Moha Jamin — Raks Raks Raks (1968?)

from Raks Raks Raks - 27 Golden Garage Psych Nuggets From The Iranian 60s Scene

Continuing this globe-trotting garage fest with this track from Moha Jamin (مهاجمین - The Aggressors). The drums are insane, as is the breakdown halfway through. The album cover of this comp is actually a modified version of the original 7” single, as seen below.

Sound quality is pretty bad, but that’s pretty common for music from this era in Iran—it’s hard to find good quality vinyl, because most records were destroyed during the Islamic Revolution in ‘79. In fact the original vinyl single is going for 700 euros on CDandLP right now…

Giti Pashaei — Rizeh Rizeh

from Shadi Ba Man Ghahre & Rize Rize (Apollon, 1971)

Here is another beautiful track from Giti Pashaei… this time with gypsy-style violins. Really fabulous, aside from the regrettable sound quality.

Check out last week’s post for a completely different sound from 1971. Unfortunately it’s been pretty hard to find decent-sounding recordings… no doubt my complete ignorance of Farsi contributes to that. Also, another explanation from the encyclopedic blog Radio Diffusion:

This is perhaps due in part to the political situation surrounding the music and culture, much of what was recorded prior to the 1978 revolution became illegal with the new regime and was destroyed when found by the police. Performers who had substantial careers prior to the revolution had to flee the country or risk persecution as even the simple act of a woman performing as a soloist became illegal, not to mention the performance of westernized Persian music that had become increasingly popular under the last years of the Shah. Records that you find now from that period in Iran have likely survived many hardships and they almost always show it in one way or another.

Giti Pashaei — Gol-e Maryam (1971)

I just found a slew of amazing tracks over at the blog Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annex, including this 1971 single by Giti Pashaei, a big star in Iran before the Revolution. This track is about an agave relative known in Iran as the ‘Mary flower,’ from which a perfume is made. From wikipedia:

Giti was one of the most popular Iranian singers of the late 1960s and 1970s. She became famous with her song ‘Gol-e Maryam’ (The Maria Flower). The Iranian Revolution put an end to her singing career in 1979. Women were forbidden to sing in public. Later on she composed many sound tracks for Iranian movies after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Is it just me or did Iran seem like a hell of a lot more fun in the Shah days?

photos via WhatsUpIran.com.