Vital Signs were a Pakistani Pop rock band that formed in Rawalpindi in 1986. The group was formed by Rohail Hyatt (keyboards and guitars) and Shahzad Hasan (bass guitar), who were soon joined by Nusrat Hussain (guitar) and Junaid Jamshed (vocals). They were widely known as Pakistan's first and most successful pop band.
The band initially gained prominence from their music video of the song "Dil Dil Pakistan" first aired on PTV. Shoaib Mansoor, director of the music video and song lyricist, wanted the band to record the song which later on became a critical hit and was voted as the third most popular song of all time by BBC World.
However, Nusrat Hussain, training to become an airline pilot at that time composed the song, left the band and suggested Rohail to have Salman Ahmed at his place. It members were signed to major record label EMI Records and afterwards released their debut album Vital Signs 1 in 1989. After two years the band recorded their critically acclaimed Vital Signs 2 (1991) with their new lead guitarist Rizwan ul Haq, who replaced Salman. The album saw the band to travel to perform in United States and thus becoming the first Pakistani pop act to go abroad on a tour. Vital Signs released their third album, Aitebar, in 1993, which outsold its predecessor.
The band asked Assad Ahmed, by then with Awaz and currently with Karavan, to play for their new album as Rizwan ul Haq left the band and his replacement Aamir Zaki. The band found renewed success and popularity with their album Hum Tum (1995), which was the highest selling Vital Signs album of all time.
After the release of their fourth studio album, the band concentrated on their personal projects and Vital Signs drifted away. Junaid Jamshed went on to pursue a career as a solo singer, Shahzad Hasan concentrated on his work as a music producer and Rohail Hyatt formed a production company.
The band never took music seriously as a profession because it was only their hobby but as soon as they were discovered by famous PTV producer, director and writer, Shoaib Mansoor, he asked the band to record a national song he had written and wanted to air, as a music video, on PTV. The song was named "Dil Dil Pakistan". By the time the band started to call themselves as Vital Signs, inspired by a song in Rush's album, Moving Pictures. Nusrat Hussain initially composed the song but was rejected by Shoaib Mansoor at the very first draft as he wanted it to be more catchier. Nusrat gave it another go and came up with an intro that was appreciated by the other members. Encouraged by it, especially by Junaid Jamshed, lend in their own in-puts and ideas until the tune was completed, approved by Shoaib and recorded.
It was released in the summer of 1987 as a video (directed by Shoaib), in which the Vital Signs are shown singing the song over what looked like the lush hills of Murree, was an instant hit and later was voted as the third most popular song of all time by BBC World.However, the allure of instant success and the amount of interest Shoaib was ready to invest in the band kept Rohail and Shahzad going and convinced Junaid to hang around for at least the recording of their first album. The band lead guitarist, Nusrat Hussain, left the band and suggested Rohail Hyatt to bring Salman Ahmad as his replacement.
In 1991, the band released their second album Vital Signs 2. The album was a departure from the first album’s more upbeat ways. The resulting sound emerging from such emotional turmoil and uncertainty was heavily melancholic and introverted ("Rahi", "Yaad Kerna"), suddenly jumping towards thumping anger with the powerful, "Aisa Na Ho". This was perhaps the most political album by the band. The album had more maturity, versatility and was a commercial success. This led the band to perform in United States on a tour thus making them the very first pop act to do so on a tour. The tour also changed the way the band looked and the band saw the emergence of grunge and a revival of interest in ‘70s music and fashion were the instigators.
The change also saw Rohail, Shahzad and Junaid moving to Karachi (Rizwan decided to stay back in Islamabad), as Rohail started constructing a brand new studios in his Karachi apartment.In 1993, the band also played the most number of concerts. The biggest taking place at the KMC Stadium in Karachi, a mega-concert headlined by the band and also consisting performances from The Milestones, Awaz and the newly formed Arsh. The presence of former member, Salman Ahmad, in the audience and the fact that it was after this concert Rohail first started to show signs of agitation regarding his growing dissatisfaction with Rizwan-ul-Haq’s playing. Later the same year Rizwan-ul-Haq left the band to join Awaz and was replaced by Aamir Zaki. Later the band travelled for another tour to United States but this time they went without Rohail Hyatt as Rohail refused to go and Junaid agreed upon going with Aamir as he suggested to him.
Soon after, Rohail announced his departure from the band. On returning, Juniad reproached Rohail and along with Shahzad coaxed Rohail to rejoin. The meeting did not have Zaki, and when the Signs were interviewed in a TV show in mid-’94, here too Zaki was missing from the line-up. But Aamir Zaki was still there with the band when they finally started work on the new album. The process was broken when the Signs flew to Dubai for a couple of concerts.
