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**Rasputin** · 02-07-2008, 04:01 AM

Iran's music fans hoping for a new beat

It's an odd country where a Chris de Burgh gig is a boost for rock, writes Saeed Kamali Dehghan.

LATE last year, Iranian pop music took a huge step forward.

It was reported from Tehran that Chris de Burgh would, this year, become the first Western artist to play in Iran since the country's Islamic revolution in 1979; Morrissey has also expressed his desire to play there.

More excitingly for Iranian musicians, de Burgh plans to collaborate with an Iranian group, Arian, with which he has recorded one song. "Local band plays with foreign star" isn't a story in the rest of the world, but in Iran this is a breakthrough. Arian are one of a handful of Iranian bands granted an official permit to perform, and even for them getting their music heard in Iran remains a struggle.

Over the past year, the Government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been cracking down on rock. Concerts have been cancelled despite having approval. Western and "indecent" music has been banned from state-run TV and radio. All albums have to be vetted by the Islamic Guidance Ministry.

De Burgh's visit aside, Iranian musicians feel that the Ahmadinejad Government is putting more pressure on them than they've felt since the early days of the revolution.

"If you want to put a concert on in the UK, all you have to do is see the hall management and get a licence from the local authority," says Mohsen Rajabpour, Arian's manager and a promoter who has put on hundreds of shows inside and outside Iran. "In Tajikistan, you need to get permission from six different ministries. In Iran, it's somewhere in between - but it takes six months to get permission."

The golden age of Iranian pop was in the pre-revolutionary years. The female singer Googoosh was a huge star in the '70s, bridging the gap between Iranian music and Western pop. Her career came to an end in 1979, when female solo singers were banned; it resumed only when she emigrated to California in 2000. Other Iranian stars of the '70s chose to leave, too, rather than endure the ban on Western styles imposed by the government of Ayatollah Khomeini, a ban that lasted almost 20 years.

In Tehran proper, the pop scene fell silent - a silence finally broken in 1998, when a pop clip by Khashayar Etemadi was shown on the state-run TV station, to the huge surprise of viewers. "It was really an unrepeatable, unique event," recalls Etemadi. "As people heard it, so many called in to the station that they had to show the clip six more times that night."

It was the start of a thawing of official attitudes towards pop.

The Arian concert Rajabpour put on in 2000 was the first by a mixed-sex group since the revolution. Not that the group had it easy. In Isfahan they were beaten up backstage; in Bandarabbas they were told the female members could only play behind a curtain.

Nevertheless, music continued to flourish. In 2006, singer Benyamin Bahadori's album 85 was inescapable in Iran, and crossed over to international success, selling an estimated 12 million copies. An underground sprang up, too, made up of musicians denied permission to play gigs or release records. Some of these bands have picked up large audiences by singing about an Iran that officially sanctioned musicians won't touch.

If de Burgh does visit Iran this northern summer, will anything change? He's unlikely to sing anything that will foment unrest in Tehran. But one can't help wondering: wouldn't it be interesting if Morrissey, a man who can't seem to avoid controversy, ended up being the second Western singer to play in the Islamic republic?

**Rasputin** · 03-22-2008, 11:28 AM

Celebrated Irish musician and singer Chris De Burgh says media misinformation will not change his opinion about performing in Iran.

Speaking exclusively to the Record, pop legend Chris de Burgh confirmed that he would have an open-air concert with popular Iranian band Arian in Tehran this summer.

Chris then responded to critics who believe he should not play in Iran and said, "I don't believe virtually anything we read [on Iran] because we are on the receiving end of a lot of propaganda."

"The only way you get the truth is by talking to people in Iran and finding out what goes on," he explained.

"About 12 years ago, we became aware that I was very popular in Iran and we tried to figure out how to get there because I like playing new places," he continued. "I'm visiting Iran to make people a little happier."

The Irish singer, 52, is a UN ambassador for promoting food campaign initiatives against malnutrition and had earlier collaborated with Arian to sing A Melody for Peace.

**Rasputin** · 04-23-2008, 02:27 AM

Singer Chris de Burgh has defended his plans to sing in Iran.

The crooner is set to become the first Western musician to perform in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Reports have suggested that censors may not allow de Burgh to use the lyrics "cheek to cheek" from his famous song Lady In Red.

The 59-year-old Irish singer told Sky News he would make a final decision about performing after visiting the country next month.

He said: "My friends and I are not politically naive - we know what the situation has been.

"I'm very fortunate that my music has been accepted there for more than 20 years.

"I go to sing for people, I do not go to sing for governments.

"We've thought about it for a long time. It's not just 'We accept the invite, thanks very much, we're going to go'.

"Those people that say 'You shouldn't go', I say to them 'Well, what are you doing to make a difference? I want to make a difference.'"

The singer is expected to play a 12,000-seater stadium in Tehran later this summer.

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Chris de Burgh & Arian

Chris de Burgh & Arian

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