Sarı Ev by 21.Peron

Absolutely fantastic Turkish progressive & psychedelic local band (from beautiful Izmir city where I used to live over 40 years). It's very hard to draw comparisons but one can hear shades of early Crimson and Genesis with Turkish Anatolian folk influences. There are even two classical adaptations, one by Stravinsky and one by Debussy!
The foundations of the group were laid at the Turkish High School, Music and Folk Dance Competition (İzmir Koleji), organized by the Milliyet newspaper in 1970. Andreas Wildermann is the keyboardist of the group. Haluk Öztekin, the guitarist who would join the group later, was also there. In their performances, they sometimes interpreted songs of famous groups such as The Who in addition to their compositions. In 1973, Öztekin and Wildermann entered the Aegean University. 21. Peron was founded in Bornova, Izmir, on 11 July 1973.
The first formation of the group included Wildermann as the keyboardist, Öztekin and Seyhan Eriş as the guitarists, Aron Serez as the bassist, Halil Yildirim as the drummer, and Alp Gültekin as the violinist. The band played foreign rock music and Anatolian rock music, which was popular during that period.
In 1974, they prepared a single for a radio program on TRT (Turkish Radio Television). During that period, they began to make their compositions. They started doing concerts in the year 1975. In May 1975, they made their recordings at the home called "Sarı Ev" which means "Yellow House".
They moved to an instrumental style of music with some Yes and Genesis influences, which was respected but difficult to understand for the (Turkish) public. At that time they recorded 5 tracks themselves, but it was impossible to find a label to release it. (You can now listen their Live & Demo recordings from 21.Peron's back catalogue).
In 1977 the group had the permission by label owners Attila Özdemiroglu and Şanar Yurdatapan to record in a professional studio another 6 songs. The tracks had to find a more compact form and balance for the market's rules. The tapes were used once for a TRT national broadcast airplay..
After 21.Peron had won the National Eurovision Song Contest in 1979, Turkey withdrew from the Jerusalem final after pressure from the Arab countries.
Here we have 6 stereo Demo tracks which were never released before (from the Sarı Ev recordings) and another 5 stereo tracks from the professional studio recordings.

* From track 1 to 5, recorded with Akai 2-track Tape recorder at the Sarı Ev in 1976.
* Track 6 and 7 recorded with Sony stereo cassette recorder at the Sarı Ev in 1975.
* From track 8 to 11 recorded with 16-channel Ampex Tape recorder at the ŞAT Yapım Studio in 1977.

The band members are;
Alp Gültekin : Violin (All tracks)
Andreas Wildermann : Keyboards (All tracks)
Haluk Öztekin : Guitar (All tracks)
Seyhan Eriş : Guitar (Track 6 & 7)
Aron Şerez : Bass guitar (Track 6 & 7)
Halil Yıldırım : Drums (Track 6 & 7)
Erden Erdem : Drums (Track 1 to 5 & 8 to11)
Gökhan Akçay : Bass guitar (Track 1 to 5 & 8 to 11)

21.Peron still continues its work playing and giving concerts in Izmir.
https://21peron.com

In an effort to bring back to light albums that have almost been forgotten and to pass them on to the next generation, "Arşivplak" (Archive Record) has brought previously unheard, little-known, or only released abroad Turkish Pop/Folk/Jazz/Funk/Electronic works to the listener, sometimes as Long Play, sometimes as 45's, and sometimes only as digital records.

Muslim 🇹🇷🇬🇧 Geordie - الحَمْد لله

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