Saturday, June 12, 2010

Turkish Delights on the Isle of Man


I was transported to a small (unknown to me) island in the middle of the Irish Sea called the Isle of Man. There, along with a shabby group of Yanks, Brits and Manx (the isle folk) animators, we harbored in its port town of Douglas through bitter storms, pub crawls n' bad karaoke nights... my song was 'Sunny Afternoon' by the Kinks, mainly 'cause there rarely ever was a sunny afternoon on this isle and I'd get a good group of backup 'birds' to join me.



Amongst our crew, a late arrival, was Douglas Netter, grandson of the TV Sci Fi  exec whose name was passed on to. Doug was an interesting New Yorker who quickly discovered that Absinthe was legal there on the isle, he could sleep standing upright in most closets and that the mushrooms that grew wild in the lush, green glens were legal to enjoy as long as you didn't bring them back to port.
Doug would usually arrive to the studio (promptly by lunch break) sit at his desk, unfurl his long scarf about his neck and stare at his 'Collection'; music CD's that stacked his desktop's perimeter as if they were his 'Douglas Castle' wall.

I wasn't familiar with the Turkish 60's music scene, let alone Turkey's traditional folk music, when Doug passed on these Istanbul (not Constantinople) treasures.





Mogollar (Mongols in Turkish), this collection of their music from '67 into the 70's combines traditional Turkish instruments ethno/folk with the electric sounds of  pyschedelic/progrock.
The group still exist and has progressed their music with the times, offering incredible new releases.











Erkin Koray is a Turkish folk/rock guitarist whose music also captured the spirit the times.
This collection from the 60's-70's takes me from the early Prog Rock sound to today's 'Bollywood' backdrops.
Erkin too combined his Turkish background to the zeitgeist and is also still creating music today.









                                                                                                                                           Thanks Doug E.