Edelweiss - Sunday (En El Principio, 1973)

 A twisted pop-syke number from seventies Spain that sounds more like a lost Rubble or Circus Days track from '67.

 

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Baby, Baby Don't Cry

From the album Four In Blue (1969). It's December 29th and the snow lies round about, deep and crisp and even. As usual I shall celebrate the Feast Of Saint Smokey by driving out to my beach house and re-enacting the video for Being With You. After which I intend to sit beside a crackling fire with my hounds and an egg-nog, and listen to this.

 

Barbarayann

 

Pageant Theatre - The Hollow Men

An Australian theatre group turns T.S. Eliot's poem into an epic psychedelic masterpiece. From the album Here We Go Round The Prickly Pear Alas For The Last Time, released in 1972.

Janine - Does The Sun Still Shine (Does The Sun Still Shine, 1975)

When the pain from glaucoma forced her to have both eyes removed, Janine wrote this lovely album to thank her leader dog, Gretchen, and her God, Nehktergi, for giving her peace. The record was released on Lark Records out of Richmond, Virginia.

Buffy Saint-Marie - Helpless (She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina, 1971)

The kooky squaw with the heap big voice recorded this song written by fellow Canadian Neil Young, taking it to another place altogether. Quite possibly in North Ontario. It was arranged and produced by her husband, Jack 'Injun Lover' Nitzsche.

 

They're all over the city, the signs warning foreign tourists about the dangers of searching for vinyl in Istanbul... exhaustion, dehydration, and even death may ensue. I was one of the lucky ones, narrowly escaping with a sackful of turkish delights after days of frustration, dizzy from countless attempts to perform a spinning record mime in front of perplexed Istanbullus. I finally buckled down and learned the turkish word for record ("plak"), and after several hours wandering through a maze of kitten-filled streets following hand-drawn maps sketched on the backs of ferry tickets, I found what they were leading me to...


Weary and worn, I had half a mind to buy the damn thing, chain it to my ankle and dive into the Bosphorus. But my luck would finally change at the boza bar later that evening when I met a shaky alcoholic named Davut who claimed to have been a substitute drummer for Grup Bunalim in the late sixties. Taking a big swig of boza he loudly cursed Andy Votel for plundering Istanbul's vinyl treasure trove in an effort to corner the reissue market, but then, drawing his chair closer, he whispered that there were still a few surviving shops hidden in the tiny passages of Taksim and Kadakoy. And even better, he would take me there. The evening's final call to prayer was blasting from the speakers of a nearby minaret as we arrived at the shop, only to find the owner with keys in hand. As soon as he learned I was interested in old Turkish music, however, his face lit up and he beckoned me to stay a while. It was only about 30 seconds into Tanju Okan's "Oyle Sarhos Olsum Ki" when I swooned in ecstasy, and I realized I would be leaving the store with a lot more records than I probably could afford. Here are some of my favorites...

TANJU OKAN - Oyle Sarhos Olsum Ki (Butun Sarkilarim, 1975)

MELIKE DERMIRAG - Hadi Canim Sen De (1975)

ALPAY - Gonullerde Bahar

EDIP AKBAYRAM & DOSTLAR - Ince Ince Bir Kar Yagar

Begins with a riff lifted straight from "Roundabout" by Yes.

NESE KARABOCEK - Kole

NECO - Kiyamet Gunu (1977)

ZEKI MUREN - Hatira (1973)

Celebrated as the "Sun" of Turkish music and affectionately called "Pasha", Muren dressed effeminately and wore ornate rings and heavy make up. It was commonly believed that he was gay, and although he never confirmed nor denied this, he had a pioneering role in making Turkish society more accepting of homosexuality. He paved the way for many later, more openly gay or transsexual (see Nese Karabocek above) artists.

FIKRET KIZILOK - Yagmur Olsam, 1970

Joining the ranks of The Big Bopper and other dentists-turned-musicians, Fikret ditched his toothbrush after meeting Turkish sez master Asik Veysel during a trip to Anatolia. When his 1977 lp Not Defreimdem was banned for political reasons Fikret quit music and didn't return until the mid-eighties.

