2016

Best songs of Asha Bhosle by OP Nayyar

OP Nayyar and Asha Bhosle 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

Mukesh 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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“Kuchh to log kahenge”

Kuchh to log kahenge August 18, 2016

When the media described the change of portfolio of a high-profile minister in the last cabinet reshuffle as downsizing her, she tweeted, Kuchh to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kahna. The media makes its living out of saying up things, often with generous doses of spices and garnishing. Celebrities and public personalities learn to […]

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The Unforgotten and Unremembered Genius Jaidev

Jaidev August 9, 2016

A tribute on his 98th birth anniversary (3 August 1918 – 6 January 1987) Quite a while ago Mumbaikar8 wrote to me, in a somewhat stern tone, that Jaidev has been sidelined on Songs of Yore. I tried to explain to her that the absence of an artiste does not amount to his or her […]

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My favourite Rafi songs by Shankar-Jaikshan

Shankar-Jaikishan with Rafi 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

Shankar Jaikishan and 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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Best songs of 1949: Wrap Up 2

Amirbai Karnataki-Rajkumari-Zeenat Begum-Suraiya-Surinder Kaur July 13, 2016

And the SoY Award for the Best ‘Other’ Female Playback Singer goes to? As the readers would recall from the overview post on the best songs of 1949, this was a great year for the ‘other’ singers, and female singers in general. There were about 80 female solos in my select list of 160 (the […]

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Star showers in Bollywood

Stars in the sky July 4, 2016

Guest article by DP Rangan (Full Moon evokes poetry, beauty and romance.  One would think its converse, Dark Moon, must be very depressing.   But think again.  That is the time when the stars come out in full glory. As with the moon, stars, too, have evoked wonder, admiration and myths. We see our seven ancient […]

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Best songs of 1949: Wrap Up 1

Rafi and Mukesh June 25, 2016

Songs of Yore Award for the Best Male Playback Singer goes to? As we have seen in the overview post on the Best songs of 1949, and as I have observed elsewhere a number of times, 1949 was the year of Tsunami wave of Lata Mangeshkar. The yesteryear vintage singers, like Suraiya, Shamshad Begum, Rajkumari […]

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Romance of letters

Letter-box June 16, 2016

I don’t remember when I last wrote a letter. I can safely say no one writes letters these days – the one you wrote in long hand to a dear friend or family, on a piece of stationary, neatly folded it, put it in an envelope, glued it, walked over to the nearest red letter-box […]

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