2023

Krishna and Flute

Krishna with Flute September 6, 2023

Wishing everyone a very Happy Janmashtami with best songs on Krishna and the flute Thanks to several TV serials, Amar Chitra Katha mythology comics, and other sources everyone knows Lord Krishna story by heart. The cruel King Kans marries off his dear sister Devki to his close friend Vasudev (वसुदेव), and decides to drive them […]

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SN Tripathi Part 3 (post-50s): His best songs for Mukesh and other male singers

SN Tripathi-Mukesh-Manna Dey August 27, 2023

A tribute to Mukesh on his 47th Remembrance Day (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) in the series on SN Tripathi Last month radio, print and visual media was awash with tributes to Mukesh on his birth centenary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976). All the tributes were unanimous that he was gifted […]

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Book Review: “Behind the Curtain”

Behind the Curtain August 18, 2023

Behind the Curtain: Making Music in Mumbai’s Film Studios Author: Gregory D Booth Publisher: Oxford University Press 2008 Pages (including Index and References): 321 Price (Amazon Kindle Edition): ₹357 The SOY readers’, especially S Joseph’s, request to write a review of “Behind the Curtain” predates the series on Arrangers and Musicians, and my own desire […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (6): S Hazara Singh

Thumbnail image for The Sculptors of Film Songs (6): S Hazara Singh August 9, 2023

Guest Article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) & Ashok M Vaishnav (English Translation) (Continuing their series on the Arrangers and Musicians our guest authors Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) now write on S Hazara Singh who played several instruments, but became a legend with Hawaiian guitar. His Hawaiian guitar […]

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SN Tripathi Part 2 (post-1950s): His best songs for Mohammad Rafi

SN Tripathi-Rafi July 31, 2023

A tribute to Rafi on his 43rd Remembrance Day with the continuing series on SN Tripathi In SN Tripathi Part 1 (1930s and 40s) we became familiar with his multi-faceted personality: an actor, a singer, a music director, and surprisingly also a director – though of post-50s films. But post-50s we know him mostly as […]

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Best songs of 1942: Wrap Up 1

Thumbnail image for Best songs of 1942: Wrap Up 1 July 22, 2023

And the award for the Best Male Singer goes to? KL Saigal in most of his active years was a colossus and, thus, the answer to this rhetorical question was a foregone conclusion. In 1942, Saigal had just one film, Bhakt Surdas, but that was enough to make his songs etched in the memories of […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (5): Manohari Singh

Manohari Singh July 13, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to the legendary saxophone player Manohari Singh on his 13th Remembrance Day (Our immortal songs are memorable not only because of the melody created by the music director, but also because of the preludes, interludes, the musicians who played […]

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Love Counsellors in Bollywood

Mohabbat ki rahon mein June 30, 2023

Guest article by Anita Rupavataram (There is no upper age limit for falling in love. As our octogenarian love guru, DP Rangan, has explained in his recent series of articles, love entails going through different phases: ecstasy, agony, flippancy, and finally when the things go wrong, shikwa/shikayat. This has led to a mushroom growth of […]

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Shikwa in Bollywood

Na shikwa hai koi June 19, 2023

Guest article by DP Rangan (Our love guru DP Rangan, after exploring the ecstacy, agony and flippant sides of love, now explores another common aspect shikwa/shikayat, or ‘complaint’, ‘grievance’. Nay, Mr Rangan explains in the introductory lines that shikwa/shikayat is universal to human nature in all social interactions. The 84-year young Mr Rangan is a […]

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Songs of Yore completes 13 years

Songs Of Yore completes 13 years June 7, 2023

Today the Songs of Yore completes thirteen years. The last three years have brought great disruption in the world. In the years 2020 and 2021, the pandemic was on a rampage. The year gone by saw a debate whether Covid19 is gone or still around. Finally, the scientific opinion has veered around that this unwanted […]

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