On one of the facebook groups I’m in, someone posted this video the other day:
Kuzu Kuzu song purchase links: (iTunes) (Amazon)
Tarkan’s an extremely popular Turkish singer, sometimes called the Turkish equivalent of Elvis, but perhaps a better description would be the Bad Boy of Turkish Pop.
The above video’s from 2001, but he broke out in Turkey almost ten years earlier. His first breakout video’s generally considered to be 1994’s “Hepsi Senin Mi?” It’s not as strong as his later work, but it was considered daring and rebellious. It’s also catchy as hell. It was later re-reorded and retitled Sikidim with different orchestration.
Hepsi Senin Mi? song purchase links: (iTunes) (Amazon)
Sikidim/Hepsi Senin Mi? song purchase links: (iTunes) (Amazon)
2001 also saw the release of the controversial video for “Hüp” (quote is from Wikipedia):
Another scandal broke out when the video for the single “Hüp” was released. The Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council considered banning the video, directed by Ferzan Özpetek, from television broadcast, as some viewers complained that the scene in which Tarkan kisses actress Sinemis Candemir was too “explicit” and “pornographic”. The case was reported through Europe by the BBC.[31] There was no ban, and fans had their say by voting it the video of the year in 2001 at Kral music station’s video awards.
Hüp song purchase links: (iTunes) (Amazon)
In 2014, Tarkan’s been in two videos with other artists, and I like both of them quite a bit.
Hop De’s a song by İskender Paydaş:
Hop De song purchase links: (iTunes) (Amazon)
Hop De music video purchase link: (iTunes)
And here’s a concert rehearsal video for Hop De, before a concert series in Istanbul:
The other video’s quite different, contrasting the energy of the video with the relatively limited movement of the female singer, Nazan Öncel:
Hadi O Zaman song purchase links: (iTunes) (Amazon)
Hadi O Zaman music video purchase link: (iTunes)
I’ve gotta say, listening to all these with a bum hip is a particular form of torture.
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