Baris Manco

Barış Manço (also spelled Baris Mancho or Baris Manco in some european album releases) (January 2, 1943 - January 31, 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 Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian and Arabic. He was, and still is, one of the most beloved public figures of Turkey. Baris Manco was one of the most influential Turkish musicians of all times. In his early career he and his bands contributed to the Anatolian rock movement by combining traditional Turkish music with rock influences, which is still one of the main trends of Turkish popular music. His visual image characterised by his long hair, mustache and big rings softened the reaction of otherwise conservative Turkish public opinion regarding the marginal visual appearances. His experimentation with electronic instruments in the late 1980s contributed to the 1990s sound of Turkish popular music. His lyrics with diverse themes, mostly following a somewhat modernized version of the "asik" (wandering folk poets) tradition were heavily marginal in the popular music scene of 1980s which was mostly dominated by the love themed lyrics. In 2002, a tribute album was released under the name Songs of Baris in My Heart featuring 15 popular Turkish artists of such diverse genres as arabesque, pop and rock (both Anatolian and western style) demonstrating his wide range of influence.