Mavi Işıklar is a Turkish beat/cover band and was founded in 1964 and disbanded in 1970. The name of the band could be translated into English as "Blue Lights". Mavi Işıklar is considered as "Turkish Beatles" because of their appearances.
Mavi Işıklar was performing beat/rock music in a very clean manner, thus their performances are widely remembered by Turkish audience, although they were only making covers of the contemporary Beat and R&B music, folk music arrangements and Turkish adaptations of well known songs. The Turkish lyrics for the adapted songs were written by Atilla Akman, Ülkü Aker and later Yeşim Demirci. They managed to sell thousand of records one after the other and be loved for what they really were even in the conservative Anatolian towns.
The band was formed in İstanbul Erkek Lisesi (İstanbul Boys' High School) as Istanbul Boys' High School Vocal Band.
The line-up from 1962 to 1966 was:
Nejat Toksoy - vocals
Zamir Manisa - drums
Çetin Yavuzdoğan - bass guitar
Metin Yavuzdoğan - piano, keyboards
Cihat Günay - guitar
The band was officially founded in 1964 and attended the Altın Mikrofon Song Contest. They won the second prize and their Helvacı/Kanamam single was released by Hürriyet. Right after that release, they recorded Johnny Be Goode/Justine single for Odeon company. The band later attended 1966 Altın Mikrofon Song Contest, again winning the second prize, they released their Çayır Çimen Geze Geze/Pınarbaşı single through Hürriyet. Although their music was hard, they were soon appreciated by conservative music critics, just because of their visual appearances which involves neat suit uniforms.
The band made some folk arrangements for a while and later on they started Turkish adaptations and covers with original lyrics. So they were far from making their own compositions yet they could be able to raise the bar with their musical abilities. The highest level of popularity was achieved in 1968. With the adaptation version of Lebanon Group The Cedars' For Your Information, they gained a wide appreciation. The lyrics were written by Atilla Akman.
This public interest lead them to record their first self-titled LP in 1968. This LP contained tracks with Turkish lyrics as well as English cover songs.
The last Mavi Işıklar single, Aşk Çiçeği/Yaramaz Ne Oldu Sana was recorded in 1971. After the release, vocalist Nejat Toksoy and keyboardist Metin Yavuzdoğan joined the army for their compulsory military service. With Çetin Yavuzdoğan remaining from the former line-up, Mavi Işıklar has performed with the attendance of Atilla Şimşek, Koko Kalender Nuri Kurtçebe. When the latest line-up gathered in late 1971, the band performed with Çetin Yavuzdoğan (bass guitar), Ulvi Kırımlı (keyboards), Serhat Atuk (guitar), Tayfun Sağesen (vocals), and Atilla Şimşek (drums). Yet this line-up was subject to change with the arrival of Nejat and Metin. There were two singles planned with the final line-up. The first was Köy Kızı/Daldalan and the second was Bir Damla Yaşsın/Hayal Gibi, yet those singles have never been released and Mavi Işıklar finished their musical performances. Later on 1976 the band was formed again but disbanded without recording or performing.
In year 2000, they performed once again in an organization by an Internet community. The former line-up performed with one name missing. Because Zamir Manisa was in USA, an old member Atilla Şimşek assisted them on stage.
In 2002, with the release of their 19 tracks by Ada Müzik, Mavi Işıklar started performing again with their former line-up.
