Mohammad Rafi

Kalyanji-Anandji 2.0: Their best songs for ‘other’ male singers

Thumbnail image for Kalyanji-Anandji 2.0: Their best songs for ‘other’ male singers November 20, 2024

After I had covered the best songs of Kalyanji-Anandji for Mukesh and Rafi, I once browsed through their songs for ‘other’ male singers for a lark. I was amazed to find an enormous variety of singers they had chosen. Though all the songs were well-known it had not registered in my mind instantly. The result […]

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Some Hidden Gems of Mohammad Rafi: The Romantic Solos

Rafi 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

Mohammad Rafi-Johnny Walker 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”

Rafi 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

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

Rafi 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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Mohammad Rafi from A to Z

Mohammad Rafi January 1, 2024

Wishing the readers and their friends and families a very Happy New Year with Rafi’s centenary year celebrations (b. 24 December 1924, d. 31.7.1980) Mohammad Rafi is the undisputed most versatile playback singer of Hindi films. You think of genres – bhajan, qawwali, romantic, patriotic, ghazal – he could do all. There was another unique […]

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Rafi’s songs with some unrecognised composers

Rafi July 31, 2022

Guest article by Sivanandam Palamadai as a tribute to Rafi on his 42nd Remembrance Day (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) (Rafi was the most dominant male playback singer of the Golden Era of film music. Yet he remained an unassuming, simple-hearted person with malice to none. The stories of his kindness and support […]

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Mohammad Rafi’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals

Rafi December 24, 2021

A tribute to Mohammad Rafi on his 97th Birth Anniversary (b. December 24, 1924 – d. July 31, 1980) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav and wishing Merry Christmas to all (Ashok M Vaishnav is a solid Rafi fan, without wearing it as a medallion, and without picking up a sword to slay anyone at […]

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Dattaram Part 2: Breaking out of the Banyan Tree with ‘Other’ Singers

Dattaram May 29, 2021

Second and final part of tribute to Dattaram (1929 – 8 June 2007) We saw in Dattaram Part 1 dealing with his songs for Mukesh and Manna Dey, how his association with the Big Banyan tree, Shankar-Jaikishan, made it difficult to get out of the comfort zone of SJ. The readers Mahesh and Hans Jakhar […]

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