| Anatolian rock | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1950s – early 1980s, Turkey |
| Other topics | |
| Music of Turkey | |
Anatolian rock (Turkish:Anadolu rock), orTurkish psychedelic rock, is a fusion ofTurkish folk music androck. It emerged during the mid-1960s, soon after rock groups became popular inTurkey. The most widely known members of this genre include Turkish musiciansBarış Manço,Cem Karaca,Erkin Koray,Selda Bağcan,Fikret Kızılok alongside bands such asMoğollar.
Anatolian rock has a long history that dates back to the founding of theTurkish Republic decades ago.Atatürk pushed extensive changes to build a national form of music from the early 1930s forward. He believed that music should be based on national and modern foundations and musicians should work on Turkish melodies and make them polyphonic according to the rules of Western harmonic music.[1] As a result,Anatolian folk music began to spread and people began to listen to Anatolian folk tunes instead ofOttoman music.[2]
In the 1960s,Rock and roll began to be played and rock groups such asthe Beatles,the Rolling Stones,Led Zeppelin,Yes,Status Quo andOmega became popular especially inIstanbul. It began to spread and became popular among the elite youth of the city. In Istanbul, high school and university students began forming their own bands and performing covers of rock'n'roll and twist music in 1957. Students who would become famous singers later, such asBarış Manço fromGalatasaray High School andErkin Koray fromGerman High School, performed at an amateur concert they had organized, which is known as the first rock'n roll concert of Turkey.[3] Turkish singers such asErol Büyükburç began to release English-languagecover versions of American songs, as well as their own songs.[4]
From 1957, Turkish radio stations playedsurf rock bythe Tornados andthe Ventures, and films with Elvis Presley and Bill Haley were shown in Turkish cinemas.[5] This inspired musicians likeErkin Koray to start already in 1957 with cover versions of rock’n’roll tunes, using the new electric guitar.[6] By the early 1960s, Turkish groups began to perform instrumentals, such as those bythe Shadows and the Ventures. Although often locally popular performers, these Turkish groups were rarely recorded. The first original Turkish-language pop song was "Ayrılanlar İçin", released in 1964 byTimur Selçuk. Other singers also emerged, includingBarış Manço, who first recorded in the early 1960s before later spearheading the growth of Turkish rock music in the 1970s with albums such as2023 (1975) and become "the father of Anatolian Rock".[7][8] At the same time, Turkish society began to undergo significant cultural changes, including the growth ofmulti-party democracy.[9]
The domestic rock music scene in Turkey expanded rapidly in the mid- and late 1960s. In 1963, guitarist Erkin Koray published "One September Night" (Bir Eylül Akşamı) which is regarded as the first rock'n roll song in the Turkish language and opened a new era, the Turkishpsychedelic rock. From 1968 to about 1975, psychedelic rock became popular in Turkey, notably the work of Koray,[10] regarded as a "hugely influential figure on the Istanbul music scene".[7] The bandMoğollar are credited with "changing the landscape of Turkish rock by incorporating elements of Anatolian folk music," and, after recording in France as Les Mogols, named their musical genreAnadolu Pop. Another pioneer,Fikret Kızılok, combined the style ofAnadolu Pop with overtly political lyrics, and experiments with electronic music.[7]
Turkish musicians also regularly performed at competitive Europeanmusic festivals. In 1964,Tülay German performed the song "Burçak Tarlası" at theBalkan Music Festival, in abossa nova style, and became immediately popular. As a direct result, the newspaperHürriyet organized a "Golden Microphone" (Altın Mikrofon) competition,[11] to encourage the development of new songs in Turkish blending folk tunes and Western style music. This helped identify a new generation of musicians, including the groupsMavi Işıklar,Silüetler, and musiciansCem Karaca,Edip Akbayram,Selçuk Alagöz, and his sisterRana Alagöz.[7] Finalists were awarded with an opportunity to record a 45 rpm single, and a tour across the country. As a result, it caused people outside the big cities to be exposed to this genre.
Anatolian Rock remained popular until the late 1970s. During these times, some musicians took a stand in support of the common people. One such person wasSelda Bağcan. For young people, popular music became synonymous with leftist thinking, protests for greater equality, freedom and worker's rights. The left-wing views of these artists did not endear them to the authorities. As the 1970s went on, economic recession and social unrest arose across Turkey and on 12 September 1980,military coup brought the Anatolian rock genre to an end. Left-wing rockers faced repression, while the gloomy political atmosphere boosted the popularity of the melancholicArabesque genre during the 80s.[12]
After the coup, rock musicians were banned from performing, many artists had to flee abroad such asCem Karaca[13] and some were imprisoned.
As other rock genres gained popularity in Turkey, Anatolian rock also began to diversify and theTurkish rock that came out of this period, was far from its traditional Anatolian-style roots and has no connection with folk music.
In later decades, there has been a growth of Turkish rock bands such asDuman,Mor ve Ötesi,Gece Yolcuları,Almora,Kurban,Kargo,Vega,Çilekeş,Redd,Gripin andmaNga, the latter having won the "Best Rock Band" award in almost all polls in 2005.[14] Besides, due to theTurkish migration to Germany, several Turkish-rooted bands also evolved in Germany. In the 1980s as alternative groups:Ünlü [tr] (from 1981 on, at the beginning named Fahrstuhl) andthe Trial (from 1985 on).[15] The influences acting upon all these bands fall into a wide range of genres, from theSeattle Sound toheavy ordoom metal andrapcore. Hence, Anatolian rock refers to a fusion of a wide selection of western rock subgenres with either a traditional Turkish sound or even rock music with Turkish lyrics. Such cultural fusion led the way for rock music to develop in Turkey.
By the end of the 1980s, several metal groups formed in Turkey such asMezarkabul (Pentagram).[16]
In late 2010s, some rock musicians and bands appeared that harmonize folk tunes with rock, such as singerGaye Su Akyol, and bands likePalmiyeler,Ayyuka,Makas, Dutch Anatolian rock bandAltın Gün and UK based Anatolian rock band Kit Sebastian. In 2014, theAnatolian Rock Revival Project started with the vision of preserving the culture of Anatolian rock and transferring it to future generations.[17][18]Nemrud blends the rich tradition of Anatolian rock with the complexity of Western progressive rock, creating a unique sound.
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