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Mogollar (meaning Mongols in Turkish) is one of the pioneer bands in Turkish rock music for about 30 years and one of the founders of Turkish ethno rock music (or Anatolian rock music). 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.
This band was founded by Neco, Aziz Azmet, Aydın Daruga and Murat Ses
who were members of Silüetler (silhouettes) in 1967. 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) joined the band. Later, Haluk Kunt replaced Hasan Sel who
was a member of Apaşlar (Apachies) in 1968 and Aydın Daruga replaced
Engin Yörükoğlu in 1969.
In 1970, Hasan Sel replaced Taner Öngür who was a member of Meteorlar
(Meteors) and 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 who was the vocalist of the band left the band
and Ersen 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 (official records by SACEM, GEMA and MESAM).
Murat Ses's (the group's keyboardist, arranger and composer)
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 the band as vocalist and the band was
renamed Manchomongol. Manchomongol recorded 2 45 rpms and this
partnership was finished after 4 months. Also, Engin Yörükoğlu stayed
in Paris and Ayzer Danga who was drummer of Mavi Işıklar (Blue Lights)
joined the band to replace him.
Moğollar recorded 1 rpm with Selda at first half of 1972. After, Ersen
re-joined the band in July 1972 and the band recorded 1 45rpm. 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). Patnership of Cem Karaca and Moğollar was lasted 2 years
and they produced Namus Belası song, which became a great hit at the
time.
In 1974, Taner Öngür and Ayzer Danga left the band. Taner Öngür joined
Dervişan (Dervishes) who was a band of Cem Karaca between 1974 and 1978
and Ayzer Danga participated in Erkin Koray's 'Elektronik Türküler'
(Electronic Songs) album. Also, Cahit Berkay dissolved the band and
left for France to meet with Engin Yörükoğlu. Cahit Berkay and Engin
Yörükoğlu recorded 2 albums under the name Moğollar. They also recorded
1 45 rpm with Ali Rıza Binboğa in 1975. The band completely dissolved
in 1976.
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.
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