It was released in the summer of 1987 as a video (directed by Shoaib), in which the Vital Signs are shown singing the song over what looked like the lush hills of Murree, was an instant hit and later was voted as the third most popular song of all time by BBC World.
However, the allure of instant success and the amount of interest Shoaib was ready to invest in the band kept Rohail and Shahzad going and convinced Junaid to hang around for at least the recording of their first album. The band lead guitarist, Nusrat Hussain, left the band and suggested Rohail Hyatt to bring Salman Ahmad as his replacement.
In 1991, the band released their second album Vital Signs 2. The album was a departure from the first album’s more upbeat ways. The resulting sound emerging from such emotional turmoil and uncertainty was heavily melancholic and introverted ("Rahi", "Yaad Kerna"), suddenly jumping towards thumping anger with the powerful, "Aisa Na Ho". This was perhaps the most political album by the band. The album had more maturity, versatility and was a commercial success. This led the band to perform in United States on a tour thus making them the very first pop act to do so on a tour. The tour also changed the way the band looked and the band saw the emergence of grunge and a revival of interest in ‘70s music and fashion were the instigators. The change also saw Rohail, Shahzad and Junaid moving to Karachi (Rizwan decided to stay back in Islamabad), as Rohail started constructing a brand new studios in his Karachi apartment.In 1993, the band also played the most number of concerts. The biggest taking place at the KMC Stadium in Karachi, a mega-concert headlined by the band and also consisting performances from The Milestones, Awaz and the newly formed Arsh. The presence of former member, Salman Ahmad, in the audience and the fact that it was after this concert Rohail first started to show signs of agitation regarding his growing dissatisfaction with Rizwan-ul-Haq’s playing. Later the same year Rizwan-ul-Haq left the band to join Awaz and was replaced by Aamir Zaki. Later the band travelled for another tour to United States but this time they went without Rohail Hyatt as Rohail refused to go and Junaid agreed upon going with Aamir as he suggested to him. Soon after, Rohail announced his departure from the band. On returning, Juniad reproached Rohail and along with Shahzad coaxed Rohail to rejoin. The meeting did not have Zaki, and when the Signs were interviewed in a TV show in mid-’94, here too Zaki was missing from the line-up. But Aamir Zaki was still there with the band when they finally started work on the new album. The process was broken when the Signs flew to Dubai for a couple of concerts.
During 1995, Vital Signs began work on their fourth album, titled Hum Tum. Assad Ahmed featured on all tracks except for "Jeetain Gaye", "Teray Liye" (Unplugged) and "Aitebar" (Unplugged), on which Aamir Zaki played. The album was the highest selling album of all time by Vital Signs and was one of the best album produced in the local pop scene.
The aesthetic and commercial success of the album wasn’t enough as Rohail and Shahzad were ideologically and aesthetically drifting away from Juniad Jamshed and Shoaib Mansoor. And though the band demise was never officially announced, by 1998 when the band were offered a deal by Pepsi for another album, Rohail declined, signaling the end of Vital Signs. Junaid Jamshed went on to pursue a career as a solo singer, Shahzad Hasan concentrated on his work as a music producer and Rohail Hyatt formed a production company.
On Saturday 9 March 2002 at the Nazia Hassan Tribute Concert, held in Karachi, the classic lineup of Vital Signs performed together on stage—for the first time in almost 7 years. The concert was attended by an enthusiastic audience and it was their original line-up which went up on stage, a line-up that hadn't played together ever since mid-1990 who still stole the show. The Vital Signs reunited for a nostalgic 30-minute stint at the high-profile concert. The band realized that a whole new generation of pop fans has grown up and their brand of pop music is still well remembered.
After the Nazia Tribute Concert, the pop industry was rife with speculations that the Vital Signs were set to record their long-awaited fifth album, but these speculations were denied by the band.Vital Signs were most heavily influenced by Pink Floyd. Musically and lyrically, they have also cited bands such as a-ha, Rush, Scorpions, Duran Duran, Radiohead, The Police and Led Zeppelin as their major influences. The band were one of the first bands in Pakistan to insist on playing live music where most music was sampled and programmed synthpop. They were the widely also known as Pakistan's first and most successful pop band and were given the title of "pioneers of pop music".
Studio albums 1989: Vital Signs 1 1991: Vital Signs 2 1993: Aitebar 1995: Hum Tum
