Radio has seen the revolution in the post-privatization era. In present times, radio has come back with a bang. Its cool again to listen to radio as its no more an obscure object kept in the corner of the room, fighting with television, computers for your attention.
The private FM channels mostly play similar song lists and it is difficult to distinguish one from the other, except for Big FM which now plays only old Hindi film music all the time. Govt FM channels like FM Gold (plays old Hindi film songs), FM Rainbow (mostly plays mix of old and new Hindi songs) with their jarred old world style of presentations still have a huge following in non- Metro areas. Metro cities prefer Hinglish language or English mixed with local language with light conversation by the radio host or as popularly called RJs.
Recently, my brother and I were in the car playing music on the radio, and it was him who noticed and commented that radio private FM music channels have a liking for RD Burman music, as one after the other RD song played on the radio. Our late father had great taste in music and poetry. As kids we were exposed to all kinds of music (mainly Urdu/ Hindi) ghazals, qawwalis, Bollywood music with all the stories and gossip on famous personalities related to music like music directors, singers, etc. even though we hardly understood most of it at that time. But, stories gathered in our heads which helped us to distinguish OP Nayyar from Shankar Jaikishen, Khayyam from Madan Mohan, Laxmikant Pyarelal from well, you get the point. Even writing styles of lyricists like Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, Sahir and old singers were easy for both of us to guess.
Probably, people playing music and especially old Hindi film music on these channels may not know about the teams of Anand Bakhshi- Laxmi/ Pyare, Sahir/ SD Burman, Shailendra/Shankar Jaikishen/ Raj Kapoor team, they just know about Gulzar- RD Burman who are great of course. But, others are not that bad either. Unless they have their birth/ death anniversary that is when they are remembered and played. I appeal for some variety on the popular radio FM music channels, there are gems of songs which are gathering dust. The new generation needs exposure to some soulful music and beautiful meaningful lyrics, just dhin chak dhin chak gets loud and boring!
The private FM channels mostly play similar song lists and it is difficult to distinguish one from the other, except for Big FM which now plays only old Hindi film music all the time. Govt FM channels like FM Gold (plays old Hindi film songs), FM Rainbow (mostly plays mix of old and new Hindi songs) with their jarred old world style of presentations still have a huge following in non- Metro areas. Metro cities prefer Hinglish language or English mixed with local language with light conversation by the radio host or as popularly called RJs.
Recently, my brother and I were in the car playing music on the radio, and it was him who noticed and commented that radio private FM music channels have a liking for RD Burman music, as one after the other RD song played on the radio. Our late father had great taste in music and poetry. As kids we were exposed to all kinds of music (mainly Urdu/ Hindi) ghazals, qawwalis, Bollywood music with all the stories and gossip on famous personalities related to music like music directors, singers, etc. even though we hardly understood most of it at that time. But, stories gathered in our heads which helped us to distinguish OP Nayyar from Shankar Jaikishen, Khayyam from Madan Mohan, Laxmikant Pyarelal from well, you get the point. Even writing styles of lyricists like Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, Sahir and old singers were easy for both of us to guess.
Probably, people playing music and especially old Hindi film music on these channels may not know about the teams of Anand Bakhshi- Laxmi/ Pyare, Sahir/ SD Burman, Shailendra/Shankar Jaikishen/ Raj Kapoor team, they just know about Gulzar- RD Burman who are great of course. But, others are not that bad either. Unless they have their birth/ death anniversary that is when they are remembered and played. I appeal for some variety on the popular radio FM music channels, there are gems of songs which are gathering dust. The new generation needs exposure to some soulful music and beautiful meaningful lyrics, just dhin chak dhin chak gets loud and boring!
Hello! it was a pleasure reading your blog.I want to talk to you as am planning to start a project in old.Delhi . I want to talk to you , kindly message or post your email or any other-contact number .
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Aqsa Anjum
Thank you Aqsa.
DeleteI am sorry for the delay in response.
You can write to me at uzmaazharali@gmail.com