Moğollar

Moğollar
Cahit Berkay, concert in Karaburun in August 2008.
Background information
Origin	Turkey
Genres	Rock, Anatolian rock, Psychedelic rock, Pop rock
Years active	1968–1976, 1993–present
Labels	RCA, Guilde Internationale du disque, Diskotür, Ada Müzik, Emre plak
Members
Emrah Karaca Cahit Berkay Taner Öngür Serhat Ersöz Utku Ünal
Past members
Engin Yörükoğlu Aziz Azmet Murat Ses Hasan Sel Neco Aydın Daruga Barış Manço Cem Karaca Ersen Dinleten Selda Bağcan Ayzer Danga Haluk Kunt

Moğollar (Mongols in Turkish) is one of the pioneer bands in Turkish rock music for about 40 years and one of the founders of Turkish folk rock (or Anatolian rock). The major goal of the band is to prove that folk music has a multi-layered soul and folk music's dynamism is very close to pop music's dynamism.^[1]

History

The band was founded in 1967 by Neco, Aziz Azmet, Aydın Daruga and Murat Ses who were previously members of Silüetler (silhouettes). However, Neco left the band at the end of 1967. Also, Cahit Berkay, who was a member of Selçuk Alagöz Band, and Haluk Kunt, who was a member of Vahşi Kediler (Wild Cats), both joined the band. Later, Haluk Kunt was replaced by Hasan Sel, who was a member of Apaşlar (Apachies) in 1968, and Aydın Daruga was replaced by Engin Yörükoğlu in 1969.

In 1970, Hasan Sel was replaced by Taner Öngür, previously a member of Meteorlar (Meteors) and the Erkin Koray Quartet. The band tried to fuse the technical aspects of pop music with the melodies of Anatolian folk music in late 1960s and early 1970s.

In July 1970, Aziz Azmet, the band's vocalist left the band and Ersen Dinleten replaced him for a short time. Moğollar recorded Ternek/Haliç'te Gün Batışı (Ternek/Sunset on the Golden Horn) 45 rpm, and left for Paris in August 1970.

The group won the Grand Prix du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy (previously won by such groups as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix) in 1971. Nearly all of the tracks on this album are compositions or traditional arrangements of Murat Ses, the group's keyboardist, arranger and composer (official records by SACEM, GEMA and MESAM).

Murat Ses's composition, Ağrı Dağı Efsanesi (The Legend of Mount Ararat), was inspired by ancient legends of the Great Flood in different cultures. In live versions of the track, which lasted over ten minutes, he made use of diverse FX technologies of the time to narrate a sonic story using his keyboards.

In 1971, Barış Manço joined as vocalist and the band was renamed Manchomongol. Manchomongol recorded 2 45 rpms, and this partnership ended after four months. Also, Engin Yörükoğlu stayed in Paris, and the drummer of Mavi Işıklar (Blue Lights), Ayzer Danga, joined the band to replace him.

Moğollar recorded one single with Selda Bağcan during the first half of 1972. Ersen then re-joined the band in July 1972 and they recorded another single. Murat Ses left the band in August 1972. In September 1972, Moğollar replaced their soloists with Cem Karaca, who was then the soloist of Kardaşlar (Brothers).This partnership of Cem Karaca and Moğollar lasted for two years and they produced the song, Namus Belası, which became a great hit.

In 1974, Taner Öngür and Ayzer Danga left the band. Öngür joined Dadaşlar, a band with Ersen Dinleten between 1974–1975 and 1979–1980 and Dervişan (Dervishes), a band with Cem Karaca between 1974 and 1978; in 1975, Danga participated in Erkin Koray's 'Elektronik Türküler' (Electronic Songs) album. Meanwhile, Cahit Berkay dissolved the band and left for France to meet with Engin Yörükoğlu. Cahit and Engin recorded two albums under the name Moğollar. They also recorded single with Ali Rıza Binboğa in 1975. The band completely dissolved in 1976.

