The First Iranian Emo – Fereydoon Foroughi The famous Iranian rock singer, Fereydoon Foroughi (1951-2001), was one of the first figures to emerge in a new era of Iranian music. Throughout the 50s, Iranian music was dominated by the soft, usually poetic songs of Marzieh, Delkash, and the great Banan. However, Vigen Derderian, the “Elvis of Iran”, began to make a name for himself as a pop/rock pioneer in Iran during the 60s, ushering in a new age of music. The emergence of the 6 & 8 pop group in the late 60s also furthered the development of this new sound in Iran. When Fereydoon Foroughi was in his late teens, he started to have dreams of becoming a singer. He began singing at local cafes and started making a name for himself, and was eventually discovered by a film producer. In 1971, when Foroughi was 20, that same producer asked him to sing a song he had composed titled Adamak (puppet) for a movie by the same name. Both the movie and the song were received with wide acclaim, and that marked the beginning of Foroughi’s singing career. Adamak was his first song and it was depressing, and all of the songs he would ever sing would be depressing as well. That mood, however, was quite prevalent in Iran at the time, which is why Foroughi was able to make it so big. For the extremely depressing content and style of his music, Fereydoon Foroughi has been named the First Iranian Emo. The Second Iranian Emo – Dariush Eghbali Dariush Eghbali (1951- ) was also one of the first pioneers of Iranian pop. His career began earlier than Foroughi’s, when he formed the aforementioned 6 & 8 group with “Keyvan” and Afshin Moghaddam in 1968 at the age of 17. However, he did not make a name for himself until 1972, when he broke away from the 6 & 8 group, went solo, and made it big with his debut song, Be Man Nagoo Dooset Daram (Don’t tell me you love me). Dariush still sings to this day, although he has been living in Los Angeles since the 80s. The majority of his songs relate to romance or political themes (which got him imprisoned a few times). As a result, they are usually somber, bittersweet, and sad – though, as a whole, not at the same level as Foroughi’s songs were, which were mainly focused on solely sorrow and anguish. Regardless, Dariush’s “dark” inclinations and unique, warm baritone voice have given him the title of the Second Iranian Emo. The Third Iranian Emo – Bahman Bakhtiyari (Bahman the Unifier) Bahman Bakhtiyari has successfully kept most of his life a secret. His birth date is unknown, though it is probably around the same time as Dariush and Foroughi’s. His birthplace and current whereabouts are also unknown, and there are no pictures of him to this day. Dariush Eghbali has refused to describe what Bahman looked like in the 70s for the sake of totally concealing his identity. When Bahman was in his early 20s, he became very sensitive to and developed a strong affinity for the evocative sounds and lyrics flowing from Dariush and Foroughi’s music. He became obsessed as well, purchasing every record, cassette, and CD that they would ever produce (in Dariush’s case, some say he’s still pursuing his passion, and currently possesses the largest library of Iranian emo music known to man). Shortly after Bahman became well-acquainted with their first few songs and when they were still early on in their careers, he did everything within his power to get in touch with both Dariush and Foroughi. Interestingly enough, while the two singers basically sang the same genre and most likely knew of one another, they were not close. But Bahman arranged a meeting with the two of them at his home, and the two accepted. Their first gathering became known as the First Iranian Emo Conference, and therein Bahman discussed the idea of forming a sort of association to forever immortalize the nuance of somber Iranian “pop” music which the two young singers had brought to life. Dariush and Foroughi were greatly intrigued and accepted the proposition, and in 1974 the Iranian Emo League was officially formed. Its inception gained fame among fans of Dariush and Foroughi, and even inspired one of its earliest members – another prominent emo singer of the time who had just made it big himself, Farhad Mehrad, inspired by Foroughi and Dariush – to join the League. Both Bahman’s acquainting the two hit singers with each other and creating the League in the same event has given him the titles of the Unifier and Third Iranian Emo. The League Until 1979 The League had spread throughout Iran with a local office established in almost every urban area by the 1979 Islamic Revolution. When that took place, Ayatollah Khomeini, the new leader, took great pains to eliminate Iranian music from his newly acquired country. As a result, Dariush was imprisoned and Foroughi was silenced. Shortly thereafter, Bahman fled Iran but continued to maintain correspondence with the two singers. After a few years, Dariush was freed and soon emigrated from Iran and headed for Los Angeles, where he has been living since. Fereydoon Foroughi never sang after 1979 because he refused to leave Iran, stating that it was his home and that he loved it far too much to ever consider leaving it. He eventually died of overdose in 2001 at the age of 50, having been silenced for over 20 years. The League Today The Iranian Emo League is still in function today with its headquarters at the “Tehrangeles” district of Los Angeles, the American capital of Persian music and home of Dariush Eghbali for over 20 years. It has spread internationally to wherever there is significant Iranian influence, with the only exception being Iran due to its still-hardliner stance towards music. The affiliated nations are as follows: • The Iranian Emo League of America: Dariush Eghbali • The Iranian Emo League of Canada: Morteza Mahjoubi • The Iranian Emo League of Sweden: Behrad Bakhtiyari (brother of Bahman) • The Iranian Emo League of Spain: Bahram Massoumian • The Iranian Emo League of Italy: Shahram Kashani • The Iranian Emo League of Australia: Nima Hazini Bahman the Unifier, however, remains the international leader of the IEL and participates in international meetings (which always take place in Los Angeles) only through audio input on a speakerphone in the international office. Even his brother, Behrad, is unaware of his whereabouts and has been ever since he fled Iran in 1979. The League is still fully operational and highly successful to this day, with a large amount of people reminiscing about the evocative lyrics of Fereydoon Foroughi, Farhad Mehrad, and both those that Dariush Eghbali once sang and still sings. Dariush’s emocore nature in his songs has largely toned down since the 70s, but he is still generally perceived as the same depressing Dariush that he has been for over 40 years.