The Afghan John Lennon

In his latest blog post, Adam Curtis tells the story of the king of Afghan pop music, singer Ahmad Zahir. With the style of Elvis Presley and the political commitment of John Lennon, he remains an idol to his countrypeople. He was the son of Abdul Zahir, Columbia alumnus, court doctor, health minister, and prime minister under Mohammed Zahir Shah.

As Afghanistan's elite grew more westernised in the 1960s, the children of the ruling class looked for new forms of entertainment and expression. Ahmad started making pop music that blended western influences with traditional music and poetry as well as songs from Indian cinema.

This is Aye Darya* from his first album, with the Habibia Amateurs. It starts very strangely but bear with it a minute:



Later he became more involved with prog rock, working with Afghan band The Stars, who loved Emerson Lake and Palmer but also covered western disco songs. Begzar Ta Begeryam Chon Abaro Dar Bah is from Beyayed Beyayed, the album they recorded together:



Here's Khuda Bowad Yaarit, another proggy song, with a striking video:



And one of his last songs, Tu Ba Mani (1978; released 1979), with another dodgy fan video:



Following the marxist takeover in 1978, he protested against the new government and his songs were banned from state radio. He died mysteriously in his car on June 14, 1979. Officially it was a car accident, but many people believe he was shot dead by one of his friends who were travelling with him, on the order of communist general Daud Taroon.

Following the Soviet invasion in December 1979, his sister Zahira fled to the west, settling in Washington DC, where she set up a hair salon in the Watergate building. Her customers included Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, George HW Bush and his son George W.

When the Taliban captured Kabul in 1996, they destroyed Zahir's grave, believing all music to be sinful. But Ahmad Zahir still retains incredible popularity in Afghanistan and elsewhere, not least at his official web site. Recently his music featured in the film The Kite Runner, set in Afghanistan.

*Unfortunately the romanisations of his song titles vary a lot (probably from being translated between Persian, Pashtun, and other languages).