Pakistan is blessed with talent and when
we talk about Pakistani Music, you can never stop picking up one of the
best Pakistani pop song uptill now because there are number of such hit
songs nobody can judge the best one in past decades such as "Dil Dil
Pakistan" , “Huwa Huwa", “Mehndi ki Raat", “Na Kaho", “Dil Haray",
“Ankhain Milanay Walay", “Wakt", “Neeli Neeli Ankhain", “Jaisay Chao Jeo",
“Garuj Burus", “No More", “Ankhoun ki Sagar", “Na Tu Aigi", “Addat" left
the audience agape and many more. Our artists' are popular all over the
world. Many new talented artists in Pakistan are still working hard to
bring quality Pakistani music.
We can easily judge Alamgir as the pioneer of music industry who's first
big hit was "DEKHA NA THA KABHI HUM NAY YEH SUMMA", and remains the song
he is still most identified with, though later songs such as "Yeh Shaam
Aur Tera Naam" and "Mein Ne Tumhare Gagar Se Kabhi Pani" continued to
add to his composition. Alamgir, it must be said, laid the groundwork
that countless others used to break into the music industry. He not only
sang well, he was a performer in the true sense of the word. There is no
denying Alamgir’s contribution to the evolution of the pop music genre
in Pakistan.
NAZIA HASSAN was the first one to cross the forbidden Pakistan-India
border to sing in an Indian film called "Qurbani" which was "APP JAISA
KOI". And later this song became a youth anthem in both India and
Pakistan. And next NAZIA, ZOHAIB and BIDDU (an Indian composer) teamed
up to release "DISCO DEEWANE" which became the biggest pop selling album
till then in Pakistan. The Hasan siblings released one more album, "Boom
Boom", in 1984. This second collaboration with Biddu, the undisputed
king of Indian filmi disco music, was also a huge success. Their success
marked a turning point in the pop history.
And later Vital Sign ventured on to Pakistani television screens with
their guitars and a catchy, patriotic song named "Dil Dil Pakistan" in
1986. Their album released in 1987 with gems like "Yeh Shaam" and funky
"Goray Rung Ka Zamana".

Then came Jupitars with their evergreen hit songs “Yaroun Yehi Dosti Hai",
continued with Hassan Jehangir’s “Hawa Hawa" in 1990, "Sanwali Saloni"
by Vital Signs in 1991, "Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar" in 1992 by the Strings,
Sajjad Ali’s "Didi" ripoff "Babia" in 1993, Najam Shiraz’s "In Se Nain"
in 1995, Junoon’s "Saeein" in 1996 or Awaz’s "Mr. Fraudiye" in 1997.
Junoon came into the race with their World Cup Hit song “Jazaba-e-Junoon
Tou Himat na Har". This is only to be expected in a growing industry.
Perhaps the biggest unexpected success of an experimental song, however,
was Sajjad Ali’s street-wise 1995 hit "Chief Saab". Full of Karachi
slang and tough imagery, "Chief Saab", perhaps more than anything else
signified the coming age of pop music. It showed that one did not
necessarily have to remain within pre-determined saccharine-sweet
boundaries to be popular, and that people liked hearing of issues other
than puppy love. Partly, as a result of this expansion of the pop
market, established musicians from non-pop genres such as
Qawali
maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan were also drawn towards experimenting
within it.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan gave numerous hit one after another and
he gave the music for Hollywood movies and as well as for many Bollywood
movies too.
The pop band that most successfully seized upon this idea was, of
course,
Junoon, which used its success with the haunting "Saeein" to
recast itself as a completely different sort of band. Here we saw pop
again intersecting with folk and vice versa.
In 1994, FM radio brought about another mini-revolution in Pakistani
music. From Landhi in Karachi to Krishan Nagar in Lahore, names like
female vocalist Hadiqa Kiyani and young Shehzad Roy suddenly became
household names. Even iconoclastic recluse virtuosos like guitarist Amir
Zaki (whose almost purely instrumental album "Signature" did well in the
market) were receiving the kind of airplay the big bands of the ’80s
could only have dreamed of.
Pop industry had big turnaround when private channels came into the
scene, Like IM which became the medium to introduce young talents in the
pop industry names like Fuzon, Aaroh, noori, Aks, Ahmad Jehanzaib,
Mizraab, Karavan, Ali Zafar, Jal which not only rock the Pakistani pop
music but also made their names worldwide. The new arrivals made their
presence felt through remarkable individual songs, even though full
albums for now seemed beyond most new acts. Ahmad Jehanzaib's Ek Bar
Kaho, Fuzon's Ankhon Ke Saagar and Schehzad Mughal's Bas Yunheen were
each excellent. The first two were carried by soulful, ardent vocals and
the last shone through affecting lyrics. Hot on their heels, honourable
mentions must also go to Aks stunningly understated Neela Aasman,
noori's jangle-pop perfection Tum Hans Diyae, Junoon's excellent Garaj
Baras, Sajjad Ali with Teri Yaad, Aamir Zaki's insightful and incisive
People Are People, EP's piledriving Hum Ko Aazma, Najam's infinitely
catchy !
Jaisay Chaho Jiyo and Aao Wahan Chalain, Ali Zafar’s startling Chanoo ki
Ankh, Jal’s splendid addat and yes even Ali Haider's insipid but still
memorably melodic Chandi Ratain. Abrar's Preeto was the novelty hit of
the year. The Pepsi Battle of the Bands did a great job in throwing up a
wealth of talent. EP, Aaroh, Brain Massala, Messiah, Schahzad Hameed and
others all have Pepsi to thank. The Pepsi Battle of the Bands got all
these fledgling bands great exposure.
Recently, a team of talented Pakistani musicians and artists took the
long road to Mumbai, via Dubai, possibly to make history, for this was
the first time in recent memory that Pakistanis had gone to India to
create the background score for a Bollywood film. The film in question
is Pooja Bhatt's Paap, and former Vital Sign Shehzad 'Shahi' Hasan,
cinematographer Faisal Rafi, singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and studio
session player and keyboardist Faiz Ali Naqvi, were the foursome
representing the world of Pakistani music in India.
Strings enjoyed considerable success with Dhaani. Probably the most
hyped album of the year, with lead single Chaaye Chaaye being the
standout favourite. String gave the soundtrack for Spiderman 2 which was
a remarkable effort.
Junaid Jamshed's Dil Ki Baat was understated but assured and
notwithstanding JJ's quite public and tortured ruminations over religion
and music, the album showed that JJ is still competent at middle of the
road pop and that Shoaib Mansoor still has the magic touch. Shahzad
Roy's Rab Jane was hobbled by his illness and yet catches the fire while
Karavan's Gardish seems to have suddenly picked up and was sold like
hot-cakes. Schahzad Mughal's Jhoom Lay was one of the most pleasant of
surprises of the year.
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