Adil Najam
At various points and during various discussions on ATP readers have debated just when ‘pop music’ arrived in Pakistan. Some have suggested Vital Signs as the beginning, others have argued that the first step was from Nazia and Zohaib Hassan, and yet others take it further back to Alamgir and Mohammad Ali Shehki. Each, of course, was an icon of their time and shaped the music that was to follow them.
For me, however, the birth of ‘popular pop’ came with Ahmad Rushdi; especially when he teamed up with Waheed Murad. We have argued here that Waheed Murad might have been the very first ‘heart throb’ hero of Pakistan. Let me now suggest that Ahmad Rushdie defined ‘kool’ as much as Waheed Murad and that Ahmad Rushdie was the first real Pop Superstar of Pakistan.
More than that Co Co Corina – or is it Ko Ko Korina – is the definitive and defining Pakistani Pop song. Not only was it the first superhit pop song but it remains an icon for its generation and for Pakistani pop music in general.
I guess it should be clear by now that I really like this song. Take a look and listen; and hear and see why.
Waheed Murad, as you can see, is in his ‘Elvis Presley of Pakistan’ mode here. For another glimpse of that mood see the video in our previous post on Waheed Murad.
By way of a parting note, I should add that even though I have expressed my own bias against what I have called the ‘hilna jullna’ style of singing I am not only not averse to but am actually partial to a good ‘performance’, as long as the singing is not compromised by the ‘hilna julna’. This video is not just nostalgic but also meets that test of fun performance combined with good singing.
Please read article by one of my favorite writers Nadeem Farooq Piracha.
This link describes Socio-political History of Modern Pop Music in Pakistan.
Enjoy.
Shiraz
Dear Pakistanian (I like that!), you are right the music scene is actaully alive and thriving and some very very good work is being done…. I keep telling myself I have to do more on contemporary music. [Must say, however, that I do worry about the state of ghazal singing today… which has nearly vanished]
On Ahmad Rushdi, he was certainly NOT a one-song star…. while this song was particularly iconic the range and versatality of his work is quite amazing. Even though he died young he has left behind a large and wonderful body of work that includes such classics as alailay na jaana, kissi chaman meiN raho, Acha kiya dil na diya, jabb piyar meiN duo dil miltay haiN, etc. A good place to find some of his best work is here.
The song was from the movie ‘Armaan’ and its music was indeed composed by Sohail Rana. There have been many songs which Rushdi sang which could have fallen under the category of ‘Pop’…such as:
“Aik Uran khatola aye ga…Aik laal pari ko lae ga”. I believe the movie was “Jane Bond-Operation Karachi” starring Rakhshanda Khattak.
Salaams Everyone. Adil Bhai, you seem to have a habbit of reminding me and I am sure many many who visit this blog of those good old days in the 80s when the whole family used to convene in the living room sit in front of the TV and watch the 8pm drama on our good old wholesome PTV. Gone are those days and I must say that our music has come a long way since then, and I wish I could say the same about the rest of our show business. Anyways, regarding the topic at hand, do pardon my ignorance but whenever I hear the name Ahmad Rushdie, the only song that gets credited to him is Ko Ko Korina. So to me he sounds more like a one hit wonder! IMHO the first real pop superstar in Pakistan has to be Alamgir not even Shehaki, he came a little later.
I recall my father playing ko ko korina. It was defintely the fist pop song in Pakistan. Thank you for reminding us of Ahmed Rushdie and his contribution. We do tend to have somewhat short memories, don’t we?