Total blast from the past

A little exchange tonight reminded me of these gems from my mid teenage years, back home. I was not into Persian pop music anywhere near the level my friends were, but whether you were a fan or not, you couldn't help but hear it when you went to someone's house; parties and get togethers always had music going in the background, which almost always got turned up as the night progressed, the inhibitions lowered (especially when the home brews and opium were brought out), and everyone wanted to be a dancing queen (or king).

(And, altered state or not, everyone danced. Talk about pent up...everything... being put out there, through all the swayings and whirls and hip checks...)

The album that these songs came out on was a humongous hit, both back home and over here and in various other countries favored by ex-pats. Although Andy and Kouros have long parted ways, for most people, they'll remain the dynamic duo that heralded a new generation of Iranian pop stars after the revolution. (Jury's out on whether that was actually a good thing...)

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Side note: my friends, who otherwise would beg me to watch [English speaking] music videos with them so I could translate, banned me from ever watching a Persian pop music video with them, because I simply could not stop laughing. Mind you, there are plenty of bad non-Persian videos, but then again, it is so much easier to mock your own.

Okay, I seriously cannot get through any of the videos, all the way to end, even now. If you really want to hear the music, may I pass along a suggestion made to me recently in a similar situation: start the vide, then open a new tab and go do something else while the music plays.

(And note I am not mocking the songs at all. I am completely non objective about them, especially this trio, which are forever wrapped up with a certain few months that I remember fondly but will keep mum about. Let's just say the audacity of youth? Is mind boggling, when I think about it.)

Bala - Andy & Kouros
This was the one that would signal the transition from occasional, casual dancing to serious, foot stomping, as if your life depended on it dancing.



Niloufar - Andy& Kouros
The video of this one had me in hysterics the loudest, the first time I saw it. My cousin, who also happens to share a name with the titular girl in the song, told me it was because I was jealous that no one had written a song about my name.

I assured her I was quite all right with not having a tribute song.

Also, this was a favorite song for oh so casually sidling up to the person you wanted to notice you, and flirting with them by almost, but not quite, dancing with them as a duo (especially important in the formal multi-generational get togethers between families and friends, where you could not outright show any interest. No one wanted to be known as the loose girl or the fast boy among their parents' peers, and this was the best way of coming on to someone, out in the open, without repercussion of a gossip backlash and shame everlasting on your family)



Khodayeh Asemoonha (cover) - Andy & Kouros
This song was originally recorded when my sister was a teenager, and then Andy & Kouros updated it. It was regarded as a bit of an anthem song for the younger generation back then, based on the lyrics (which refer to the frustrations of youth, in some aspect.) It's a funny song, in that pretty much everyone I know, from my peers of the time, associates some particular person with it, very strongly.

(I may have to do a separate entry just doing a running commentary on the videos. I never noticed back then, but are they supposedly holding on to barbed wire?! And how did I ever miss the undertone of Andy's sidling up to Kouros and Kouros' chasing of Andy?!)