UMIT BESEN- Gunah (Dostlar Sagolsun, 1981)

With a lovely gatefold cover that now adorns my guest bathroom:



SELDA - Nem Kaldi

CICI KIZLAR - Deli Gonlum (Tak Dedi Canima, 1976)

SALIM DUNDAR - Canim Sevgilim
I couldn't pass up this cover even though it's a complete rip-off of Oscar the Grouch's 1971 masterpiece.

YESIM - Askin Omru Varmi (1976)

"But is it any good?" Yesim.

KAMURAN AKKOR - Kime Niyet

Didn't realize until I got home that this is a cover of 'Tell Me To My Face', my favorite Hollies song.

NESRIN SIPAHI - Yasa Fenerbahce, 1974

The 'Superbowl Shuffle' of Turkey, recorded by the popular chanteuse Nesrin Sipahi with the members of the second best (and also my favorite) Turkish football team.



CEM KARACA & APASLAR - Sans Cocugu

ORHAN GENCEBAY - Ask Pinari

ALI KOCATEPE - Hey Gidi Dunya Hey

NESE KARABOCEK - Gecmis Ola

ORHAN GENCEBAY - Sarhosun Biri

From the 1975 film "Gulsah"

RIZA PEKKUTSAL - Sen Bilirsin

Insanely hilarious comedy record

SELAHATTIN CESUR - Hayat Mektebi

KUZENLER - Kolay Degil, 1978

RANA ALAGOZ - Sensiz Hayat

TIMUR SELCUK - Pireli Sarki

Click here to download the MP3s

...and click here to view my photos from Istanbul...

 

Glen Adams - Can't Hide Your Love (Wonderthirst, 1973)

An original member of the Upsetters covering the Earth, Wind, and Fire tune.

 

Ananga Ranga - Funky Fonky (Privado, 1980)

Portuguese fusion band named after the ancient Indian love-making manual.

 

The Moments - Ride Your Pony (The O Jay's Meet The Moments, 1974)

Happy birthday to Harry Ray, who would've turned 61 tomorrow had he not died in 1992.

 

Dion - Daddy Rollin' In Your Arms (7", 1968)

Just a few weeks after getting off heroin Dion recorded the haunting B-side of 'Abraham, Martin and John' with local Caribbean musicians near his home in Boca Raton, Florida.

 

Spike Jones & His City Slickers - My Two Front Teeth (Let's Sing A Song Of Christmas, 1954)

I wouldn't normally trouble you with anything so goofy. However I have been drinking since breakfast and it has suddenly revealed itself to be an extraordinarily profound recording, a bravely satirical swipe at materialism during Joe McCarthy's reign of terror. Now where's that damned corkscrew.

 

Vinod Pandit & Chorus - Disco Hai Disco (Jhoomo Re Jhoomo, 1985)

Music and lyrics by Pandit Dinesh. Sweatsuit by Gallini.

 

The Raincoats - Don't Be Mean (at 33rpm) (7", 1995)

Much like "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds, this one does nothing for me at normal speed but it knocks my socks off in slow-mo.

 

Swell Maps - Raining In My Room (Jane From Occupied Europe, 1980)

Two brothers from Solihull specialised in art-punk thrashes but this instrumental is altogether different, redolent of damp bedsits, Embassy cigs and a certain kind of quiet desperation that is unique to the West Midlands.

 

The Escorts - I Can't Stand To See You Cry

From the album 3 Down 4 To Go (1974)

Conjure - Dualism (Music For The Texts Of Ismael Reed, 1984)

A Kip Hanrahan project featuring the voice of Taj Mahal. "I am outside of history, and I wish I had some peanuts..."

 

Change - Paradise (Miracles, 1981)

The club was rammed, one hundred more sweaty bodies than the fire regulations allowed. When the DJ played 'Paradise' the place erupted.

 

Potion - You Can Make It Girl (12", 1982)