My music from 1981 - 1990

Have been going through my archives and finding old music I wrote and recorded in the 80's some of which I had forgotten existed! Even though the recording is primitive with some of the earlier recordings, I find myself liking them a lot. These MP3's can be listened to by clicking on the links or right clicking them and choosing the option "save target as":

During the Israeli Invasion of 1982 my friend Khaled al Khudayri came to Cyprus and we recordeda collection of instrumentals called Corniche 82. This tune was written by me. I played all the guitars except the first acoustic guitar solo which Khaled played. He also played the percussion.

Instrumental with Khaled

In 1934, a song called Cocktails For Two was written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston for a movie called The Murder Vanities. It was recorded by Duke Ellington and countless others. Even I had a go at it in 1981 when I was stil learning how to record music at home. Don't expect anything professional but I think I did a pretty good job.

Cocktails For Two

In 1991, I wrote and produced the music for Issa Ghandour's second album. Lyrics for this tune were written by Hamza Ramadan. Issa totally rocks on this one. The sax solo was played by David De Lyon.

Mish Ma32oul with Issa Ghandour

Recorded in 1990 using Yamaha computer. Saxophone fills played by David de Leon.

Never Ending Pack of Lies

Recorded in 1982 on Tascam Portastudio 144. Before I had any form of percussion or drums. Just guitars and bass.

Things They Say

When I found out back in 1990 that David De Lyon (the sax player playing on this tune) was going to be in Cyprus for the whole summer, I knew I had to take advantage of his presence and wrote about 4 tunes especially with him in mind. Too bad the brass and drum sounds were so crappy back then. Every time I I try to imagine what this tune would have sounded like with a real drummer playing, I get so frustrated I want to bang my head against the wall. This instrumental was titled "Phone Call From Beirut". My dream is to redo the jazz tunes I wrote that summer with real musicians.

Phone Call From Beirut

In 1990, a young lady called Jane Fenwick wrote some lyrics to a piece of music that I had composed. I used the computer to program the music and Jane sang the lyrics which she had written for the song. Stylistically, the song was different from anything I had done before.

Without You

In 1990, I started using a computer to program music. During that year I composed a number of pieces which were outside my usual style of writing and more in the jazz vein. Several of those tunes featured a young sax player called David De Leon who happened to be visiting Cyprus from the United States. This tune is entitled "The Truth Really Hurts".

The Truth Really Hurts

In 1990 I bought a Yamaha C-1 Music Computer and for the first time I was able to program music. The sounds came from my Proteus synth. My friend , Hassan Mroueh wrote some Arabic lyrics and asked me to compose music for them. We recorded it with Nicole Shwairy on vocals. Please have a listen.

Ghayyer Ba2A

An instrumental recorded in 1987 using a pre-recorded drum track.

Instrumental from 1985

This song called "Without" was recorded in 1986. I used a programmable drum machine. I played all the instruments and sang all the voices.

Without

This instrumental from 1985 would have sounded so much better if I had real drums instead of the horrible rhythm box which came with the toy organ/keyboard.

Instrumental from 1987

Panayota was recorded in 1987 on my 4 track recorder using a primitive drum machine. Panayota was the name of the Cypriot cleaning lady who worked for my family in Cyprus. I suspected her of stealing cash from my wallet on a regular basis so I devised a trap in which I succeeded in filming a video of her counting a wad... of cash and then sticking three ten pound bills in her bra. Later when she denied stealing the money she was made to watch the video. She went into total shock. :-)

Panayota 1987

Using a pre-recorded drum track, I played the guitars and bass and sang as well on this tune called The Stand. It was inspired by the hard rock sound of 70's.

The Stand 1986

In 1988, I recorded an instrumental piece called Strangers. It was inspired by a song of the same title by Frida (former singer of ABBA). I played all the instruments and programmed the drum machine.

Strangers 1988

The song Moving On on my 2009 CD was co-written by Munir Khauli in 1986. Back then he wrote some Arabic lyrics for the song and it became Kan Ya Makan from his first album Heik 7a Nishtghil (1986). I played the guitar solo at the end of the song. Please have a listen.

Kan Ya Makan

In 1982, Munir Khauli and I recorded a collection of songs under the title Broken Dreams. "Island" is a funky tune I wrote. Recorded primitively using a rhythm box, guitars and a toy organ.

Island

In 1989, I wrote and recorded an instrumental piece called Infidel. Again, it was a home recording made in Cyprus on a 4 track cassette with me playing eveything and programming a drum machine. The piece ends with a great keyboard solo by Oussama Rahbani who was in Cyprus during the Aoun war.

Infidel

In 1988, I recorded my own version of the John Lennon song "Every Little Thing" which originally appeared the album "Beatles For Sale". This recording was made at home on a 4 track Yamaha cassette deck. I played the guitars and the bass, sang all the voices and programmed the drum machine. Have a listen and let me know what you think.

Every Little thing 1988


In 1981, I bought a PORTASTUDIO 144 by Tascam, the first 4 track cassette recorder to ever go on the market. I was still a beginner at recording and used only electric guitars and a small wooden percussion instrument to record this intrumental called "Shadows" which I had just written on the spot to test the recorder.... Although neither the playing nor the recording quality are professional, I am very proud of this tune. Next year, this recording will be thirty years old! That's pretty depressing actually :-)

Shadows 1981