Where to start with Iranian Psychedelic Rock (Pre-1979)
Iranian Psychedelic Rock (Pre-1979) is a music scene from Tehran, Iran, 1967–1979. Its principal artists include Kourosh Yaghmaei and Googoosh. This issue covers 8 essential albums and 12 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Gol-e Yakh
Kourosh Yaghmaei · 1973The song that proved Iranian rock could sell millions and become a household phenomenon almost overnight.
- 2
Do Panjereh (Two Windows)
Googoosh · 1970Shows the era's other pillar, Googoosh, blending western pop influence with unmistakably Iranian melodic tradition.
- 3
Back from the Brink: Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock from Iran: 1973-1979
Kourosh Yaghmaei · 2011Frames the whole scene's rise, sound, and survival for listeners hearing it outside Iran for the first time.
Go deeper
- 4
Hajm-e Khali
Kourosh Yaghmaei · 1975Yaghmaei's second album, released in 1975, caught him at the height of his pre-revolutionary powers.
- 5
Pol (The Bridge)
Googoosh · 1975By 1975, when Pol came out, Googoosh was the highest-paid, most profitable artist in Iran, and the album captures her at that peak: full vocal range, real emotional depth, a…
- 6
Sarab-e To
Kourosh Yaghmaei · 1977Original release: Ahangrooz · CD · Iran 1977Released in 1977, Sarab-e To was Yaghmaei's final album before the revolution shut the door on Iranian rock.
- 7
Zartosht (Zoroaster)
Googoosh · 2000Zartosht arrived in 2000, Googoosh's first new album after twenty-one years of forced silence, and it followed a comeback concert at Toronto's Air Canada Centre that drew twelve thousand people.
For the obsessed
- 8
Malek Jamshid
Kourosh Yaghmaei · 2016Original release: Now-Again Records · NA 5141 · CD · US 2016By the time Yaghmaei started work on Malek Jamshid in the early 2000s, he hadn't appeared on radio or television since the 1970s and was, as one journalist put it…
The stories behind every record are in Iranian Psychedelic Rock (Pre-1979), a members' issue.