Believe it or not Pakistan was a really happening place back in the 1960’s. The scene was like out of a Hollywood film (from that time of course). Karachi in particular was nothing like it’s today . The city had a vibrant club scene where people used to come dance, listen to live music, consume certain beverages, legally and just plain out chill.

Pakistan of the 60’s was way different from what it is today

Now I know you’re gonna complain about me idolizing our ‘post colonial hangover’ and how these things aren’t according to our culture. Some of you might even post it on one of those angry people forums.  So let’s just leave all that other stuff about the 60’s out and concentrate on the music from that time. Particularly the bands on the club circuit.

During the 60’s a handful of bands propped up on the Karachi club scene.

The sound of these bands range from traditional surf rock to psychedelic. That being said, their music wasn’t just derived from the stuff you heard in the West at the time. It had an Eastern element to it as well.

Perhaps the most well known of these was ‘The Panthers’

The band’s work was featured on two compilation albums released under the EMI Pakistan label. These included ”Folk Tunes of Pakistan on Electric Sitar and Western Instruments’ and ‘East Goes West,’ both released by EMI Pakistan. The afformentioned album had a host of local rock bands form the 1960s.  The band frequented the famous Metropole Hotel in Karachi. Norman Braganza (Lead Guitar and Vocals), Fasahat Husain Syed (Keyboard, Sitar and Tabla), Eric Fernandes (Bass Guitar) and Syed Ahsan Sajjad (Drums and Vocals). In an old interview with The Friday Times the band listed Shadows, Ventures, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Animals and Chicago as its influences.

Another gem from that era was The Bugs

The band was apparently the very first to group itself under a name. Much like the Panthers, they too had developed quite a fan base in that era. They were actually featured on an old Pakistani film. Like with most bands from that era, the members parted ways with some of them eventually settling abroad.

Some of the other bands included

The Fatah Brothers

The Mods

The Keynotes

Talisman

The Abstracts

If you can find more such bands or know details of the 60s music scene in Pakistan, please let us know in the comments