NOROC, De ce plang Chitarele & Canta un artist, 1969
Posted: December 23, 2007 Filed under: 60s, Beat records, Flexible Records, Moldova | Tags: Mihai Dolgan, Moldova, Noroc 3 Comments »
A mystery record from Russia that I bought yesterday at a flea-market for 50 cents. The band is singing two nice beat songs in Romanian on this flexi disc. They sound like other Romanian beat groups of the period: Sincron, Mondial…
I would like to know more. Who can help?
NOROC, De ce plang Chitarele, 1969
NOROC, Canta un artist, 1969
Update April 5. 2008:
With the help of a reader of this blog, Andrei from Russia, I was finally able to find some information. Andrei translated the text on the back-cover and slowly the pieces of the puzzle came together. Thank you very much, Andrei!
The name of the band Noroc means Happiness in Romanian, but the band is actually from the small country of Moldova. Moldova is located right next to Romania and Ukraine and has about 4 million inhabitants. The Moldovan language is in fact Romanian. The band started in the capital Chisinau in 1967 and had played together for two years at the time of this release in 1969. The lead singer is Mihai Dolgan. When I checked Google, here`s what I found:
About me:
My name is Andreas Michalke. I´m a cartoonist from Berlin, Germany and I like collecting records. Most of the records I find in thrift stores or at flea markets here in Berlin. I like a lot of music but I thought I`d focus on odd German records. Preferably with cartoon covers.
All my scans are high-resolution. If you double-click on them they will get much bigger.
[...] http://mischalke04.wordpress.com/2007/12/23/worok/ [...]
Hello! In the Romanian language, “noroc” means “luck”, not happiness. Moldova, the “small country”, is the part of Romania that was annexed by the Soviet Union after the infamous Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. After declaring its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the only reason it didn’t unite with Romania was the fact that both our presidents at that time were serving Russia’s interests. Also, the propaganda still going on keeps Moldovans thinking their situation will only get worse if they join “the fascist Romanians” in one country.
The fact that after years of Russian agression and russification (starting in 1812) we still speak exactly the same Romance language shows that history will take its course and that “the republic of Moldova” won’t be anything more than a bad memory from history.
The well-known Moldovan group O-zone has a popular cover after the first song (“De ce plang chitarele” – “Why are the guitars crying”). You should check it out.
Moldova (Moldavia) existed long before Romania was created.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia