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

Music Directors

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 […]

Read the full article

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 […]

Read the full article

The Unforgotten and Unremembered Genius 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 […]

Read the full article

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). […]

Read the full article

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 […]

Read the full article

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 […]

Read the full article

Manna Dey’s songs by Shankar-Jaikishan

May 1, 2016

A tribute to Manna Dey (1 May 1919 – 24 October 2013) on his 97th birth anniversary Mumbaikar8 has rightly pointed out that Manna Dey has not yet got the importance on SoY he deserves. That in a way is also a reflection of his career. Recognised as an unparalleled singer of classical songs, he […]

Read the full article

Shamshad Begum’s songs by OP Nayyar

April 14, 2016

A tribute to Shamshad Begum (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) on her 97th birth anniversary When I did two back-to-back posts on Shamshad Begum’s songs by Naushad and C Ramchandra last year there was inevitably a reference to OP Nayyar as he is the third member of the trinity which made the greatest […]

Read the full article

The Unlucky Genius Ghulam Mohammad’s best songs for Talat Mahmood

February 24, 2016

Ghulam Mohammad was Naushad’s senior in the music industry by several years. He was an established tabla player, earning Rs 60 per month, with Ustad Jhande Khan, when Naushad joined him, in 1937, as a piano player at Rs. 40 per month. Fate catapulted Naushad to commanding heights, making him the greatest Mughal of Movie […]

Read the full article

Shankar-Jaikishan’s dance songs for Lata Mangeshkar

February 12, 2016

(DP Rangan recently asked me who would be the music director of 2016. Obviously, he presumed there would be one, because I celebrated 2015 as the Year of Naushad (with C Ramchandra in tandem), and the year before that as the Year of Anil Biswas. Concurrently, I also covered SD Burman extensively, but that happened […]

Read the full article

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →