So you say you haven't heard of Anadolu Pop? Turkish Psych? And you call yourself a fan of rock'n'roll? Take a hit from the narghile, dust off that old Yavuz or Turkuola plak, and step on in...Anadolu Pop was the generic term applied to a fascinating array of groups and solo artists that converged around the label "Altın Mikrofon" (Gold Microphone) and national rock-n-roll contests sponsored by Hürriyet Newspaper in the late sixties. Many of the names associated with Anadolu Pop are legends today in Turkey: Erkin Koray, Cem Karaca, Barış Manço, Selda, Moğollar, Fikret Kızılok, Bülent Ortaçgıl, Edip Akbayram and so on. Others, such as Mavi Işıklar, Üç Hürel, Hardal, Ersen, and Beyaz Kelebekler have now been all but forgotten, in spite of their equally compelling compositions. In general, Anadolu Pop unites the blues-based rock'n'roll verse-chorus-verse format of British Invasion groups (the Shadows, the Beatles, and Dutch outfit the Shocking Blue, of 'Venus' fame, were especially influential) with 'traditional' melodies (many eighths and minors) and instruments (all varieties of saz) of Anatolian and Eastern Mediterrenean folk music. However, Anadolu Pop housed a vast collection of subgenres, from the Anglophile chamberfolk of Bülent Ortaçgıl and the fuzz-soaked psychedelia of Erkin Koray, Moğollar or Edip Akbayram to the quasi-bossa nova of Beyaz Kelebekler and the progressive rock operas of Barış Manço. In short, the scene in Turkey circa 1970 was as vibrant as anything occurring in Munich, Paris, Canterbury or San Francisco at the time--if you have yet to discover this fantastic kaleidoscope of artists, genres, and techniques, I highly recommend that you do so ASAP.
