Learning about the historical evolution of the music of Pakistan is an interesting experience. You can come to know about a number of artists and their work. It also shows where Pakistan stood in terms of art and pop culture at different eras of time. Every decade, the trends grew into something new and the music scene changed. New artists took over the scene and old forms of music were forgotten. This series of articles about the musical journey of Pakistan will showcase the eras and prominent artists in both forms of music. Pop and Rock; the most popular forms of music genres have been focused in this research.
Music of the 60s decade
The era of 1960s has lots of importance when it comes to the development of pop music. Many sub genres of pop music had become widely known such as bubble gum pop, baroque pop, and sunshine pop. Rock music towards the end of the decade had introduced progressive rock. Artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin had released their debut albums. These artists albums laid out the blue print of the future of music. Rock music roared into the main stream with bands that were experimenting with heavier and more aggressive sounds. The global trends in music were to have a influence on music of Pakistan as well. Even though the decade of 60s did not have an internet but the radio and social clubs served the purpose. These places became the breeding ground for many bands that surfaced in cities like Karachi during the 60s.
Embryonic stage for music of Pakistan
Pop music was in its initial stages during the decade, as the only hit single was Kokorina by Ahmed Rushdi. Performed by Ahmed Rushdi the was featured in a Pakistani movie with Waheed Murad. It became an overnight success and ever green hit. Definitely the first pop song of the country which introduced a new path for the young artists at that time.
However, the most interesting musical development might have been missed by many main stream audience. It was the bands of Karachi which played live in the night clubs. Bands such as The Fatah Brothers, The Panthers, and The Talisman have left their mark on the musical history of Karachi. Their music shows the essential elements of harmonic, blues rock which was the hallmark of the decade.
60s Influences in music of Pakistan
The music of the 1960s holds importance for the development of pop and rock music of Pakistan. The love and peace slogans of the era definitely carried over into the coming years. The 70s had a lot of reflection of that, and even in 90s bands such as Milestones also carried the same style. Moreover, other bands from Karachi such as Visions had the same 60s vibe to their musical style as well.
In the music of Vision one can find rock and Jazz influences while Milestones incorporates a much tighter sound with influences such as Jimi Hendrix. Both bands show the same influences that were drawn from the musical styles of 1960s. This goes to show that the 60s was a major influence in propelling pop music into the 1970s and for the rock music of Pakistan to remain vibrant well into the 90s decade. The music of 1960s not only became influence for the musicians but also the designs of musical instruments and sound system are popular until today. Hyper wave by Sound Crush is a speaker with a retro design representing the 60s as well. It has incorporated a stereo like design which looks exactly as a vintage radio from the 1960s.
