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Baris Manço (also spelled Baris Mancho in some European album releases) (January 2, 1943 - January 31, 1999) was a Turkish rock singer, composer, and television producer. He composed about 200 songs, some of which were translated into a variety of languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian, Hebrew and Arabic.
Manço was born in Istanbul, Turkey on January 2, 1943. His mother, Rikkat Uyanik, was a famous singer in early 1940s.His older brother, who was born during World War II, was named Savas ("war" in Turkish) while he was named Baris ("peace" in Turkish) by his parents to celebrate the end of the war. His fame greatly popularized the use of the name Baris in Turkey.
In primary school his head was shaven to prevent head lice, a serious threat back then, which he cited among reasons for his later signature long hair.
During his highschool days in Galatasaray Lisesi (and later in Sisli Terakki High School) he formed his first band, Kafadarlar ("The Buddies"), allegedly upon seeing Erkin Koray's band performing, all students of a nearby highschool.Asaf Savas Akat, a famous economist in Turkey, played saxophone,and guitarist Ender Enön made his own guitar because it was difficult to find a real one on the market in those years.
In 1967, he suffered a serious car accident, after which he started to grow his signature mustache to disguise his scar.
Frustrated by the difficulties of working with musicians from different nationalities, he formed Kaygisizlar (The Carefrees), featuring Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Güner, future members of the band MFÖ. He recorded several singles and toured with the band, both domestically and internationally, until the band members revealed that they did not want to live abroad.[citation needed]
In 1970, he formed Baris Manço Ve ... ("Baris Manço and ...") again with foreign musicians, to record his first hit single, both in Turkey and in Belgium, Daglar Daglar (Mountains, Mountains!), selling over 700,000 copies. Today, the song remains one of his most popular works.
On January 31, 1999, Baris Manço died of a sudden heart attack before the release of his just finished last work Mançoloji (Mançology or Manchology) (1999), a double album containing the new recordings of his hit songs along with an unfinished instrumental song "40. Yil" ("The 40th Anniversary"), celebrating his 40th year in music. His sudden death caused an almost unanimous shock in Turkey with millions of people mourning and tens of thousands of people attending his funeral.