If you were to ask me which singer I associate most with Kalyanji-Anandji, my answer would be instantly Mukesh. It was natural I wrote a post on Mukesh-KA in the initial years of the blog wi… Read More
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Songs Of Yore - Old Hindi Film Songs Blog
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song
music kalyanjianandji
kishore kumar
lyrics indivar music
rafi
actor
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rafi
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aasra chahta hun
mein hain ram
vaade pyar wafa
kasme vaade pyar
kasme vaade
Old Hindi film songs of the 1930s to the 1960s.
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 centena… Read More
Continuing the series on Rafi with a tribute to Kalyanji (30 June 1928-24 August 2000) and Anandji (2 March 1933-) on Klayanji’s 96th birth anniversary.
When you think of Kalyanji-Anan… Read More
Our elections are now over after a most toxic campaign. When the two formations were not abusing each other they were competing in promising the electorate moon. Voters seem to have now beco… Read More
When I started this blog I never imagined that it would go on for so long. And it is not just clocking year after year. Songs of Yore is perhaps the only place where you will find a comprehe… Read More
And the SOY Award for the Best Male Singer goes to?
In KL Saigal’s active years, the Best Male Singer was generally a one-horse race. He has sung great songs in 1941, too, in the film… Read More
In my series of articles on musical instruments starting from the grand piano I have gradually covered smaller instruments, the last being the flute. I end the series with a still smaller in… Read More
And the winners are
The regulars of SOY who have been following year-wise reviews of the best songs of the year would have noticed an interesting feature. Every vintage year was characterise… Read More
DIRECTOR’ CHAIRHindi Cinema’s Golden Age
By Manek Premchand
Published by: Blue Pencil 2024
ISBN: 978-81-956660-8-9; Pages: 571
Price (Paperback on Amazon): ₹750
Manek Prem… Read More
The concluding article in the series on Arrangers and Musicians by guest authors, Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) & Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation), wishing everyone Eid Mubar… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(Ramprasad Sharma may be an unfamiliar name to many, but Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo were the bigge… Read More
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… Read More
Commemorating the International Women’s Day with female duets
Men may not be from Mars nor women from Venus, but there is a fundamental difference in the way the two genders bond with… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(The “Lords”, i.e. the father Cawas Lord and his two sons – Kersi and Burjor… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan
(An interesting feature of our films is the dances performed in the streets, often by unknown actors. Sometimes the main protagonists also take to dancing and sing… Read More
Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion (2)
Author: Arunkumar Deshmukh (Copyright)
Publisher: Professor Toofanii Publishers, Lansing, MI USA (2023)
Editor: Professor S… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(Continuing their series on Arrangers and Musicians, now the guest authors Piyush M Pandya and Ashok M… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan paying a tribute to Qamar Jalalabadi on his 21st Remembrance Day (b. 9 March 1917 – d. 9 January 2003)
(Among the main markers of a film song – the fil… Read More
Wishing the readers and their friends and families a very Happy New Year with Rafi’s centenary year celebrations (b. 24 December 2024, d. 31.7.1980)
Mohammad Rafi is the undisputed mo… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(Van Shipley earned acclaim for his proficiency in violin and guitar, and he brought out many… Read More
And the SOY Award for the Best Music Director of 1942 goes to?
After the Overview Post, Wrap Up 1 of the best male solos, Wrap Up 2 of the best female solos and Wrap Up 3 of the best duets… Read More
Guest authors Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(The most prominent identity of Dattaram is as long-time assistant of Shankar-Jaikishan. He later started… Read More
And the award for the best duet of 1942 goes to?
1935 to 1946 have been years of KL Saigal dominance of the film music. Yet, there is something about duets that even in these years duets lea… Read More
Reflections & Stray Thoughts
By HQ Chowdhury
Publisher: Blue Pencil, New Delhi
ISBN: 978-81-952978-3-2
Price (Amazon): ₹314 (Paperback); 0 (Free Kindle)
The SOY regulars know HQ C… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(We all know Ramlal as the music director of V Shantaram’s films ‘Sehra’ and… Read More
Concluding the series on SN Tripathi with his best songs for ‘other’ female playback singers
It is time to conclude the series on SN Tripathi after a comprehensive coverage of hi… Read More
And the SOY ward for the Best Female Singer goes to?
