{"id":3016,"date":"2021-12-09T15:08:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T12:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.istanbulberlin.com\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2021-12-10T15:24:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T12:24:03","slug":"daniel-bax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.istanbulberlin.com\/en-de\/daniel-bax\/","title":{"rendered":"90s in Germany: Turkish Pop Explosion and Discotheques People Danced The Halay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transcending borders and sweeping geographies throughout the \u201890s, Turkish pop had also amassed an audience in Germany. It managed to open up a niche for itself in \u201890s Germany that was taken over by techno, and discotheques in which teens danced to pop rhythms imported from Turkey popped up all over the country. This musical wind blew both ways: while Turkish pop had begun echoing through Germany, after the success of German-born Tarkan, other young people of Turkish descent living in Germany, such as Rafet El Roman, began seeking pop stardom in Turkey. We listen to the story of this explosion from the mouth of Daniel Bax, music journalist and pop critic who in those days had his finger on the pulse of Turkish pop in Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interview by Sedef \u0130lgi\u00e7 and Nazl\u0131 Sa\u011fd\u0131\u00e7 Pilcz<\/span><\/p>\n

Text by Sedef \u0130lgi\u00e7\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by N\u00fckhet Polat<\/span><\/p>\n

Translated to English by Zeynep Beler<\/span><\/p>\n

Special thanks to istanbulberlin interns I\u015f\u0131l \u0130lker and G\u00f6rkem G\u00f6lba\u015f\u0131 for their research assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cover visual: tarkan.com<\/a> \u00a9 Sedat Mehder<\/p>\n

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Tarkan autographed for Daniel Bax: \"For Daniel, thank you for everything :)\"<\/p><\/div>\n

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A photo of Daniel Bax from the 90s.<\/p><\/div>\n

Born in Brazil, Daniel Bax moved to the south of Germany in childhood and then to Berlin in 1985. Thanks to Berlin\u2019s cosmopolitan makeup, he made many friends from different cultures, those of Turkish descent naturally also among them. He visited Turkey in the early \u201890s, \u201cwhen everyone was listening to Tarkan or Sezen Aksu\u2026 And then this whole Turkish pop thing developed, before there was Arabesque. Quite soon this spilled over to teenagers in Germany.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On returning to Germany he decided he wanted to write about Turkish pop. \u201cI really fell in love with Turkish music and all its different kinds. And I was fascinated by the Turkish pop explosion at that time because for me it also showed a certain generational shift. I wanted to write about it, but it was quite unusual.\u201d No mention of Turkish pop was being made in the mainstream German press world as of yet.
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The Parallel Universe of Discotheques<\/b><\/p>\n

Meanwhile discotheques had begun opening up where teens could dance to Turkish pop.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first club was in Hardenbergstrasse in the distict of Charlottenburg, it was called \u2018Hadigari\u2019. At one time there were, I think, three to five clubs. Because if a person is successful in business, others will start to copy it. So this is what happened in the \u201890s with Turkish clubs, until there were too many clubs. But there was this atmosphere that something new was happening.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though there were other prevalent genres, techno unequivocally was ruled them all in Germany around that time. \u201cBut this Turkish pop was a thing on its own. And it was really a parallel universe, because in these clubs, you would see that 90% of the people had a Turkish background. So young people, children of the so-called guest worker generation.\u201d The concept of fun, however, had developed differently than in Turkey. The lines were much more blurred in Germany: \u201cI know people who came from Turkey to Germany were shocked to see people dance the halay in a discotheque.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During this period, Tarkan and Sezen Aksu gave concerts in Germany and the dream of becoming a pop star in Turkey began taking over the imaginations of teens in Germany. Though Can Kat did not gain huge popularity, Rafet El Roman was one performer with German citizenship that made it in Turkey.<\/span><\/p>\n