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Australian musician Kevin Parker, known as Tame Impala, said his new album Deadbeat was inspired by 1970s Turkish music and legendary artist Baris Manco, whom he called “the Turkish Todd Rundgren.” The remarks came during an interview with Belgium’s Studio Brussel ahead of his upcoming world tour.
Speaking to Studio Brussel, Parker said he went through a period of listening only to Turkish music from the 1970s.
“There was this guy called Baris Manco. I call him the Turkish Todd Rundgren because he had a career of like 20 years or something. He went through all these different genres. He made disco and Turkish psychedelic rock for a while. He was a favorite of mine,” Parker said.
He added that Manco’s sound, along with that of other Turkish artists from the same era, inspired "Loser", one of the standout tracks from "Deadbeat."
Released under Columbia Records and Sony Music, Deadbeat is Parker’s fifth studio album and represents what critics describe as his most mature and spontaneous sound.
The record was recorded between Fremantle and the Wave House Studios in Injidup, Australia.
Blending minimalism with richer vocal experimentation, Parker maintains his signature psychedelic tone while exploring new depths of melody and rhythm.
Songs such as "Loser", "End of Summer", and "Dracula" have already entered the Billboard Hot 100, marking one of the strongest chart debuts in his career.
Parker is set to launch his "Deadbeat" world tour on October 27 with a concert in New York. The tour will feature performances across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Fans and critics have noted the influence of Turkish rock on the new album, reflecting Parker’s reputation for experimenting with global sounds.
By citing Baris Manco as a key inspiration, he draws attention to Türkiye’s musical heritage and the cross-cultural appeal of 1970s Anatolian rock.
Born in Istanbul on January 2, 1943, Baris Manco was one of the founding figures of Anatolian rock, blending Turkish folk traditions with psychedelic and progressive rock.
He first performed on stage in 1958 while studying at Galatasaray High School and later formed his iconic band Kurtalan Ekspres, with which he gave countless concerts both in Türkiye and abroad.
Over his career, Manco composed more than 200 songs, earning 12 gold and one platinum album awards. Many of his works were translated into several languages, including Greek, Bulgarian, Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Hebrew, French, and Dutch.
Beyond music, Manco became a cultural icon through his long-running television program "7’den 77’ye" (“From 7 to 77”), which aired from 1988 and became one of the most successful productions in Turkish broadcasting history.
His educational and travel series "From the Equator to the Poles" took him to more than 100 locations across five continents, covering nearly 600,000 kilometers.
A graduate of Belgium’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Baris Manco was fluent in English and French and received more than 3,000 awards and honors during his lifetime.
He passed away on the night of January 31, 1999. His home in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district was later converted into a museum by the municipality and remains open to visitors.
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