In my overview post of the best songs of 1942, I had mentioned that the ratio between male solos and female solos in the songs in which s… Read More
Continuing the series on SN Tripathi with a tribute to Lata Mangeshkar on her 94th birth anniversary (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022)
It is matter of satisfaction that after a rea… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) & Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(V Balsara was an extremely talented musician encompassing proficiency in all the links in t… Read More
Wishing everyone a very Happy Janmashtami with best songs on Krishna and the flute
Thanks to several TV serials, Amar Chitra Katha mythology comics, and other sources everyone knows Lord Kri… Read More
A tribute to Mukesh on his 47th Remembrance Day (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) in the series on SN Tripathi
Last month radio, print and visual media was awash with tributes to Mukesh… Read More
Behind the Curtain: Making Music in Mumbai’s Film Studios
Author: Gregory D Booth
Publisher: Oxford University Press 2008
Pages (including Index and References): 321
Price (Amazon Kin… Read More
Guest Article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) & Ashok M Vaishnav (English Translation)
(Continuing their series on the Arrangers and Musicians our guest authors Piyush M Pandya (G… Read More
A tribute to Rafi on his 43rd Remembrance Day with the continuing series on SN Tripathi
In SN Tripathi Part 1 (1930s and 40s) we became familiar with his multi-faceted personality: an actor… Read More
And the award for the Best Male Singer goes to?
KL Saigal in most of his active years was a colossus and, thus, the answer to this rhetorical question was a foregone conclusion. In 1942, Sai… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to the legendary saxophone player Manohari Singh on his 13th Remembrance Day
(Our immortal… Read More
Guest article by Anita Rupavataram
(There is no upper age limit for falling in love. As our octogenarian love guru, DP Rangan, has explained in his recent series of articles, love entails go… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan
(Our love guru DP Rangan, after exploring the ecstacy, agony and flippant sides of love, now explores another common aspect shikwa/shikayat, or ‘complaint&rs… Read More
Today the Songs of Yore completes thirteen years. The last three years have brought great disruption in the world. In the years 2020 and 2021, the pandemic was on a rampage. The year gone by… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(Our guest authors Piyush M Pandya and Ashok M Vaishnav have been writing an excellent series on the Ar… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan completing his Trilogy of Love
(Our octogenarian guest author, DP Rangan, surely has great experience in ‘Love’. This is an evidence that age is not ju… Read More
And the winners are?
As we go back more and more into vintage years there is a concern whether we would come across some familiar songs. There are indeed some undiscovered gems, but there ar… Read More
The CBSE syllabus for its Board examinations in English includes a topic ‘Poetic Devices’ or ‘Figures of Speech’. The common ones like simile, metaphor, irony, hyperb… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Enoch Daniels on his 90th birth anniversary (b. 16 April 1933) in the continuing series… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan
(DP Rangan had written on the ecstasy side of love when the stars shine bright, sky is bluer than ever, flowers are in bloom, and the world smiles tenderly. But jo… Read More
A tribute to SN Tripathi on the 35th Anniversary of his Remembrance Day (14 March 1913-28 March 1988)
Whenever we think of melody, honey-dipped sweetness and beautiful dances to classical/ s… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan
(We celebrated Holi sometime back. This is the season of romance and love, when the flowers bloom, there is music in the stream of rivulets and rustling of leaves… Read More
Wishing the readers and their families a very Happy Holi and International Women’s Day
We are all aware of the drug problem in Bollywood, thanks to the media which went into frenzy at… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (originally in Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Anthony Gonsalves (12 June 1927 – 18 January 2012)
(Greg Booth star… Read More
A tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020) by guest writer DP Rangan
(When you think of Nimmi, you think of a live-wire, innocent village bel… Read More
चल उड़ जा रे पंछी…
संगीतकार चित्र… Read More
Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (originally in Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Sebastian D’Souza on his 117 birth anniversary (29 January 1906 &nd… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to the polymath PL Santoshi, the lyricist, dialogue & script writer, actor, singer, producer, director
(Most of us with some familiarity about our… Read More
Wishing the readers and their families a very Happy New Year.
