The Weird Middle Eastern Fascination With Heaven On Their Minds (Or JCS Part 2)

Remember way back when when I posted a blog entry on Jesus Christ Superstar? Many years ago, when I was first searching for JCS related material, I came across a number of videos of Middle Eastern pop songs from the 70s, all of which appeared to be based on the main riff from 'Heaven On Their Minds'!

Here is 'Heaven On Their Minds' as performed by Murray Head from the original JCS concept album (the Carl Anderson version taken from the film can be found on the JCS blog linked above):

And now here is 'Soyle Beni' by Grazia. Grazia Peretz was an Israeli from a family with a Turkish background who began performing at Turkish weddings and Mediterranean nightclubs. Her father paid for an album session with the Jaffa record label, Koliphone, for her 16th birthday and the album was released in 1978. 'Soyle Beni' is a traditional song with added Moog and the funky bassline riff.

Next up: 'Talagh' by Googoosh, an Iranian pop singer from the 70s. Here the riff is slightly slowed down and they also seem to have lifted part of the verses too:

Finally, back to Turkey with 'Yali Yali' by Neşe Karaböcek, a singer and actress with a career stretching from the late 1960s to the 2010s.

Why was this riff incorporated into several Turkish/Persian songs from the 70s? Answers on the back of a postcard to the usual address!

Bonus Tracks: a great live version of 'Yali Yali' by the contemporary Dutch Anatolian band, Altin Gün.

... and Tim Minchin singing 'Heaven On Their Minds' from the recent arena tour.