About – 2012 Edition

[Note:  I have another “About” page that is not necessarily all obsolete, so if anybody wants to read another, even wordier page that can tell you “About” this blog in some other ways, which was written close to three years ago (and which I actually took a  much longer time to write), then go there.  I’m am sure that either page has its advantages…]

This blog was originally devoted to “global” music, albeit much of it from or related to the Indian Subcontinent (or, in pre-partition terms, just plain India).  Then I got very involved specifically in old Indian films and music. One reason that this happened is that I was fortunate enough to live in the Queens, New York City neighborhood called Jackson Heights, near some of the best “Bollywood” DVD stores in the world.  (I no longer live there – I am presently on Staten Island.)  Another factor that went into this particular development on this blog was my communication with other “Bolly bloggers” and YouTube channel people, who helped to give me a tremendous education in this stuff.  And I found myself especially drawn to material of the early Golden Age and the Vintage era, specifically the 1940s and early ’50s.  I love the music from these films and the way many of the films are made (cinematography, etc.) as well as many of the actors and actresses and singers from that time, and also the social-political content (much of it on the left).  Also, of course, I do like the heart of the Golden Age, going further into the ’50s (where some of the best dance can be found), but my interest starts to wane a little by the ’60s (although I think there were some real masterpieces made in the ’70s).  So, anyway, let’s say that when it comes to films and their dance and music, the general era that I concentrate on is Vintage-into-Golden-Age, sometimes almost exclusively, but never totally so.

I have gotten a lot of good feedback about my concentration on that era of filmmaking, and when I post about that material, I imagine that the blog seems very consistent.  But I also have my own peculiar tastes and whims, especially when it comes to contemporary fare.

I have found that when I look more at what is going on in the present day, my interest in Hindi films wanes quite a bit.  I am much more attached to contemporary music and dance from places on the Subcontinent outside of “Bollywood.”  For a while, I was saying that a lot more of the contemporary material that I would be emphasizing here would come from South India, but that is not true at this point.  I do like contemporary South Indian movies (vs. films from other regions) particularly for the dance.  But music is another matter…  I still do like looking at and posting contemporary folk/pop/dance music from the whole Subcontinental region, just as I did at the very beginning of this blog.  But my tastes tend most often to lean toward the north.  I have developed a great fondness for contemporary Pakistani pop, and it seems to me that Pakistan is producing excellent pop, rock, and dance music (much of it based on more traditional stuff, such as folk music or spiritual music).  I actually had some exposure to Pakistani music (and inspiration to explore it) long before my obsession with Indian films, and I developed a particular fondness for the music of the Sufis.  Along the same lines, I have realized that I love a whole range of music that has Punjabi or Sindhi origins.  (Of course, many vintage Indian films also have Punjabi origins.  And I have also posted a good amount of material that comes from Golden Age Pakistani films – both Urdu and Punjabi – but that is mainly because of my love of a singer originally from Vintage “Bollywood,” Madam Noor Jehan.)

I do still like music from other parts of the world, even the area that I come from, the East Coast of the U.S.A.  I actually was a pop/rock critic for a couple of prior decades.  (No, I am not a youngster.  Though I am not a senior citizen yet, either.)   But for some reason (or a number of reasons), even though I like other music(s), the bulk of what I’ve been listening to in the past several years has come from India and Pakistan.  And in order to have at least some consistency, I have decided that the vast majority of the stuff that I post here on this blog should come from that region.

Sometimes I wonder if this might seem a bit peculiar since I have no personal Indian roots.  I originally came from The Bronx, and my ancestors were Jewish, and they lived in Russia and Ukraine!  But on the other hand, I don’t really believe that roots – at least in the traditional sense – have to be so important in determining our cultural likes an affinities.  Personally speaking, though I’m from the U.S.A., I grew up in a city where I had exposure to a good number of cultures originating from all over the world, and I see no reason why I shouldn’t take advantage of that fact by growing my own roots based on things that I have found and love!

So, that, in the proverbial nutshell, is what I’m doing here and why I am doing it.