You might recall some songs picturised on Harindranath Chattopadhyay, who always looked over 80, or on the patriarch of three ge… Read More
Continuing the series of tributes to Vasant Desai, the final tribute on his 47th Remembrance Day (9 June 2012 – 22 December 1975)
When I started writing my tribute to Vasant Desai to… Read More
And the Award for the Best Music Director goes to?
The year 1943 was like 1944 in many respects. Kismet became a cult hit for its novel theme; it also happened to have outstanding… Read More
(Note: I understand some SOY regulars are not getting email notification of new posts. You are all requested to register your email in the box at the bottom of the post. You would get a mail… Read More
(Note: I understand some SOY regulars are not getting email notification of new posts. You are all requested to register your email in the box at the bottom of the post. You would get a mail… Read More
Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Ghulam Haider on his 69th Remembrance Day (1908 – 9 November 1953)
(DP Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer for SOY, but it is more… Read More
I understand most people on SOY know that Saraswati Devi was technically not the first female music director of Hindi film music. As per the current knowledge, two women preceded her –… Read More
And the award for the best duet goes to?
There is something about duets which make them exceptional. If you take a re-look at my Overview Post, six out of the eight ‘Special Songs&rsqu… Read More
Gods have been an important part of our lives and, therefore, our films. We do not set off on a journey without checking whether it was an auspicious moment or not. There is a Rahukaalam wh… Read More
Continuing the series on Vasant Desai, his best songs for Lata Mangeshkar as a tribute to her on her 93rd birthday (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022)
Lata Mangeshkar would have been… Read More
And the Award for the Best Female Solo singer goes to ?
If you browse through the Wrap Up 1 regarding the best solos of 1943, it was clearly a one-horse race with KL Saigal being the Pole St… Read More
Second part of my two-part tribute to Khayyam (18.2.1927–19.8.2019) on his third Remembrance Day
Once the omission of Khayyam was brought to my notice by a reader, I realised any trib… Read More
Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia
(Reference Edition Raagwise: Vol. 3, 4 & 5)
Author: KL Pandey
Sangeet Shilp Prakashan, Lucknow
First edition 2022
Hardcover ₹4800 on Amazon
A passion… Read More
A tribute to Khayyam (18.2.1927–19.8.2019) on his third Remembrance Day
A reader mentioned some time ago that Khayyam has not been covered on SOY. Then I realised that the only post I… Read More
If the world only comprised narcissists at one extreme, and the most polite and courteous who profusely praise others at the other end, it would be a very boring place. Things are never blac… Read More
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… Read More
Guest article by Ahok M Vaishnav as a tribute to Mukesh on his 99th Birth Anniversary (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976)
(Once SOY-veteran N Venkataraman remarked that there has b… Read More
In Vasant Desai Part 1 pertaining to the vintage years (1930s and 40s), we were introduced to his multifaceted talents, including his acting and singing. As per N Venkataraman he had sung a… Read More
A keen reader S. Joseph often suggests some themes to write on. He once wrote to me that there were many songs of a man praising the beauty of a woman, and also, somewhat less, of a woman pr… Read More
Narcissism is seen as some kind of personality disorder denoting an exaggerated sense of self-importance, arrogant, self-centred behaviour and need for excessive attention and admiration. Na… Read More
In normal times, completing twelve years of blogging would have been a matter of joy, and possibly a bit of crowing. That would look quite out of place in these unusual times. We thought tha… Read More
The SOY Award for the Best Male Singer goes to?
There are years when a competition becomes a one-horse race. That is the case with the best male singer for the year 1943. On the one hand we… Read More
If a new visitor looks up Songs Of Yore, she would notice some names conspicuously missing in the right-hand scroll of music directors. There is no design in it, it has just happened. Yet I… Read More
Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav as a tribute t0 Manna Dey on his 103rd birth anniversary (1 May 1919 – 24 October 2013)
(Manna Dey has been described by some as an enigma among singe… Read More
If 1944 was the year of Naushad’s Jewel in the Crown, Rattan, 1943 was the year of Kismet which became a cult film on the back of its music by Anil Biswas. The Master Khemchad Prakash… Read More
The Unforgettable Music of HEMANT KUMAR
By Manek Premchand
Pages: 441
First Edition: 2020
Blue Pencil, New Delhi
(With study of his Bengali repertoire by Antara Nanda Mondal and Sounak Gupt… Read More
Wishing the readers a very Happy Holi
The regular readers of SOY are aware that on Holi, when everyone is out throwing coloured water on each other, I often reflect on some serious issues. N… Read More
If you have not studied Hindi in school or forgotten your grammar, the word hetu-hetu-mad-bhoot would leave you quite flummoxed. SOY readers are from different linguistic backgrounds, and I… Read More
Guest article by Anita Rupavataram
(Mukesh once famously sang, ‘Hazaaron tarah ke ye hote hain aansoo’ (song #5 in this post). There are literally thousands of types of tears.&nb… Read More
The story of my deep romance for Lata Mangeshkar (28.9.1929 – 6.2.2022)
Lata Mangeshkar is no more – her mortal body that is. She was over 92, she has been in and out of hospital… Read More
Majrooh Sultanpuri: The Poet For All Reasons
By Manek Premchand
Pages: 534
First Edition: 2021
Blue Pencil, New Delhi
Among the four markers of a film song – the film in which it appe… Read More
By now the regular readers of the SOY can easily answer if Amitabh Bachchan were to ask on KBC, बलमा के कितने प्… Read More
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year
Readers would recall that one favourite of our film heroines was the Dunce, who went by various names such as anari balma, naadan balma, bhole balam et… Read More
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… Read More
Yesterday’s Melodies Today’s Memories
by Manek Premchand
1st Edition 2003
2nd Edition 2004
3rd Updated Edition: 2018
Notion Press, Chennai
A book review is generally meaningful… Read More
Guest article by Hans Jakhar in continuation of his series on Rajendra Krishna
(When some readers observed that the lyricists have not been give their due importance on SOY, Hans Jakhar offe… Read More
A tribute to the great Master Hansraj Behl (19 November 1916 – 20 May 1984) on his 105th birth anniversary
A fellow-blogger and SOY regular, Anup (Mehfil Mein Meri), has written an exh… Read More
Wishing the readers a very Happy Chhath festival
My fellow bloggers Madhu and Anu are apt to say, no sooner do you put two women together in our films than they start singing. There must be… Read More
And the Award for the Best Music Director goes to?
When you think of the year 1944, you think of Naushad. That was the beginning of Naushad phenomenon with his Jewel in the crown, Rattan. Th… Read More
Guest article by Hans Jakhar on Rajendra Krishna’s combination with Madan Mohan
(Hans Jakhar is among the regular readers of SOY who believe that the lyricists deserve greater recognit… Read More
Window opens the outside world to those inside. If a person from outside tries to look into a window, his view is very restricted. Because of this asymmetry, window creates many interesting… Read More
A tribute to the lyricist Rajendra Krishna (6 June 1919 – 23 September 1987) on his 34th Remembrance Day by guest author Hans Jakhar
(The lovers of old film music regard Rajendra Krish… Read More
And the Award for the Best Duet goes to?
In my list of 81 MEMORABLE SONGS in the Overview Post on the best songs of 1944, I counted 17 duets. This is quite a small number, but as we have see… Read More
We used to learn in our schools that literature is the mirror of society. As I grew, I realised this is more true of our film songs which mirror every aspect of the society and our lives. No… Read More
A tribute to Mukesh on his 45th Remembrance Day (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav
(Mukesh is among the mainstream playback singers who sang some… Read More
Who does not remember the songs Baithe hain rahguzar par dil ka diya jalaaye, Naseeb hoga mera meherbaan kabhi na kabhi, Zulfon ki ghata lekar saawan ki pari ayi, Ye phoolon ka gazra ye sol… Read More
Sitar makes a very conspicuous presence on the screen due to its size. But it conveys an entirely different image from the piano or the harmonium. If piano is aristocracy, harmonium is plebi… Read More