Page 54 - Seniorstoday January 2022 Issue

late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida known for wedding songs like ‘Latthe Di
Parveen, Sabri Brothers and India’s Wadali
Brothers, and Pakistani Sufi-rock bands
Junoon and Mekaal Hasan Band have sung
in Punjabi.
Over time, bhangra caught on, because of
its energy and the fact that it involved both
music and dance. It started in villages where
farmers danced to celebrate Baisakhi or the
harvest festival. But slowly, it attracted the
attention of a wider audience and is even
popular among Indian audiences abroad.
From simply using the dhol drum and the
single-stringed instrument ektara, it started
incorporating even western instruments and
drums. Some musicians even added hip-hop
flavours to bhangra.
The Bhangra is synonymous with high energy Punjabi
music and dance
Bhangra and folk are actually two separate
styles, with the former being high on energy
and rhythms. Among the renowned folk
musicians, one of the earliest to record such
music in the 1950s was Lal Chand Yamla
Jatt, who is said to have developed the
tumbi. While his style was more rustic, a
new form was started using more film music
influences. Asa Singh Mastana was one of
the leading names here. The other popular
artiste was Surinder Kaur, who often sang
with her sister Parkash Kaur. She sang
different folk and Sufi styles, but was also
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Chadar’ and ‘Kaala Doriya’. Kuldeep Manak
sang rare forms of folk music.
With cassettes becoming popular in the
late 1970s, many new Punjabi labels sprung
up. One of the biggest artistes was Gurdas
Maan, whose 1980 hit ‘Dil Da Mamla Hai’ is
popular even today. Duets by Amarjot and
Chamkila were popular both on tape and at
live shows. Other prominent names were
K.S. Narula, Jagmohan Kaur and Charanjit
Arora. In the late 1980s, Hans Raj Hans
became a well-known name.
It was only natural that Punjabi music
would be modernised and catch the
attention of young Indians in the West.
London and Birmingham specially took to
this music. Artiste Apache Indian blended
reggae with Punjabi music, and Bally Sagoo
added Punjabi flavours to his remixes, with
a big hit in his version of the classic ‘Laung
Gavacha’. In 1993, Malkit Singh’s ‘Tootak
Tootak Tootiyan’ became a rage.
In the mid-1990s, Indipop had grown in
popularity within India, and its Punjabi
variant quickly caught on after the release
of Daler Mehndi’s album Bolo Ta Ra Ra. His
stardom lasted till the end of the decade, and