Anatolian rock

In the late 1950s, Turkish singers such as Erol Büyükburç began to release English-language cover versions of American songs, as well as their own songs. By the early 1960s, Turkish groups began to perform instrumentals such as those by The 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 by Timur Selçuk. Other singers also emerged, including Barış Manço, who first recorded in the early 1960s before later spearheading the growth of Turkish rock music in the 1970s with albums such as 2023 (1975).[1] At the same time, Turkish society began to undergo significant cultural changes, including the growth of multi-party democracy in the region.[2]

Turkish musicians also regularly performed at competitive European music festivals. In 1964, Tülay German performed the song "Burçak Tarlası" at the Balkan Music Festival, in a bossa nova style, and became immediately popular. As a direct result, the newspaper Hürriyet organised a "Golden Microphone" (Altın Mikrofon) competition, to encourage the development of popular Turkish music either by new compositions or by using domestic sources. This helped identify a new generation of musicians, including the groups Mavi Işıklar and Silüetler, and musicians Cem Karaca, Selçuk Alagőz and his sister Rana Alagőz.[1]

The domestic rock music scene in Turkey expanded rapidly in the mid- and late 1960s. From 1968 to about 1975, psychedelic rock became popular in Turkey, notably the work of guitarist Erkin Koray,[3] regarded as a "hugely influential figure on the Istanbul music scene".[1] The band Moğollar 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 genre Anadolu Pop. Another pioneer, Fikret Kızılok, combined the style of Anadolu Pop with overtly political lyrics, and experiments with electronic music.[1]

As other rock genres gained popularity in Turkey, Anatolian rock also began to diversify. In the last decade, there has been a growth of Turkish rock bands such as Mor ve Ötesi, Gece Yolcuları, Almora, Kurban, Kargo, Duman, Vega, Çilekeş, Redd, Altin Gün, Nemrud, Makine, Gripin, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, and maNga, the latter having won the "Best Rock Band" award in almost all polls in 2005.[4] Besides, due to the Turkish migration to Germany, several Turkish-rooted bands also evolved in Germany – e. g. in the 1980s as alternative groups: Ünlü (from 1981 on, at the beginning named Fahrstuhl) and the Trial (from 1985 on).[5][6] The influences acting upon all these bands fall into a wide range of genres, from the Seattle Sound to heavy or doom metal and rapcore. 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.

There are also individual rock performers who have gained success such as Ayna (band), Murat Göğebakan, Haluk Levent, Şebnem Ferah, Gültekin Kaan, Barış Akarsu, Ogün Sanlısoy, Demir Demirkan, Hayko Cepkin, Aslı Gökyokuş, Nev, Aylin Aslım, Emre Aydın, Özlem Tekin and Teoman. By the end of the 1980s, several metal groups formed in Turkey such as Mezarkabul (Pentagram), and Diken.[7]

• Rock'n Coke
• Unirock Open Air Festival
• Barışarock
• Sonisphere Festival
• Zeytinli Rock Festival

• 26 Best Anatolian Rock & Turkish Psychedelic Rock Songs, ATDAA
• 5 Songs From The Zenith Of Turkish Progressive Rock, NPR Music