}}</ref> The sisters [[Lata Mangeshkar]] and [[Asha Bhosle]], who have mainly worked in Hindi films, are often referred to as two of the best-known and most prolific playback singers in India.<ref name="monopolity">{{cite web|title=Only the best preferred|url=http://www.hindu.com/2001/05/18/stories/09180701.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030823024402/http://www.hindu.com/2001/05/18/stories/09180701.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2003|date=18 May 2001|author=Gangadhar, v.|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=22 July 2009}}</ref><ref>*{{Cite book|author1=Gulzar |author2=Nihalani, Govind |author3=Chatterji, Saibal |title=Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema|year=2003|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=81-7991-066-0|pages=72–73}}

*{{Cite book|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music|year=2000|author=Arnold, Alison|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-8240-4946-2|pages=420–421}}

*{{cite web|author=Yasmeen, Afshan|title=Music show to celebrate birthday of melody queen|url=http://www.hindu.com/lf/2004/09/21/stories/2004092114010200.htm|date=21 September 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=19 August 2009|archive-date=3 November 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041103120451/http://www.hindu.com/lf/2004/09/21/stories/2004092114010200.htm|url-status=dead}}

*{{Cite magazine|last=Pride|first=Dominic |date=August 1996 |title=The Latest Music News From Around The Planet|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |page=51}}

*{{cite web|author=Puri, Amit|title=Dedicated to Queen of Melody|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030224/login/music.htm|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]], Chandigarh|date=24 February 2003|access-date=18 August 2009|archive-date=24 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724143841/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030224/login/music.htm|url-status=live}}

*{{cite web|title=Melody Queen Lata rings in 75th birthday quietly|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040929/nation.htm#12|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|location=Chandigarh|date=29 September 2004|access-date=18 August 2009|archive-date=14 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814223634/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040929/nation.htm#12|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, ''Guinness'' officially acknowledged Bhosle as the most recorded artist in music history.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[DNA India]]|title=It's a world record for Asha Bhosle|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_its-a-world-record-for-asha-bhosle_1601969|date=22 October 2011|access-date=23 October 2011|author=Banerjee, Soumyadipta|archive-date=14 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314034811/http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_its-a-world-record-for-asha-bhosle_1601969|url-status=live}}</ref>

Playback singing is a well-known component of Hollywood musicals though less frequent in other genres. Notable [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] performances include [[Anita Ellis (singer)|Anita Ellis]] as the voice of [[Rita Hayworth]]'s title character in ''[[Gilda]]'' (1946). Both Anita Ellis's and Rita Hayworth's performances were so impressive that audiences did not know that Rita's voice had been dubbed. Called "the sexiest voice of 1946", Ellis's identity was not publicized. Rita Hayworth was instead credited on the soundtrack despite being sung by Ellis. This led audiences to believe for years that her voice belonged to Hayworth. There have been other uses of playback singing throughout Hollywood, including [[Marni Nixon]] in ''[[West Side Story (1961 film)|West Side Story]]'' for [[Natalie Wood|Natalie Wood's]] portrayal of Maria, in ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' for [[Deborah Kerr|Deborah Kerr's]] Anna Leonowens, and for [[Audrey Hepburn|Audrey Hepburn's]] Eliza in ''[[My Fair Lady]]''; [[Bill Lee (singer)|Bill Lee]] singing for John Kerr's Lieutenant Cable in ''[[South Pacific (1958 film)|South Pacific]]'' and for [[Christopher Plummer|Christopher Plummer's]] Captain von Trapp in ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/fullcredits|title=The Sound of Music full credits|publisher=IMDb|access-date=15 April 2013|archive-date=7 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307023029/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/fullcredits|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Lindsay Ridgeway]] for [[Ashley Peldon]]'s character as Darla Dimple in the animated film ''[[Cats Don't Dance]]'', [[Claudia Brücken]] providing the singing voice for [[Erika Heynatz|Erika Heynatz's]] character as Elsa Lichtmann in ''[[L.A. Noire]]'', and [[Betty Noyes]] singing for [[Debbie Reynolds]] in ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'',<ref>Earl J. Hess and Pratibha A. Dabholkar, ''Singin' in the Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece'' (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2009), p145.</ref> a film in which playback singing is a major plot point.

* [[India Adams]], who dubbed for [[Cyd Charisse]] in ''[[The Band Wagon]]'' (1953).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bk4qH3aKSTwC&pg=PT167&dq=india+adams+dub&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ep25UYaJJ-fD7AaCy4DICQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=india%20adams&f=false Thomson, David (2008) ''Have You Seen...?': a Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films including masterpieces, oddities and guilty pleasures (with just a few disasters)''. Penguin UK] At Google Books. Retrieved 13 June 2013.</ref> That same year, she also dubbed for [[Joan Crawford]] in ''[[Torch Song (1953 film)|Torch Song]]''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=skmnEUj3C84C&pg=PA174&dq=india+adams+dub&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ep25UYaJJ-fD7AaCy4DICQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=india%20adams&f=false Quirk, Lawrence J. and William Schoell (2013) ''Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography'', p. 170. University Press of Kentucky] At Google Books. Retrieved 13 June 2013.</ref>

* [[Bill Shirley]], who dubbed for [[Jeremy Brett]] in [[Warner Bros.]] ''[[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]''<ref>https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794301/bio#trivia {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>

* [[Jo Ann Greer]], who dubbed for [[Rita Hayworth]], [[Kim Novak]], and [[Dorothy Malone]]<ref>[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=joan-greer-mcmahan-jo-ann&pid=58136 "Obituary: Joan Greer "Jo Ann" McMahan"] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved 13 June 2013.</ref>

* [[Marni Nixon]], who dubbed for [[Ingrid Bergman]] in ''[[Joan of Arc (1948 film)|Joan of Arc]]'', [[Deborah Kerr]] in ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' and ''[[An Affair To Remember]]'', for [[Natalie Wood]] in ''[[West Side Story (1961 film)|West Side Story]]'', for [[Audrey Hepburn]] in ''[[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]'' (1963), and for [[Marilyn Monroe]] in ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]''<ref name="ghost">[https://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/14/entertainment/la-et-india-20110114 "Ghost singer India Adams appears"] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved 13 June 2013.</ref>

* [[Annette Warren]], who dubbed for [[Ava Gardner]] in ''[[Show Boat (1951 film)|Show Boat]]''<ref name="ghost" /><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vrAnT9ZO9-cC&pg=PA218&dq=Annette+Warren&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Yr-5UdWeFMyA7Qbt9IDwBA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Annette%20Warren&f=false Server, Lee (2007) ''Ava Gardner: "Love Is Nothing"'', p. 218. Macmillan, Apr 1, 2007] – At Google Books. Retrieved 13 June 2013.</ref> and [[Lucille Ball]] in both ''[[Fancy Pants (film)|Fancy Pants]]'' and ''[[Sorrowful Jones]]''<ref>https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0912723 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>

* {{Wiktionary inline}}