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Baris Manco (also spelt Baris Mancho in some European album releases) (January 2, 1943 - February 1, 1999) was a Turkish singer, composer, television producer and celebrity. He composed about 200 songs, some of which were translated into a variety of languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian and Arabic. He was, and still is, one of the most beloved public figures of Turkey.
Early life and career
Manço was born in Istanbul, Turkey on January 2, 1943. His mother
Rikkat Uyanık was a famed singer in early 1940s. His older brother, who
was born during World War II, was named Savaş ("war" in Turkish) while
he was named Barış ("peace" in Turkish) by his parents to celebrate the
end of the war. Allegedly he was the very first person to have this
first name, which is now fairly popular in Turkey.
During his primary school days, his head was shaven to prevent head
lice, a serious threat back then. He mentioned that it was one of the
reasons of his later signature long hair.
During his highschool days in Galatasaray Lisesi (and later in Şişli
Terakki High School) he formed his first band Kafadarlar ("The
Buddies"), allegedly upon seeing Erkin Koray and his band performing
which were all students of a nearby highschool. Asaf Savaş Akad, a
famed economist in Turkey was the saxophone player of the band and
Ender Enön the guitarist of the band made their own guitar, because it
was difficult to find a real one on the market in those years .
In 1962 and 1963, with his next band Harmoniler ("The Harmonies"), he
recorded cover versions of some of the then popular American twist
songs, but also rearrangements of Turkish folk songs in rock and roll
form, marking the beginning of Anatolian rock movement, a synthesis of
Turkish folk music and rock. In this period, his key visual and musical
influence was Elvis Presley.
After graduating from high school in 1963, he moved to Europe,
travelling around Paris and Liège, where he formed bands with local
musicians and recorded some singles mainly in English and in French but
also in Turkish. He toured with his band Les Mistigris (not related
with Mistigris) in Germany, Belgium, France and Turkey until 1967.
In 1967, he suffered from a serious car accident after which he started to grow his signature mustache to disguise his scar.
Frustrated by the difficulties of working with musicians from different
nationalities, he formed Kaygısızlar (The Carefrees) featuring Mazhar
Alanson and Fuat Güner, future members of the very popular Turkish band
MFÖ. He recorded several singles and toured with the band, both in
Turkey and abroad, until the band members revealed that they did not
want to live abroad.
In 1970, he formed Barış Manço Ve ... ("Barış Manço and ...") again
with foreign musicians, to record his first hit single, both in Turkey
and in Belgium, "Dağlar Dağlar", selling over 700,000 copies. Today,
the song remains one of his most popular works.
1970s
After the success of "Dağlar Dağlar", Manço recorded a couple of
singles with Moğollar (The Mongols), another influential Turkish
Anatolian rock band. He then decided to return to Turkey where he
recorded with the reformed Kaygısızlar for a short period. In 1971, his
early works were compiled under his first full length album Dünden
Bugüne, today commonly referred as Dağlar Dağlar.
In 1972, he formed Kurtalan Ekspres, a legend by itself, the band that
would accompany him until his death. In 1975 until when he continued to
release singles, he released his first non-compilation LP 2023, a
concept album that includes many instrumental songs.
As a last attempt to reach international success, he released the LP
titled Baris Mancho (1976), a strange transcription of his name, mostly
with George Hayes Orchestra under CBS Records label, in Europe and
South Africa. Although the album did not bring the fame he was
expecting, it did reach the top of the charts in Romania and Morocco.
Next year, the album was released in Turkey under the title Nick the
Chopper.
From 1977 to 1980, he released three more albums in Turkey, partly
consisting of compilations of older singles, namely Sakla Samanı Gelir
Zamanı (1977), Yeni Bir Gün (1979) and 20. Sanat Yılı Disko Manço
(1980), all following a similar sound with 2023. All these albums are
now rarity items, but most of the material from the era are available
in later compilations Ben Bilirim and Sarı Çizmeli Mehmet Ağa.
