Essential Albums: Moğollar - Anadolu Pop
Moğollar’s “Anadolu Pop” (1971) - the Turkish psychedelic rock masterpiece that won France’s Grand Prix du Disque and invented an entire genre.
The album that literally named a genre—how five Turkish musicians in Paris created the blueprint for Anatolian psychedelic rock.
Moğollar didn’t just make an album in 1971. They coined a term that would define Turkish rock music for the next fifty years.
Formed in Istanbul in 1967, the band spent their first few years releasing singles, trying to figure out how traditional Anatolian folk melodies could coexist with Western rock and psychedelia. They weren’t the only ones experimenting—Erkin Koray, Barış Manço, and others were all pushing in similar directions—but Moğollar were the first to make it work on album scale.
In August 1970, they left for Paris. Secured a deal with French label Guild International du Disques. Recorded their first major statement: Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie d’Hier à Aujourd’hui (Dances and Rhythms of Turkey from Yesterday to Today).
The album won the Grand Prix du Disque from L’Académie Charles Cros—the same honor previously given to Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Soft Machine. When it was released in Turkey, it had a different name: Anadolu Pop.
That name stuck. The genre was born.
