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

Singers

Rafi’s best duets by Madan Mohan

December 14, 2018

The best songs of Rafi for any music director would include a number of duets. So it is for Madan Mohan, despite the fact that his solos for Rafi are significantly more than the duets. That is an exception to the general trend of duets being far more in number than male solos. Since we […]

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In the Musical Memory of Meena Kapoor

November 23, 2018

Guest article by Shalan Lal as a tribute to Meena Kapoor (c. 1930 – 23 November 2017) on her first death anniversary (Meena Kapoor has not been acknowledged enough on SoY. Mumbaikar8 has drawn pointed attention to this omission, and was sore that I credited the songs of ‘Anokha Pyar’ (1948) like ‘Yaad rakhan chaand […]

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Roshan’s songs for ‘other’ singers

November 16, 2018

A tribute to Roshan on his 51st death anniversary (14 July 1917-16 November 1967) DP Rangan started a tandem series on Madan Mohan-Roshan on July 14 which, in a unique coincidence, happened to be the birth anniversary of one, and the death anniversary of the other. I have since written a number of posts on […]

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Rafi’s duets by Roshan

November 5, 2018

My post on Rafi’s solos by Roshan appeared more than six years ago, several years before I started the series on the stalwart music directors. And the reason was simple: Roshan ranked among the top in my reckoning for Rafi songs, along with Naushad, SD Burman and OP Nayyar. Duets have no less importance in […]

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Madan Mohan’s tuning with Lata Mangeshkar

September 28, 2018

Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very happy 89th birthday (b. 28 September 1929) Among all the music director-singer combinations Madan Mohan-Lata Mangeshkar ranks among the very top. This article by Anirudh Bhattacharjee and Srijit Mukherji quotes OP Nayyar as having once said, “It is difficult to figure out whether Madan Mohan was made for Lata Mangeshkar […]

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King of Ghazal Talat Mahmood with Ghazal Maestros Madan Mohan and Roshan

September 18, 2018

DP Rangan set-off a tandem series on Roshan-Madan Mohan with their classical-based songs. I have since written on their songs for Rafi (Madan Mohan’s; Roshan-Rafi covered earlier); Qawwalis; Mukesh; and Asha Bhosle. Several readers requested that I write on their ghazals. Since I am covering them generally by singers, ghazal would have been an overlapping […]

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Roshan aur Madan Mohan ki Asha

September 8, 2018

Greeting Asha Bhosle on her 85th birthday (b. 8 September 1933) with her best songs by Roshan and Madan Mohan In Lata Mangeshkar era, music directors could be divided into two groups: Those who were like their wings chopped-off without her; and those who equally wanted her, but could survive even without her. (OP Nayyar […]

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Best of Mukesh by Roshan and Madan Mohan

August 27, 2018

A tribute to Mukesh on his 42nd death anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) Roshan and Madan Mohan were in tandem in relation to Mukesh at least in one respect: Both used him very prominently in 1950 – Roshan in Bawre Nain, which was his second movie, in which Mukesh sang a solo, […]

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The Master of Qawwali Roshan and some hidden qawwalis of Madan Mohan

August 9, 2018

While Roshan and Madan Mohan generally proceeded in tandem, one or the other created a special niche for himself in some genre. Roshan became known as the undisputed master of qawwalis, whereas Madan Mohan became a byword for ghazals. The essential difference in the two forms is not one of content, but of singing style. […]

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Rafi’s best songs by Madan Mohan

July 31, 2018

A tribute to Rafi on his 38th death anniversary (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) Six years ago to this day, I wrote on the best songs of Rafi by Roshan. Roshan for me was among the big four, with Naushad, SD Burman and OP Nayyar, who gave the best songs for Rafi. Later, […]

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