A tribute to old Hindi film music. Songs of the 30s through the 60s.

Singers

C Ramchandra-Naushad comparison and contrast with Rafi

July 31, 2015

A tribute to Rafi on his 35th death anniversary It is certain that readers would have been expecting something on Rafi with Naushad today, but they would find the inclusion of C Ramchandra surprising and somewhat contrived. While Naushad is the most important composer to have laid the foundation of the Rafi legend, C Ramchandra […]

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Naushad’s exceptional Mukesh

July 22, 2015

A tribute on Mukesh’s 92nd birth anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) If someone had asked me a few years ago who the second most prolific male singer of Naushad was, I would have never guessed Mukesh. His songs number only 26 compared to 149 of Rafi. If you compare Mukesh songs by […]

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Naushad’s “The Singing Girl Next Door”: Suraiya

June 15, 2015

A tribute on her 86th birth anniversary (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004) Our last singing star, Suraiya, attained incredible heights of popularity bordering on mass hysteria. She started her singing career, as a child artiste, with Naushad; subsequently, she sang playback for Mehtab in a few films; she graduated as an actor-singer and […]

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Shamshad Begum songs by C Ramchandra

April 23, 2015

A tribute to Shamshad Begum on her 2nd death anniversary (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) This year started with Naushad, who was followed by C Ramchandra. We have since seen their close duel with Amirbai Karnataki. Consequently, some readers were surprised not to see a similar comparison in my last post on Shamshad Begum’s songs […]

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Shamshad Begum songs by Naushad

April 14, 2015

A tribute to Shamshad Begum on her 96th birth anniversary (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) In my mind the best of Shamshad Begum always meant Naushad. I would be surprised if any of her famous songs, which I would automatically attribute to him, turned out to be composed by a different music director. […]

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Tennis, Pathakji and ‘Tere sadke balam’

March 22, 2015

That I am an inveterate fan of Lata Mangeshkar is nothing exceptional. She was ‘the’ female playback voice of the Golden Era. Now the readers are aware I am fascinated even more by Naushad. Therefore, I took it for granted that I have already written on Lata Mangeshkar’s best songs by Naushad, as I have […]

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Talat Mahmood by Naushad and C Ramchandra

February 24, 2015

A tribute to Talat Mahmood on his 91st birth anniversary (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) There was every reason for Talat Mahmood to have a long innings with Naushad. Both coming from Lucknow, they represented a similar Urdu sensibility and cultural milieu. Talat’s entry into Bombay Hindi film music was spectacular with Ae […]

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OP Nayyar’s quintessential Rafi

January 28, 2015

A tribute to OP Nayyar on his 8th death anniversary January 28 (January 16, 1926 – January 28, 2007) [Songs of Yore is now on Facebook.] I read a comment somewhere that OP Nayyar rescued Rafi from the staid classicism of Naushad. I ignore the sarcasm targeted at my favourite Naushad, but it underscores the […]

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Anil Biswas’s songs for Bombay Saigal: Surendra

November 11, 2014

A tribute to Surendra on his 104th birth anniversary as a part of Anil Biswas’s Centenary Year series I have mentioned a few times that because of contractual difficulties inherent in the Studio Era, Anil Biswas could not compose for KL Saigal, even though their careers overlapped for over a decade, half of which was […]

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Best songs of 1951: Wrap Up 3

October 23, 2014

Songs of Yore Award for the Best Female Playback Singer goes to Lata, Lata, Lata…Lata Mangeshkar, with Happy Diwali greetings to all All superlatives fall short of describing Lata Mangehkar’s dominance in 1951, just as we saw in 1955 and 1953. Mahesh even said that the best female playback singer other than Lata Mangeshkar is […]

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