Lata Mangeshkar’s Voice in the Age of Cassette Reproduction

Abstract

For almost three decades after independence, the ubiquitous presence of Lata Mangeshkar’s voice was enabled through the radio and gramophone records. The 1980s became a period of critical transformation in this trajectory as the arrival of new technologies of sound dispersion allowed listeners to participate in a range of activities involved in the circulation of film songs. Spurred by the cassette revolution, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice was reintroduced into the market, not in her own voice but that of the “copy artists.” Based on the art of imitation, these “version recordings” are reminiscent of an earlier practice of dubbing that formed the underbelly of the music industry in the production of a techno material voice. This brings to the surface an ambivalent relationship that the younger aspiring singers had with Lata Mangeshkar, simultaneously marked with anxiety and deep devotion. Finally, the article examines the strategies adopted by the Gramophone Company of India (HMV) in staking its claim over the rightful ownership of the most treasured archive—the authentic voice of Lata Mangeshkar.

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