I used to love Columbia House and BMG’s record clubs. In those pre-iPod days, a person got 9 (or 10 or 12, depending on the deal) LPs, cassettes, or CDs for the price of one when they joined with only an obligation to buy 4 (or 6 or whatever) at full club price over the next year or so. All you had to pay was shipping and handling. Of course, club prices were usually $5 or $6 more than the price at the stores, and the shipping and handling added up, but if you worked it right, you could usually wind up getting CDs for $6 or $7 a pop. Just be sure to send in your card every month saying you didn’t want the featured selections and wait for the bulk deals (like a 4-for-the-price-of-2 or an 8-for-the-price-of-3) that were offered a few times a year. Now, this kind of bulk buying from a limited monthly catalog usually meant that I had to buy at least one CD from an artist I’d never heard of or knew very little about. Usually, these extra CDs were boring or just generally crappy and were taken to McKay’s whenever I went to Knoxville.
But in 1997, one of the extra CDs was from the group Cornershop. When I Was Born for the 7th Time became and continues to be one of my favorite albums. Every so often, I’ll go through my CD collection and purge the ones that haven’t been listened to in a while. Cornershop is always put in the keep pile.
The most famous song from the album is “Brimful of Asha.”
The song is about Asha Bhosle, a Bollywood singer. Here’s the explination:
“Brimful” became really well known when it was remixed by Fatboy Slim and used in a number of commercials.
Wrapping it up today, I found this nice cover version by a fellow named Scott Seth. It makes me feel good to know that in bars throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Scott is bringing a “Brimful of Asha” to the people.
Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow.