1980s
In 1981, Manço released Sözüm Meclisten Dışarı with Kurtalan Ekspres,
containing many hit songs including "Alla Beni Pulla Beni", "Arkadaşım
Eşşek", "Gülpembe", "Halhal" and "Dönence" among others. The album
remains as one of their most popular works and launched a boost of
popularity for Barış Manço during 1980s.
"Arkadaşım Eşşek" ("My Friend Donkey"), quickly grew very popular among
children (the song is about rural nostalgia and was not initially
intended as a children's song). Throughout his career,
he went on to write many other songs primarily for children to achieve
an iconic acceptance among Turkish children of 1980s and 1990s.
On the other hand "Gülpembe", composed by Kurtalan Ekspres bassist
Ahmet Güvenç, a requiem for Manço's grandmother, caught older audiences
and probably is the artist's most popular song, competing perhaps only
with "Dağlar Dağlar".
In 1983, Estağfurullah, Ne Haddimize was released. It contained hit
songs "Halil İbrahim Sofrası" and "Kol Düğmeleri", a new version of the
artist's very first song. "Halil İbrahim Sofrası" exemplified Manço's
signature moral themed lyrics, a rare feature in Turkish popular music.
In 1985, 24 Ayar Manço which included "Gibi Gibi" and a long conceptual
song "Lahburger" was released. It also marked the beginning of the
shift in Manço's sound characterized with the heavy use of synthesizers
and drum machine in contrast with his older works consisting of a group
oriented rock based sound. In subsequent years, Manço released Değmesin
Yağlı Boya (1986), Sahibinden İhtiyaçtan (1988) and Darısı Başınıza
(1989), all containing a couple of hit songs and demonstrating his new
sound.
7'den 77'ye and 1990s
In 1988, 7'den 77'ye (From 7 to 77), a TV show directed and presented
by Manço began to run on TRT 1, the national TV channel of Turkey. It
was a combined music, talk show and documentary program which was a
major hit during the 8 years it stayed on air. Manço travelled almost
150 countries for the show. "Adam Olacak Çocuk", a part of the show,
strengthened Manço's acceptance among children.
The main production crew of his TV shows when the shows were on
paramount: Yavuz Zafer, senior cameraman; Erkan Umut, cameraman (later
senior cameraman); Kenan Eryılmaz (lighting); Binnur Kayak, assistant
director; Nilüfer Ülkügüner, assistant director; Dr. Üstün Aydıngöz,
projects coordinator; Tamer Şahin, coordinator general (also manager);
Umut Germeyan, production manager; Berna Korkut, production manager
(former editor and director for TRT shows); Belma Korkut, production
attendant (former assistant editor and director for TRT shows); Melih
Erdem, production attendant (also concert attendant); Can Şahin,
production attendant (also driver).
Although his popularity continued mostly due to the TV show, his
musical works in 1990s were not well received. The albums Mega Manço
(1992) and Müsadenizle Çocuklar (1995) were considered as the weakest
efforts of his career, despite the limited success of 1992 children hit
"Ayı" (The Bear). On the other hand, in 1995 he toured in Japan with
Kurtalan Ekspres, leading to Live In Japan (1996), his first and only
live album. He released two albums in that country with some
recognition as "the man who writes songs about vegetables", referring
to "Domates, Biber, Patlıcan" ("Tomato, Pepper, Aubergine") and "Nane,
Limon Kabuğu" (Mint, Lemon Rint), two of his hit songs from 1980s.
On February 1, 1999, Barış Manço died of a sudden heart attack before
the release of his just finished last work Mançoloji (Mançology or
Manchology) (1999), a double album containing the new recordings of his
hit songs along with an unfinished instrumental song "40. Yıl" ("The
40th Anniversary"), celebrating his 40th year in music. His sudden
death caused an almost unanimous shock in Turkey with millions of
people mourning and tens of thousands of people attending his funeral.
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