After a 17-year absence, Cahit Berkay, Taner Öngür and Engin Yörükoğlu reformed the band in 1993, and were joined by keyboard player Serhat Ersöz. Murat Ses is dealing with other projects and is still pursuing an extraordinary international career.

In 2007, the Advertising agency TBWA decided to use Moğollar's late '60s track, Garip Çoban (translated - Lonesome Shepherd; written by Murat Ses) in the This is Living advertisement campaign for Sony's PlayStation 3. Also Emrah Karaca (son of Cem Karaca) joined Moğollar in 2007. Engin Yörükoğlu was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and has died in 2010.

Members

• Emrah Karaca - vocals, guitar (2007- )
• Cahit Berkay – bağlama, guitar, kemenche, mandolin, yaylı tanbur, vocals (1968–1976, 1993- )
• Taner Öngür – bass, vocals (1970–1974, 1993- )
• Serhat Ersöz – keyboards (1993- )
• Utku Ünal – drums (2009- )

Former members

• Engin Yörükoğlu – drums (1969–1971, 1974–1976, 1993–2010) (deceased)
• Nejat Tahir Özyılmazel (Later he has been known as "Neco") – vocals, bass (1967–1968)
• Aziz Azmet – vocals, guitar (1967–1970)
• Ersen Dinleten - vocals (1970, 1972)
• Barış Manço - vocals (1971–1972)
• Selda Bağcan - vocals (1972)
• Cem Karaca - vocals (1972–1974)
• Murat Ses – synthesizer, hammond organ (1967–1972)
• Haluk Kunt – bass (1968)
• Hasan Sel – bass (1968–1970)
• Aydın Daruga – drums (1967–1969)
• Ayzer Danga – drums (1971–1974)

Discography

Albums

• 1971: Les Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie d'hier á aujourd'hui (Turkish release: Anadolu Pop)
• 1975 : Hittit Sun (Turkish release: Düm-Tek)
• 1976 : Ensemble d'Cappadocia (Turkish release: Moğollar)
• 1994 : Moğollar'94
• 1996 : Dört Renk
• 1998 : 30. Yıl
• 2004 : Yürüdük Durmadan
• 2009 : Umut Yolunu Bulur

Singles

• Eastern Love / Artık Çok Geç (1968)
• Mektup / Lazy John (1968)
• Everlasting Love / Hard Work (1968)
• Ilgaz / Kaleden Kaleye Şahin Uçurdum (1968)
• Sessiz Gemi / İndim Havuz Başına (1969)
• Dağ Ve Çocuk / İmece (1970)
• Ağlama / Yalnızlığın Acıklı Güldürüsü (1970)
• Garip Çoban / Berkay Oyun Havası (1970)
• Ternek / Haliç'te Güneşin Batışı (1970)
• Hitchin / Behind The Dark (1970)
• Behind The Dark / Madımak / Lorke (1971)
• Hitchin / Hamsi (1971)
• İşte Hendek İşte Deve/Katip Arzuhalim Yaz Yare Böyle (1971)
• Binboğanın Kızı / Ay Osman (1971)
• Yalan Dünya / Kalenin Dibinde (1972)
• Alageyik Destanı / Moğol Halayı (1972)
• Çığrık / Sıla (1972)
• Sor Kendine / Garip Gönlüm (1972)
• Obur Dünya / El Çek Tabib (1973)
• Gel Gel / Üzüm Kaldı (1973)
• Namus Belası / Gurbet (1974)
• Tanrıların Arabaları / Bu Nasıl Dünya? (1974)
• Birlik için Elele / Sevgimin Derdi Albümler (feat. Ali Rıza Binboğa) (1975)

Compilations

• Anılarla Moğollar ve Silüetler (1990)
• Anadolupop 70'li Yıllar (1993)
• Moğollar 1968-2000 (2000)

References

1. ^ Allmusic biography

External links

• History of Moğollar
• Official web site (English & Turkish)
• Band history & discography
• Moğollar Music at last.fm