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

Singers

The first duo Husnlal-Bhagatram (1): Their songs for Suraiya, Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi

July 11, 2017

I have signed off the series on Shankar-Jaikishan recently. Before that I had done series on Anil Biswas, Naushad, C Ramchandra and SD Burman. As the readers now expect the next famous music directors in line, there are some yesteryears stalwarts who shone like meteor for a short while, or who gave great music consistently over […]

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Shamshad Begum with 3G

April 14, 2017

A tribute on Shamshad Begum’s 98th birth anniversary (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013), and wishing the readers a very happy Baisakhi, Vishu, Bihu and Tamil New Year. Shamshad Begum has been a perennial favourite on SoY. Earlier, there was a reference to the great trinity of Naushad, C Ramchandra and OP Nayyar who […]

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MS Subbulakshmi: A journey from Kunjamma to Meera

December 11, 2016

A tribute on MS Subbulakshmi on her birth centenary (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) by guest author N Venkataraman (About three months ago, there was a burst of discussion on SoY on MS Subbulaxmi, initiated by a new member RSR (RS Ramaswamy) to which many others joined. Shalan Lal posed a question why […]

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Some great songs of Lata Mangeshkar by Shankar-Jaikishan

November 9, 2016

Lata Mangeshkar is a ubiquitous presence on SoY. Shankar-Jaikishan, being one of the most dominant and successful music directors, have also figured very prominently on this blog. Therefore, it is difficult to believe, but it is true, that I have not done a post on the best songs of this combination as I have done […]

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Best songs of 1949: Wrap Up 3

September 28, 2016

Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very Happy Birthday on her 87th birth anniversary (b. 28 September 1929) with her best songs of 1949 It is a no-brainer that Lata Mangeshkar was the best female playback singer of 1949. In later years, that would become routine – she defined the lead female voice. But in 1949, it […]

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Best songs of Asha Bhosle by OP Nayyar

September 8, 2016

Wishing Asha Bhosle a very Happy Birthday on her 83rd birth anniversary (b. 8 September 1933) When I wrote on my favourite ‘special’ songs of Asha Bhosle about five years ago, I was somewhat dismissive of her songs by OP Nayyar. At that time I viewed SoY as a स्वान्तः सुखाय self-indulgence. Five years down […]

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Mukesh’s vintage duets

August 27, 2016

A tribute to Mukesh on his 40th death anniversary (22 July 1923 to 27 August 1976) Mukesh debuted well into the vintage era with Dil hi bujha hua hai to in Nirdosh (1941). His first few years as actor-singer did not do him much good. He discovered his calling as a playback singer when his […]

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My favourite Rafi songs by Shankar-Jaikshan

July 31, 2016

A tribute to Rafi on his 36th death anniversary (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) Rafi is arguably the best male playback singer of Hindi films, and Shankar-Jaikishan are, by any yardstick, among the greatest music directors. In any case they have been commercially the most successful and dominant figure over two decades (1950s-60s). […]

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Shankar-Jaikishan’s songs for Mukesh

July 22, 2016

A tribute on Mukesh’s 93rd birth anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) Mukesh debuted as (actor-)singer in 1941 with Nirdosh, i.e. 8 years before Shankar-Jaikishan’s debut in 1949 with RK Films’ Barsaat. After some initial struggle, Mukesh got a chance to work with the music titan of the era, Anil Biswas, courtesy his […]

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Shankar-Jaikishan’s female dance duets

May 29, 2016

My post on Shankar-Jaikishan’s dance songs for Lata Mangeshkar generated a great deal of enthusiasm. I think the readers were with me that these songs are of exceptional quality and their orchestration and picturisation are very unique to SJ. KS Bhatiaji who has a great liking for SJ, matching mine for Naushad, suggested that their […]

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