Kourosh Yaghmaei

The Raptures in Vanak Hotel, Tehran in 1960s

At his young age, he started his first band with some friends by listening to the vinyl of bands like Surf-rockers The Ventures. In the early 1960s, Yaghmaei joined a group named The Raptures who covers The Ventures, The Kinks, The Beatles, and The Monkees. In 1967 lineup of that group was Yaghmaei (lead vocal, guitar), Bahram Saeedi (electric guitar), Kamran Khasheh (organ), Jahangir (bass), Viguen (drums). He also played another group named Rebels for a while, later who gradually took their places in Iranian rock scene.[8]

In the early 1970s, at his age of early 20, Yaghmaei sated up his solo band along with his elder brother Kamran Yaghmaei and younger brother Kambiz Yaghmaei.[9] That time he was playing guitar, bass and making vocals.[8] His music consisted of combining Iranian melodies, instrumentals, vocals, and tones with Western harmonies, scales, and modes.

In 1973, Yaghmaei made his debut single when he was studying in Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. The song "Gol-e Yakh" was written by Mahdi Akhavan Langeroudi who was Yaghmaei's friend at the university and one of the significant modern Persian poet.[5][8] "Gol-e Yakh" penetrated beyond the borders of Iran, and thereafter various performances in other countries of the world continued till this day.[12][13] The song brought a great fame to Yaghmaei and it was adapted for various languages.[8] At the same year he released debut solo album Gol-e Yakh under Now-Again Records level,[14] an American independent record label based in Los Angeles which is also a subsidiary of Stones Throw Records.

When you stay by me, my loneliness is swept by winds
Winter flowers grow in my heart

— Mahdi Akhavan Langeroudi, "Gol-e Yakh", 1973, [9]

He released 4 singles from his contracted record company Ahange Rooz. In 1973 "Gole Yakh" / "Del Dareh Pir Misheh" and "Leila" / "Paiz", in 1974 "Hajme Khali" / "Akhm Nakon" and in 1975 "Saraabe Toe" / "Dar Enteha" was released. Despite the high sales from all these records he could only gain a modest royalty.[8] He released two albums before being banned, both of which are important works of Iranian rock history. Between 1975 to 1979, Yaghmaei recorded 24 songs in total. 17 of those songs were collected in two albums named Hajm-e Khali (1975)[15] and Sārāb-e Toe (1977) released in cassettes. The remaining 7 songs were recorded in the pre-revolution riot period between 1978 to 1979.[8]

Yaghmaei performed on radio or television in Iran till 1970s.[9] During the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Islamic government that cracked down hard on his music.[16] Kourosh was no longer allowed to sing and perform publicly.[14] This ban on Kourosh's performances would affect his career. Aside from a few concerts in Sweden and Norway in 1993, he did not perform much outside the country. The authorities swiftly shut down his music and barred from releasing records and performing live.[9] Following the revolution, Yaghmaei spent over a month for recording albums Sol-e 1 (1979)- reissued on CD as Parandeye Mohajer by Los Angeles based record label Caltex Records, Sol-e 2 (1980, recorded with Fereydoon Foroughi) and Sol-e 3, which was renamed to Arayesh-E Khorshid during its release in 2000,[3] because during that time this album was about to be released the regime's pressure on music became more unbearable than ever.[8] According to Kevan Harris, a lecturer from the University of California, the government after the Islamic revolution were too much motivated to stop the impacts of Western and European culture; therefore it was convinced to diminish musicians like Kourosh.[8] Several musicians immigrated to cities like Los Angeles, Montreal, Paris and other European countries where exile communities were settled. Yaghmaei preferred to stay Iran for his principles. Where he stated that:

Since the Islamic Revolution, Yaghmaei was forbidden for seventeen years. During this time he worked for the children and published books and cassettes. In 1987, he released his fourth solo instrumental Diar with a restriction of Iranian Government not to using bass, guitar and drums during the recording session. However, there were folkloric pieces arranged by Yaghmaei to be played by the Great National Orchestra.

In the early 1990s, Yaghmaei got permission from the Iranian government to release albums under some restrictions. He released studio album Gorg haye Ghorosneh in 1990. Caltex Records titled his "best of the 1970s" as "Gole Yakh" released in 1991. During 1993, the restrictions became looser and Kourosh got permission to perform concerts in Norway and Sweden. In 1994 he released studio album Sib-e Noghreii (The Silver Apple), in which the regime didn't let him publish his portrait as an artwork, therefore tare was only graphic arts. In 1996 Mah va Palang and in 1997 Kabous was released.

In the early 2000s, he released two solo albums Arayesh-E Khorshid (2000), which primarily recorded as Sol-e 3 was censored one track before released and Tofang-e daste Noghre (2001), was the last album that legally published in Iran.

Between 2003 to 2006, Yaghmaei worked with his last studio album titled Malek Jamshid.[17][18] After 12 years of trying to obtain the required permit from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the authority denied to release this album in Iran. Latter in 2016, since two years of restriction not to use types of equipment such as acoustic system, sound engineering, professional microphones, amplifiers, Roland keyboard, electric guitar, 8 track recorder and other necessary equipment[17][9] the album was released by Now-Again in United States and the album was banned by the Iranian government.[8][17]

He released debut compilation Back from the Brink: Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock from Iran: 1973–1979 in 2011.[19][20] A two-disc celebration of Yaghmaei's most well-known numbers, recorded between 1973 and 1979, before the Islamic Revolution.[21]

• Gol-e Yakh (1973)
• Hajm-e Khali (1975)
• Sarab-e To (1977)
• Diar (1987)
• Gorg haye Ghorosneh (1990)
• Sib-e Noghreii (The Silver Apple) (1994)
• Mah va Palang (1996)
• Parandeye Mohajer (1996)
• Kabous (Nightmare) (1997)
• Arayesh-E Khorshid (2000)
• Tofang-e daste Noghre (2001)
• Malek Jamshid (2016)

• Sol-e 1 (1979)
• Sol-e 2 (1980)

• Back from the Brink: Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock from Iran: 1973–1979 (2011)
• Happy Birthday (Joyful songs for Children) (2012)

• 50 Golden Songs of Giti, Afshin, Kourosh Yaghmaee & Fereydoon Farrokhzad – Persian Music (2004)

Kourosh Yaghmaei also composed several film scores, starting in 1991, with Gorghaye Gorosneh.