I am trying to do more musician birthdays and this is a big big musician birthday, so time for me to try to figure out what I know about Mukesh and what’s most important.
1.1. I love you because you were one of the first major Hindi film playback singers, back in the 1950s, along with Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi.
2. I love you because you did not come from a family of musicians, but loved music so much that you left home to try your hand in film after the actor Motilal heard you at a wedding.
3. I love you because you started singing film songs at age 18 and worked hard and developed your talent for years before slowly getting noticed.
4. I love you because you eloped at age 23, before you had hit it big in music, and had a happy life with your wife and children through all the years of struggle.
5. I love you because you were still at the top of your field, doing a world tour with Lata Mangeshkar and a concert in Detroit in 1976, when you suddenly died.
6. Most of all, I love you because the concert still went on that night, with your son stepping in to sing your parts and Lataji still singing hers, while your body was waiting to be transported back to India. The greatest tribute to your professionalism and dedication, your friends and family knew you would not have wanted even your death to stop the show.
7. Starting at the end, I love you for this song recorded shortly before your death, “Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein”
8. And I love you for this song, early in your career, when you first started to work with Raj Kapoor. Your partnership with Raj was so strong that, famously, when he heard of your death he declared, “I have lost my voice”. “Awara Hoon”
9. Your partnership with Raj, and his frequent composers Shankar Jaikishen, lead to multiple memorable songs that took advantage of your clear strong voice. “Dost Dost Na Raha”
10. Of course you didn’t only work with Raj and Shankar Jaikishen, you worked with all the major stars up to and including Amitabh and Rajesh Khanna. Like in this song from Anand, “Kahin Dor Jab”
11. Once he was no longer acting, Raj kept using you for the films he directed. Like this extremely trippy song video from Satyam Shivam Sundurram, “Chanchal Sheetal”
12. For me, along with “Kabhi Kabhi”, your most important song is “Jeena Yahan” from Mere Naam Joker. It was Raj Kapoor’s statement on the meaning of life and art, and it resonates down to today with all the workers in the Hindi industry (this is the song that Asha Bhosle stopped and cried in the middle when I saw her live), and Mukesh was chosen as the voice for it.
Bonus 13 reason: I love that you were the start of now 3 generations of film workers, your son and fellow major playback singer Nitin Mukesh, and now your grandson Neal Nitin Mukesh (named for his father, his grandfather, and Neal Armstrong)
dontcallitbollywood 
I have to post my favorite Mukesh song…this was constantly played and sung during my childhood in the 70’s – Sangam was my mom’s fave movie.
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Oh shoot, the link didn’t post. I’m gonna guess “Bol Radha Bol”?
On Mon, Jul 22, 2019 at 8:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You got it! Will try to embed video. Soundtrack of my childhood
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQkYucs5ExY
On Mon, Jul 22, 2019 at 10:18 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes! Thank you!
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I think the song you meant to reference from’Mera Naam Joker’ is Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan (we will live here, we will die here), whose lyrics reflect the meaning of life and art, rather than Jaane Kahan (whose video you have also linked), which is a straight up sad song. I’m not sure which song Asha may have cried during though.
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Yep, you’re right! Thank you! I wrote this at work so I couldn’t listen to the songs.
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Mukesh is a great singer. But there is a nasal quality to his voice which stops me from completely enjoying it. That said, you can’t imagine anybody else singing his song Jis gali mein from Kati Patang (based on the same book which spawned Brenden Fraser’s Mrs.Winterbourne in the 90s).
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