Singers

Lata Mangeshkar Lives Forever

Lata Mangeshkar February 6, 2022

The story of my deep romance for Lata Mangeshkar (28.9.1929 – 6.2.2022) Lata Mangeshkar is no more – her mortal body that is. She was over 92, she had been in and out of hospital in recent days, and had been on ventilator support for her last couple of days. This was bound to happen […]

Read the full article

Mohammad Rafi’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals

Rafi December 24, 2021

A tribute to Mohammad Rafi on his 97th Birth Anniversary (b. December 24, 1924 – d. July 31, 1980) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav and wishing Merry Christmas to all (Ashok M Vaishnav is a solid Rafi fan, without wearing it as a medallion, and without picking up a sword to slay anyone at […]

Read the full article

Mukesh’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals

Mukesh August 27, 2021

A tribute to Mukesh on his 45th Remembrance Day (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav (Mukesh is among the mainstream playback singers who sang some truly outstanding non-film songs (NFS). Therefore, for any lover of Mukesh, a post on his famous geets and gazals would be […]

Read the full article

Best Songs of 1944: Wrap Up 1

KL Saigal-Surendra July 6, 2021

And the award for the Best Male Solo goes to? In my Overview Post of the best songs of 1944, I had mentioned that in the total songs in the years in which the singers’ names were known, male solos to female solos to duets followed a ratio of 1: 3.69: 1.69. Thus, the male […]

Read the full article

Dattaram Part 2: Breaking out of the Banyan Tree with ‘Other’ Singers

Dattaram May 29, 2021

Second and final part of tribute to Dattaram (1929 – 8 June 2007) We saw in Dattaram Part 1 dealing with his songs for Mukesh and Manna Dey, how his association with the Big Banyan tree, Shankar-Jaikishan, made it difficult to get out of the comfort zone of SJ. The readers Mahesh and Hans Jakhar […]

Read the full article

Dattaram Part 1: Under the shadow of big banyan tree with songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey

Dattaram May 20, 2021

A big banyan tree gives shelter and protects you from elements. But this may become a trap because one may be deterred from venturing out on one’s own for the risks involved. But a human being also has an urge to venture out and stand on his own. That involves a vertical progression from earning […]

Read the full article

N Datta-Rafi: When they meet it is GOLD

N Datta-Rafi December 13, 2020

Guest article by Hans Jakhar as a tribute to N Datta (12 December 1927 – 30 December 1987) on his 93rd birth anniversary with his songs for Rafi (You can’t get a more passionate fan of Asha Bhosle than Hans Jakhar, and she was the principle female playback singer for Ravi. Therefore, he was the […]

Read the full article

Hemant Kumar’s Non-film Songs

Hemant Kumar December 4, 2020

Concluding the series of centenary tributes to Hemant Kumar (16 June 1920-26 September 1989) with his non-film songs My introduction to the last post by Ashok M Vaishnav on Hemant Kumar’s solo songs under the baton of other music directors conveyed that that rounded off his centenary celebrations. But it rankled me that his centenary […]

Read the full article

Hemant Kumar’s solo songs under ‘other’ batons

Hemant Kumar with Kishore Kumar November 25, 2020

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav in the series of Centenary Celebrations of Hemant Kumar (16 June 1920-26 September 1989) (SOY has launched a befitting Centenary Celebration of the much loved music and film personality Hemant Kumar, starting with N Venkataraman’s foundational article Hemantayan Part 1 on his Birth Centenary, 16 June 2020, which covered […]

Read the full article

Hemantayan – Part 2

Hemant Kumar September 26, 2020

A tribute to Hemant Kumar on his 31st Remembrance Day (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989) in his Birth Centenary year by guest author N Venkataraman (N Venkataraman launched the Centenary Celebration of Hemant Kumar with his superb article Hemantayan Part 1 on his Birth Centenary, 16 June 2020. This gave a comprehensive overview […]

Read the full article

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →