Silüetler ("Silhouettes") was a Turkish rock band.

Early years

The group was founded in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

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 between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

, although their music was based on traditional

Turkish music The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular 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 municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

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

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

contest they played '' Kaşık Havası'', 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 () 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 refers to various ...

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

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

was released in which they added some American hits to their repertoire.Page of Anadolu pop
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Later years

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