Following the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, the newlyformed Republic of Turkey changed the name of the city ofConstantinople to Istanbul. The city had been called many thingsover the years, but this marked a chance for the newly formedcountry to pick one, standardized name. But many people across theworld still clung to calling it "Constantinople." To get the restof the world to adopt the new name, the country enacted the TurkishPostal Service Law of March 28, 1930, which stated that any mailaddressed to Constantinople would not be delivered anywhere inIstanbul. Twenty-three years later, that name change was thenmemorialized in a song. With lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music byNat Simon, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" was first recorded in1953, by Canadian quartet The Four Lads. Incidentally, that yearwas also the 500th year anniversary of the fall of Constantinopleto the Ottoman Empire. The song combined the style of swing withinstruments associated with Middle Eastern music. Lyrically, thesong was not so much driven by plot as it was by multiplerepetitions of "Constantinople":

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it´s Istanbul not Constantinople
Been a long time gone
Old Constantinople´s still has Turkish delight
On a moonlight night

Every gal in Constantinople
Is a Miss-stanbul, not Constantinople
So if you´ve date in Constantinople
She´ll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it, I can´t say
(People just liked it better that way)

Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can´t go back to Constantinople
Now it´s Istanbul, not Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That´s nobody´s business but the Turks´

On the one hand, the repeated utterance of the nameConstantinople in the song seems mocking considering that thecountry of Turkey no longer wanted to recognize the name. Sure, thesong recognizes the name change, but it´s done in a way akin to akid who will stick his finger a millimetre from your skin andrepeat, "I´m not touching you, I´m not touching you." The FourLads´ "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" first reached the Billboardcharts in October 1953, eventually peaking at Number 10. That sameyear, Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald recorded a version for theradio. Others that have made a cover version of the track includesFrankie Vaughan, Dario Moreno, Marie-José, Jacques Helian, OlaviVirta, Santo & Johnny, Caterina Valente, Bette Midler, BrunoAnd The Gladiators, They Might Be Giants, Saxophonist Chris Potterand pianist Kenny Werner, Ska Cubano, Lee Press-On And The Nails,The Trevor Horn Orchestra , The Balibuts and the song even appearedon a 1997 episode of "Muppets Tonight." Throughout the episode, agroup of singing rats popped up to sing lines of "Istanbul (NotConstantinople)," starting with the beginning of the show, whenhost Clifford said "Muppets Tonight" could be seen "from Istanbulto Constantinople." So there are several versions to choose from,but only a handful from artists that today´s casual pop culturefans would recognize. They Might Be Giants´ version is probably thebest known version among people in their 40s or younger, but thatprobably has little to do with how well these people know BetteMidler´s or Bing Crosby´s back catalogues. Even the biggest musicnerd in his 30s probably heard They Might Be Giants´ version first,because that version was everywhere: radio, MTV, and "Tiny ToonAdventures" and even "The Simpsons." What we have on this single isa 1996 version of the song made by the Surf rock band The PhantomSurfers. The group´s instrumental track was more laid back than theprevious surf versions of the song, as The Phantom Surfers focusedsolely on guitar and ditched the horns. The B-side is "Tokyo Twist"a surf twanger with an oriental feel.

Track list:
1. Istanbul
2. Tokyo Twist

Condition cover: ex

Condition record: nm

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M (mint)/NM(near mint) = Nyskick/Mycket bra exemplar
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