Silüetler (literally "Silhouettes") was a popular music band in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Early days of the band

The group was founded in İstanbul by Mesut Aytunca (1944–1977), a graduate from the school of journalism. In 1958 he began his music career. He was a bass guitarist, but when he founded Silüetler with Erol Bilem he began playing solo guitar. In the early days of Silüetler, the group inspired from

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, although their music was based on traditional Turkish music arranged for guitar band. According to one view: ”Silüetler took Turkish music out from an identity crisis.”

Successful years

In Boğaziçi Music Festival the band played ''

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

'' an arranged form of a very well known Turkish song and they took the third place. In 1965

Golden Microphone The Golden Microphone ( tr, Altın Mikrofon) was a music contest annually held between 1965 and 1968 in Turkey. It was organized by the newspaper ''Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. ...

contest they played ''

Kaşık Havası Kaşık Havası ( tr, Kaşık Havası, spoon tune) or Kaşık Oyunları ( tr, Kaşık Oyunları, spoon dances; el, Χορός κουταλιών) are folk dances mostly spread over the Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterra ...

'', a well known Turkish melody played during folkloric dances along with their entry ''Sis'' and they again took the third place. Next year, they were more successful in the same contest. They played ''

Lorke Lorke ( hy, Լորկե) is an Armenian folk song-dance. It was performed at weddings when the bride was taken away from her father's house, at the Vardavar festival during the collection of flowers, and also during pilgrimages. It also refe ...

'' and took the first place. In 1967 their first

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

was released in which they added some American hits to their repertoire.Page of Anadolu pop
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Last days of the band

In 1967 some members of the band cut loose from the band to form

Moğollar Moğollar (''Mongols'' in Turkish) was one of the pioneering bands in Turkish rock music during their early career and one of the founders of Turkish folk rock (or Anatolian rock). They have been active for over 40 years. The band uses multi-laye ...

. In 1970, Mesut Aytunca took his leave for compulsory civil service. Although he returned to music career in 1972, the next year the band dissolved itself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siluetler Musical groups disestablished in 1972 Turkish rock music groups Musical groups established in 1958 1958 establishments in Turkey 1972 disestablishments in Turkey