SONG OF THE DAY Barış Manço – Kol Bastı

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Tonight’s song was a complete chance (and very random) find, but I can’t get it out of my head for love or money!! What a cool track!!!

The artist responsible for incredibly groovesome tune is Turkish musician/singer-songwriter/composer/actor/television producer/ show host, Mehmet Barış Manço – better known as Baris Manco!

Considered one of the most influential Turkish artists, Manço was the founding member of the band Kurtalan Ekspres and pioneered the prog rock-influenced Anatolian rock movement in the early 1970’s – this sound being a fusion of Turkish folk and rock music which emerged during the mid-1960s, soon after bands such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Status Quo and Omega became popular in Turkey.  His experimentation with electronic instruments in the late 1980’s also contributed to the 1990’s sound of Turkish popular music.

Throughout his thirty year music career Manco released many albums and a few years after his untimely death in 1999 a tribute album was released under the name Yüreğimdeki Barış Şarkıları (Songs of Barış (Peace) In My Heart).  To celebrate his wide ranging influence, this record featured 15 popular Turkish artists and covered diverse genres like arabesque, pop and rock (both Anatolian and western style).

Kol Bastı is a mesmerising six and a half minutes of heady, full-bodied psych-funk and appears on Baris Manco’s second album 2023, which was released in 1975!  It’s been on loop ever since I heard it about an hour ago and I’m hooked on its mysterious sound.  Many of his songs were translated into English, but I’m glad this one wasn’t! I love the intoxicating vocals and hypnotic mingling of psych rock and traditional folk…what a winner! Check it out above.