Erkin Koray
Born in İstanbul he learned to play the piano from his mother Vecihe Koray who is a piano teacher. In the second half of the fifties when he is at high school he founded the amateur band called Erkin Koray and his Rhymers with his friends and played the noted songs of the time. Then in 1959 he began his professional life with the band playing in various places in Istanbul. In 1962 he produced his first 45’s record, on one side of which was the song “Bir Eylül Akşamı,” on the other was the song “It’s So Long.” He did his military service playing in various officer’s clubs between 1963-1965. After receiving his discharge paper from the military, he strolled around Europe returning home in 1966 to attend to the prestigious Altın Mikrofon (Golden Microphone) Music Contest in which he could not find what he expected. In 1967 he founded Erkin Koray Quartet and produced a widely acclaimed record the same year. Especially the song “Kızları da Alın Askere” (Recruit The Girls Well into the Army) gathered much attention. This followed with many successful records up until the end of the sixties. In 1969 he founded a new band called Yeraltı Dörtlüsü (The Underground Quartet) and by the seventies his distinctive music style has won recognition by a wide audience. Founding various bands such as Süper Grup in 1971, Ter in 1972 and Stop in 1973, Erkin Koray had his name written in the history of Turkish Rock music.