To recognize the original musical talent of Pakistan, we move on to explore and understand who really introduced rock music in Pakistan. There have been many misconceptions by the media that undermine the true pioneering talent of Pakistan . Today's popular rock bands no doubt do good music but unfortunately majority of their music is heavily copied.
Talking about Rock Music in Pakistan the first name that comes in our mind is Junoon because the media highlighted Junoon as the pioneers of Rock music in our country. But if you do a little research you will find out that Junoon was not the first band to do Rock Music. In fact Junoon came very late in the scene when initial grounds for rock music were already layed out by so many other Rock bands in the country.
The Barbarians
Vocalist: Jamal Afridi
Guitarist: Asad Ahmed
Drums: Nabeel
Bass: Jamal Afridi
In 1986-87 Barbarians took the first step to do Rock music in a country like Pakistan where people do not even listen to pop music. Their debut track 'Yeh Zindagi Hai' was aired on STN and gave a new meaning to Pakistani music in the late 80's. The band was formed by Asad Ahmed who later joined Awaz; which he eventually left to form Karavan.
Final Cut
Vocalist: Shehzad Mughal
Guitarist: Rizwan Khan (a.k.a Rizwan Cut)
Drums: Faisal
Bass: Azam Riffat
Keyboards: Nadeem Jafri
Final Cut was formed in 1987-88 by Rizwan Khan a very intelligent and talented musician respected by everyone. Final Cut as you know was the album name of Pink Floyd so you can imagine what kind of a band Final Cut was.
Power House
Vocalist: Jamal Nasir
Guitarist: Adnan Afaq (a.k.a Adnan Vai)
Drums: Faisal
Bass: Sameer Ahmed
Keyboards: Nadeem Jafri
Power House dates back to 1988-89 and was the brainchild of Adnan Afaq better known as Adnan Vai. Power House was named as the best band to cover Pink Floyd in an orderly fashion. The band was formed as soon as Adnan started playing the guitars and when he left for US for music education Faraz Anwar took his place in Power House.
Faraz Anwar
An award winner from Berklee College of Music started his career in 1989 with Adnan Afaq who taught him the basics of guitar playing. His debut track 'Akela' was aired on PTV and STN and created waves because of its hard hitting guitar riffs. At an age of 16 or 17 he was awarded 'Outstanding Musical Achievement Award' by the best music school 'Berklee' when he sent them his first ever instrumental 'Chairzkuro'; even though he was unable to go there due to some financial problems.
Overdrive
Vocals: Faisal Butt (Except Zameen By Salman)
Guitars: Akbar Qureshi
Drums: Rowdy
Bass: Tabish Ahmed
Overdrive was one of the heaviest acts in Pakistan during 1993-1995 era. Their debut single 'Zameen' was one of the most amazing tracks to come in Pakistan and gave Overdrive a massive fan following. The band broke up because of no ample support by the media at that time and all the band members said good bye to music. In 2005 the band was re-united and released their album recorded in 1994-95. The album is named as ~Anarchist Growl~ and it is available on almost all the websites due to its outstanding Rock sound.
Dhun
Vocalist: Kamran Asghar
Guitarist: Fawad Baloch
Bass: Kamran Asghar
Keyboards: Adeel Naveed
Another outstanding Rock band emerged in the late 80's and did Hardcore Rock music. Their debut album 'Jawan Aur Azaad' was released by VCI records. Fawad Baloch a left handed guitar player was the soul of this band and his guitar playing really made a difference.
Scratch / Aamir Zaki
One important name which is never mentioned in the list of Pioneers of Rock music is of Aamir Zaki who perhaps didn't release albums but he for sure did Rock music. Best of all it was all Original. Aamir Zaki's band Scratch was one of the very first few bands who did Rock music in our country.
After Barbarians a Rock Revolution started in Pakistan . Asad Ahmed, Adnan Afaq, Faraz Anwar, Rizwan Khan, Aamir Zaki, Overdrive, Dhun, Live Sketches, Arsh, Circle from Karachi and Coven, The Trip, Mind Riot, Midnight Madness from Lahore to name a few gave birth to Underground Music. At that time Ali Azmat was busy singing for a Bhangra band Jupiters in Lahore .
Many names in the list of artists/bands that did Rock music in the late 80's might have been missed but it is highlighted that so many unknown Local bands did outstanding music but they were never given credit for their hard work. It was their pioneering efforts which paved way for the Rock Music in our country on to which other bands cashed in.Keep rockIN gUYs...
2 comments:
Hi, I tried clicking on your mp3 link for Yeh Zindagi hai, but I think the domain has expired. If you still have the original version of the song by The Barbarians, can you please send it to me at umair.ishaq@gmail.com? I will be really really grateful!
Thanks!
Just came across the link and found this blog pretty interesting for Paki music lovers like me.
Like Vital Signs, who were the pop music pioneers in Pakistan, Similarly, Barbarians were the first one to introduce rock music in the country. I still remember watching Asad Ahmed on PTV while playing with his guitar's strings jumping, kicking and waving his long black hairs lol, it all seemed pretty funny at that time but no doubt it was a reaction to an action. Junoon had stepped into the market in 1990 with their debut album. But quite before that bands like Barbariens & Final Cut had already laid foundations of rock/ heavy metal thing. Unfortunately, they could'nt survive for a longer period which obviously, proved to be a plus point for Junoon to go ahead and prove their skills to the world. And as a result they came up as the South Asia's biggest rock n' roll band. Anyhow, I personally respect all these bands/ guys who played an immense role, miss all that and wish once again, someone could come coming forward and bring back the crown of rock music to our country. Final Cut Rocks!!!
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