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

Singers

Kalyanji-Anandji 2.0 and Kishore Kumar: Made for each other

November 10, 2024

I had written my first post on Kalyanji-Anandji about ten years ago on their best songs for Mukesh and had titled it “Made for each other”. I used that phrase studiedly because that was my instinctive feeling. Nudging by a reader made me explore their more songs – for Rafi, Other male singers, and Lata […]

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Usha Khanna’s best songs for Lata Mangeshkar, and other female singers

October 31, 2024

Concluding the series of tributes to Usha Khanna with her best songs for Lata Mangeshkar and other female singers Usha Khanna’s debut score in Dil Deke Dekho (1959) sounded so much OP Nayyar-ish that you may get the impression that she too would exclude Lata Mangeshkar completely and her female singer would be predominantly Asha […]

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Usha Khanna’s best songs for Mukesh and other male singers

October 19, 2024

Continuing the tribute for Usha Khanna, her best songs for Mukesh and other male singers The last post was on Usha Khanna’s best songs for Rafi on her 83rd birth anniversary (b. 7 October 1941). This was also a tribute to Rafi as a part of his centenary celebrations. How does she do with other […]

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Kalyanji-Anandji’s best songs for Lata Mangeshkar and other female singers

September 28, 2024

Kalyanji-Anandji were extremely melodious composers. But in a crowded field at the top comprising Naushad, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Roshan, Madan Mohan, etc. they were not among the elite at the High Table. But 70s onwards the gods were kind to them. Kalyanji-Anandji showed amazing talent to adapt themselves to the new voices (read […]

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Some Hidden Gems of Mohammad Rafi: The Romantic Solos

August 23, 2024

Guest article by Ashok Vaishnav continuing the centenary celebrations of Mohammad Rafi (24.12.1924-31.7.1980) (Among many romantic solos of Rafi there are several gems hidden under the layer of superhit songs. Some of the hidden gems are more melodious than superhit songs. Our SOY regular and guest author today, Ashok Vaishnav, throws the spotlight on some […]

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Mohammad Rafi & Johnny Walker in Symbiosis

July 31, 2024

Guest article by DP Rangan as a joint tribute to Rafi on his 44th Remembrance Day and Johnny Walker on his 21st Remembrance Day. (The title of this post says it all. When you think of Johnny Walker you think of Rafi. JW established a presence for himself and soon the producers and music directors […]

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Rafi ‘s songs for “not the top heroes”

July 10, 2024

Continuing Rafi’s centenary celebrations, guest article by Sivanandam Palamadai on his songs picturised on not-so-famous actors (Songs Of Yore has been celebrating Rafi’s centenary year 2024 with a series of articles, some by guest authors. Sivanandam Palamdai, who is one of Rafi’s prominent fans in blogosphere, now writes on his songs for not-so-famous actors. We […]

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Rafi’s best songs by Kalyanji-Anandji

June 30, 2024

Continuing the series on Rafi with a tribute to Kalyanji (30 June 1928-24 August 2000) and Anandji (2 March 1933-) on Kalyanji’s 96th birth anniversary. When you think of Kalyanji-Anandji’s main playback singers, Mukesh comes to mind first. They seemed to be made for each other, and there is already a post on KA-Mukesh combination […]

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Best songs of 1941: Wrap Up 1

May 27, 2024

And the SOY Award for the Best Male Singer goes to? In KL Saigal’s active years, the Best Male Singer was generally a one-horse race. He has sung great songs in 1941, too, in the film Lagan. Yet he is not a runaway winner. Nay, I would say with Doctor (1941) in which Pankaj Mullick […]

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Rafi’s Centenary Special: 35 songs from 35 years (1946-1980)

March 19, 2024

Guest article by Sivanandam Palamadai as a tribute to Rafi with 35 songs in 35 years (1946-1980) in the continuing series of articles on Rafi’s centenary (24th December 1924-31st July 1980) (Songs Of Yore is celebrating 2024 as the centenary year of Mohammad Rafi. I heralded the year with his solos from A to Z. […]

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