When band music ruled the cassette era

Is it just me, or did band music sound better on cassette players?

The 90s were undoubtedly the golden age of Bangladeshi Band music. The music's quality and originality during that time remain unmatched. Spotify or YouTube can't even begin to do justice to the depth and authenticity of that era's music.

Suppose you ask a group of young people to name five Bangladeshi bands. In that case, they'll most likely mention ones that emerged in the 90s or early 2000s-Shironamhin, Artcell, Shunno, Nemesis, Black, Aurthohin, Meghdol, Ark, Chirkutt, etc. And, of course, timeless classics like Souls, Miles, Love Runs Blind (LRB), Nagar Baul, and Moheener Ghoraguli.

They all transitioned from the radio and cassette era to the MP3 era in the 2000s and 2010s and are now frequently streamed on YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms.

Buying a new cassette of a favourite artist and discovering new bands through mixed artist tapes offered a more personalised experience. Looking at the cassette covers, reading the song titles on the tape, and sometimes even finding the lyrics added a layer of joy to the whole cassette-buying experience.

During Eid, the excitement reached a whole new level. Back-to-back new songs and albums were released, and an Eid without a new album release was unimaginable.

Both bands and individual artists used to release their new songs before Eid. Crowds lined up in front of stores on Chand Raat to grab new records, rushing to buy their desired cassettes before they sold out. The entire experience is incredibly nostalgic.

Cassette players became outdated over time, but the lasting impression of the music heard from those tapes lingered through time, not just among the older generation and 90s kids (shockingly, not kids anymore).

Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) lived through the cassette era and later transitioned to downloading music in MP3 format, so popular bands from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s had a remarkable impact on their music taste.

For Gen Alpha (born between 2013 and the mid-2020s), older band music has mainly been popularised through concert culture, which is trending among youngsters nowadays.

Nusrat Karim Moumi, a third-year Geography and Environmental Studies student at Rajshahi University, shares her take on Bangladeshi band music:

"I'm not a big fan of Bangla band music. I just listened to the popular ones until I was in university. Here, I started to develop a taste for Bangla music as my friends loved to listen to it. Now, when alums reunion programs arrange a concert, I do not miss it. So far, I've attended Shironamhin, Chirkutt, Lalon Band, and Souls. The first time I witnessed a concert, it blew me away. It was simply a peak experience. Ashes came to our campus once, but unfortunately, I missed it for an unavoidable reason, and I immediately regretted it."

When asked if she listens to old bands or newer ones, she said,

"Few new bands are doing well these days, but since I'm not a dedicated band music listener, I usually opt for the older bands."

Shonar Bangla Circus, Indalo, AvoidRafa, Joler Gaan, Kaaktaal, and other relatively new bands and artists, along with many emerging talents, have won the hearts of music lovers in our country. Stoic Bliss had its moment in the early 2000s, and people still vibed with their songs.

But cult classics like Phiriye Dao and Neela by Miles, Taray Taray by Nagar Baul, Mon Shudhu Mon Chhuche, Keno Ei Nishongota by Souls, Cholo Bodley Jai, Ekhon Onek Raat by LRB, Purnota and Obak Bhalobasha by Warfaze, Sweety by Ark, Pagla Hawa, Mira Bai, and Maa by James, Shorolotar Protima by Khalid, Mon by Cactus, and countless other outstanding songs continue to remain timeless. The list goes on.

Many individual artists, such as the legendary Ayub Bachchu, James, Runa Laila, Shafin Ahmed, Partho Barua, Sabina Yasmin, Bappa Mazumdar, and Samina Chowdhury, have released successful solo albums and songs that still resonate with our souls today.

Bangladesh's pop kings-Azam Khan, James, Hasan, and Kumar Bishwajit-and, if we include Indian Bangla, Anjan Dutt, Nachiketa, Manna Dey, Srikanto Acharya, and Kabir Suman-have ruled our hearts through radio, cassette, DVD, and modern digital platforms.

It wasn't just Bangla songs that were popular back then. International artists and bands like Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, George Michael, and Prince-and later on, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Britney Spears-gained quite a bit of popularity among us.

It's not that good music has stopped being produced, or that new talent isn't emerging every day, but looking back at that time brings us comfort and a sense of nostalgia that we often long for.

Gazing through the window of time always gives us the illusion that life was simpler and better back then.

Old band music taps into that feeling and will continue to hold a special place in our hearts for as long as we live.

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