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CNN Sunday Morning

What Kind of Music Do Afghans Prefer?

Aired December 30, 2001 - 08:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: When the Taliban regime toppled, the music in play was again in Afghanistan. But it's not 'N Sync or Madonna topping the charts in Kabul. As CNN's Patricia Sabga reports, the public's music of taste is more like the rocking oldies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICIA SABGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's no mega- store, but it's definitely virgin territory. With music banned by the Taliban, these kiosk owners in Kabul's Kum Haria (ph) market sold an average of 40 cassettes a week.

(on camera): What did you sell before you could sell music?

(voice-over): "Cassettes without music, Taliban cassettes, Koranic verses." It took less than a month to kick the Taliban out of the top 40, which has definitely proven good for business.

"I sell more than 5,000 to 10,000 a week now," he says. "Whenever I get them, we sell out."

With that kind of volume, we wondered who's in the top 10?

(on camera): They don't have Billboard charts here in Kabul, but according to the shopkeeper, what all the kids are asking for, Farhad Dariah (ph).

(voice-over): The Afghan artist certainly proved popular in our random poll. We wondered how Western artists were faring against the local favorites.

(on camera): Have you ever heard of Britney Spears?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britney Spears.

SABGA: If you saw a picture of Britney Spears, I bet you would love her.

(on camera): But even Britney's album covers may have a tough time standing out on these shelves.

(on camera): Is this a big seller here in Afghanistan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING UNIDENTIFIED LANGUAGE). UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says that a lot.

SABGA: I think this sells a lot because of the picture.

(voice-over): We continued our cross-cultural quest.

(on camera): Now you can find some Western music here. For example, this gentleman just bought a Supertramp cassette from 1985. But my favorite, the 1986 disco mix.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SABGA (voice-over): In fact, when it comes to Western artists, the '80s reign supreme.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Modern Talking, Michael Jackson.

SABGA (on camera): Michael Jackson?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson.

SABGA (voice-over): We asked him to hum a few bars.

He sold 100 Michael Jackson tapes this week, but it's not the best seller.

(on camera): How many Farhad Dariah (ph) cassettes have you sold this week?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five hundred.

SABGA (voice-over): But there's another Afghan burning up the charts. There's a new artist, Nasib John (ph), has sold more than 1,000 cassettes in a day. At that rate, it won't be long before they're dancing in the streets.

Patricia Sabga, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: I wanted to know if they had disk jockeys.

KYRA PHILLPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's a good question. Well I'm going to track down this Nasib John (ph). It sounds like good music.

SAVIDGE: OK.

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