Really Old Oldies...

The term Oldies acquires different meanings in different circles. When I was young, what I meant by Oldies was maybe songs from the late 1960s and 70s. Thereafter, I discovered the gems of the 50s and listened to them for a while. I had recently met someone who is about 55-60 years old. While conversing with him, when I said I like Oldies, he took it to mean the 1930s and songs by K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mallick, R.C. Boral, etc.

Of late, I have been listening to songs of the late 40s and 50s. In fact, I have gotten bored of listening to the late 60s and 70s. In this post, let me concentrate on some of the notable songs of the late 40s.

The late 40s was the period when actors had just stopped singing their songs in the song and dance sequences. The times when Ashok Kumar, Noor Jahan and other who sang and danced and acted had just ended. The era of big time playback singers was about to begin. Noor Jahan had acted and sung fantastic melodies in Anmol Ghadi (1946) especially Awaaz De Kahaan Hai standing out amongst the others. In 1949, one song single handedly launched the career of arguably the greatest playback singer India has ever seen - Lata Mangeshkar. When she sang the song Aayega Aanewala for the inimitable and most beautiful Madhubala in Mahal(1949), listeners swooned to the voice that would entrance billions for years. Legend has it that the people in the studio started talking excitedly about the new singer who had made a huge impression. When the movie was a hit (probably because of the song), Madhubala started insisting that Lata sing all her future songs.

It was also the time when Noor Jahan was displaced as the undisputed singing queen. Also, since she went over to Pakistan after the partition, she got fewer opportunities to sing than Lata did. In fact, Noor Jahan was Lata's idol in the initial stages of her career and even imitated her style of singing in some of her early songs. The other mindblowing songs were from Raj Kapoor's Barsaat (1949). Shankar-Jaikishen composed a remarkable score for Raj Kapoor's first directorial hit film. It established the Raj Kapoor-Nargis combo along with Shankar-Jaikishen and Shailendra-Hasrat Jaipuri pair for music and lyrics. Raj never wavered from this and they went on to deliver hit after hit. Mukesh only got two songs in the movie but Chhod gaye baalam is outstanding. Lata again reasserted her supremacy making this movie a terrific hit. In fact, RK made the RK studio emblem based on a Barsaat scene where he holds Nargis in one hand an a violin in the other.

Some other outstanding songs from the late 40s that are my favourites and immediately come to mind are:

Suhaani Raat Dhal Chuki, Na Jaane thum kab Aaogi (Dulari, 1949) by Rafi
Mere Piya gaye Rangoon (Patanga, 1949) by Shamshad Begum
Tu Kahe Agar (Andaz, 1949) by Mukesh

These are some of the earliest songs that I have listened. I have no recollection of having heard from the 30s. It must have been the glory days of KL Saigal, Khemchand Prakash, Pankaj Mallick, etc.

In fact, while I started this post with enthusiasm, it waned towards the end since I have not been able to weave a systematic classification about any one singer or movie or director. I have just been able to touch upon various geniuses who kickstarted their careers around the same time - Lata, Mukesh, Rafi, Raj Kapoor, etc. Maybe subsequent posts will be on individual movies and personalities.

Watch out for more in the future posts.