Under the Influence

Re: # 40

Nazia & Zoheb were sponsored by UniLevers (Lipton Yellow Label) in 1988-90.


Rgds,
NfP

Re: # 39 Let`s face it adityapant, Indian pop pretty much sucks! So why ask why they havnt made it big.

NFP
Not all big bands in Pakistan are sponsored. As you mentioned yourself, Sajad Ali was never sponsored. But then nor were Alamgir and Nazia Hassan.

Re: # 27, #38

Absolutely ignorant about the rock secene in Pakistan, except for Junoon ofcourse. But I would tend to agree with #38.

In India, the rock scene is sustained by college and university festivals who generate enough funding through MNC`s to pay for a band to come and perform. for bands like Parikrama, its their bread and butter.

significantly, fusion bands, like Indian Ocean have done far better, in financial terms and in building up a following. but not many indian bands have been sucessful in that direction unlike, I suspect, Pakistan. Wonder why though??

All in all, while a band may not directly be funded by MNC`s...they mostly perform at events that are sponsored by them. Except, as far as i know, Indian Ocean.

Re: # 27
NFP, but I remember during the interview you gave to Fasi Zaka on Indus Music, you said that if one takes out the money of MNCs from the Pak music scene, it will collapse. I know you were talking more about the fragility of the scene but what other alternative do we have if not sponsorship?

NFP:
Nice compilation. I also agree with most of it. VS minus shoaib mansoor (music, lyrics, direction) would have been a lot weaker product. Junoon stands out on its own but you are right about them being less influential in the music scene (pakistan) due to the type of music they played and the targetted audience. Still remember the day when we say Dil Dil pakistan on TV during a PTV centers national song competition. DDP was the entry from islo and didn`t win !!.. Junoon`s popularity ofcourse surpassed VS in mid 90s culminating with their foray into india...
Whatever happened to nusrat hussain? His album amrit was pretty good.. weak vocally and lyrically.. but the composition and the production/recording was slick....
more later..

Can someone explain why Vital Signs never crossed the border, while Strings, Junoon, Fuzon are wildly popular here?

Wildly popular needs to be clarified, but the fact is that more people have heard Sayonee or Duur than they have Indipop bands like Euphoria. On the whole, Pakipop still remains a cultivated taste in India.

Nazia & Zoheb of course **were** wildly popular, in every sense of the term.

Maybe NFP, you should do a special on guitar players from Pakistan. Faraz Anwar one hears is a gifted player. Salman Ahmed of course rocks. I love Bilal`s musical sensibility though he is lousy live. Shallum Xavier is also talented at least on the Fuzon record.

The Jal guy- don`t know his name and don`t ever want to- is a bloody fraud. Plays standard licks and laboured solos throughout the show. Their bass player is good, though.

Re: # 31
AHMEDZAI
``coming back to the list, I would`ve had Ali Haider in Hadiqa`s place. it`s a pity that he`s lost it completely. it`s been all downhill after Jadu``

this is wat i meant - chaar din kee chaandnee phir andhairee raat..
what about Ahmed Jehanzaib - 4 din kee maar..
Shahzaman introduced great but his voice simply sux - a dubai guy - came out with another good track with Jawad Kahlown in UDEEKAAN - but still again 4 din kee maar..

even u and me can get to these places and be branded as 4 din kee maar - shehzad Roy anybody..? heard of him - 4 din kee maar again - didn`t have team, accepted.

Re: # 20 - haaye Allah kya keh diya..

Re: # 18-the sastay bands which last 4 days - atif aslam & Co. - the offspring who make it to the mobile fone billboard becoz v have paid for the card in our fone. our extra money is wasted on these toota phoota.

can u protest that u paid to get atif aslam in the sony ericsson ad and he got umreekan visa and u didn`t - u and i would sound stupid.

Re: # 30

*VS was originally formed by Rohail, Shahzad and Nusrat Hussain. These guys were then joined by Juniad Jamshed. And this was the line-up that recorded `Dil, Dil Pakistan.` However, by the time the band entered the studios to record their first album, VS:1, Nusrat quit and was replaced by Salman. Salman played across all songs (except Dil, Dil Pakistan) on VS:1. He quit/was fired shortly before VS:2 and was replaced by Rizwan-ul-Haq.

