Baris Manço was one of the most influential Turkish musicians of all times. In his early career he and his bands contributed to the Anatolian rock movement by combining traditional Turkish music with rock influences, which is still one of the main trends of Turkish popular music.
His visual image characterised by his long hair, mustache and big rings softened the reaction of otherwise conservative Turkish public opinion regarding the marginal visual appearances.
His experimentation with electronic instruments in the late 1980s contributed to the 1990s sound of Turkish popular music.
His lyrics with diverse themes, mostly following a somewhat modernized version of the "asik" (wandering folk poets) tradition were heavily marginal in the popular music scene of 1980s which was mostly dominated by the love themed lyrics.
On January 31, 1999, Baris Manço died of a sudden heart attack before the release of his just finished last work Mançoloji (1999), a double album containing the new recordings of his hit songs along with an unfinished instrumental song "40. yil" ("The 40th Anniversary"), celebrating his 40th year in music. His sudden death caused an almost unanimous shock in Turkey with millions of people mourning and tens of thousands of people attending his funeral.
In 2002, a tribute album was released under the name Yüregimdeki Baris Sarkilari ("Baris''s Songs In My Heart", also "Peace Songs In My Heart") featuring 15 extremely popular Turkish artists of such diverse genres as arabesque, pop and rock (both Anatolian and western style) demonstrating his wide range of influence.
- Baris Manco Wikipedia Page
Baris Manco Fan Club