*No, Vital Signs the name had nothing to do with Salman. It was first suggested by Rohail back in 1987, before Salman joined. It has nothing to do with medical science. It was picked from a title of a song called `Vital Signs` on the 1981 Rush album, Moving Pictures.

* No, Salman was the only other doctor. Junaid was studying to be an Engineer.

*I`ve already told you who came up with the name (and how), and also who played on `Dil, Dil Pakistan.` Also, `Dil, Dil Pakistan` was composed by Nusrat.

Rgds,
NfP

don`t know how or why Hadiqa deserves to be in a top ten of any kind. her voice is extremely ordinary. she`s done well for herself, she markets herself well. most of her stuff sound the same. she`s been there a while but surely vocal abilities count for something if you`re a singer and she falls short - very short - there.

from the new generation, I would put Shabnam Majeed, Fareeha Pervaiz and Arooj Aftab above her in the talent department. Shabnam has got an absolutely divine voice. her problem is that she doesn`t have a good team around her. but you give her a composer like Shoaib Mansoor and she`ll do something spectacular like Anarkali. Fareeha hasn`t done justice to her talents in any of her solo offerings. but if you want to see what she`s capable of, listen to the soundtrack of ``Umrao Jan Ada`` a Raana Sheikh drama. she was just brilliant in it and she didn`t disgrace herself when singing with Mehnaz which is a huge deal. she won my respect there. Arooj sounds amazing from her releases on the internet. wish Fareeha and Shabnam would surround themselves with some professional, talented people. they`re very, very capable technically. need a good composer.

coming back to the list, I would`ve had Ali Haider in Hadiqa`s place. it`s a pity that he`s lost it completely. it`s been all downhill after Jadu. its lack of commercial success seems to have really confused him. regardless of that as the guy who gave us such songs as ``Purani Jeans``, ``Zalim Nazron`` and ``Ga Raha Tha``, he deserves a mention.

agree with the rest of the list particularly with VS being at the top. they are/were peerless. Shahi and Rohail still go great work whenever they come out of hibernation. Rohail started that Fried Junkies thing - they had some great clips on there particularly the Tina Sani one. and now the website says that the gig is dead. what a waste of a talent.

Maybe NFP can answer these questions:

Who were the members of VS in VS1 and the same question on VS2?

When was Salman in the group and in which songs on these Albums did

he play.

My reason for putting Salman Ahmad amongst the founders was the name

``Vital Signs`` itself, which refers the field of Medicine.

Besides Salman, was there any other Doctor in the Band?

Who came up with that name?

And last but not least who played/sang on ``Dil Dil Pakistan``?

thanks kaka.

Re: # 27
Nadeem
If what you say was at least one reason behind your positionings here than why are Vital Signs ahead of Junoon? Because as you mentioned in your article, VS accepted sponsorship very early on in their career while Junoon did so almost eight years after its formation. I totally agree that once Coke entered their lives they started to sound like crap, but then since Sajjad Ali never got sponsored, shouldn`t he be the top most in your list? Of course, all this is being said assuming this issue of sponsorship was a main reason here.

Re: # 24
~~~~one of the underlying themes in the article was how bands/artists declined as they took on sponsorships by MNC`s. you also hint that even the sound of the band changes.
could you or someone please talk a bit more about this?~~~


Multinationals known more for making and selling soft drinks, soap and stuff, will only be interested in acquiring the modeling services of a pop/rock act to promote their brands within the youth market. They put chunks of money and PR activity on the sponsored acts and do little or nothing as far as the development of the aesthetic and economic sides of the scene are concerned. And sooner or later, it is an inevitable conclusion that the sponsors start to dictate the creative content and course of the sponsored act’s art.

Rgds,
NfP

I have really enjoyed reading this article. Though I am quite amazed at the absence of Nusrat saab from this list. I think he truly deserves to be in every list that is prepared in terms of South Asian music. A number of his songs including `Ankhiyan uddek diyan` and `Piya Re` were huge pop hits and should have found a mention. Otherwise I quite agree to the other entries. Particularly interesting was the write-up on Vital Signs especially after I recently caught Junaid Jamshed on TV talking about the importance of namaaz in cricket.