About MFO, Biography of Mazhar-Fuat-Ozkan

Mazhar Fuat Ozkan, or MFO in short, is one of the first bands that come to mind when it comes to quality music in Türkiye. For long years, they have made ear-pleasing Turkish pop and rock music and wrote and composed beautiful songs, winning the hearts of many. Having written and composed dozens of upbeat and slow songs, the trio left an indelible mark especially in the 80s with the songs they sang while playing their instruments. Consisting of Mazhar Alanson, Fuat Guner and Ozkan Ugur, MFO stepped into the music world in 1984.

 

 

The group hit the big time with their album "Ele Gune Karsi Yapayalalniz" and added a breath of fresh air to Turkish music. The songs "Gullerin Icinden", "Bu Sabah Yagmur Var Istanbul'da," "Ele Gune Karsi" and "Yalnizlik Omur Boyu" in the same album have become immortal pieces. The band also represented our country in Eurovision in 1985 and 1988 with their songs "Diday Diday Day" and "Sufi". Would you like to know more about the trio, who have managed to sit on the throne of hearts of music lovers not only with their successes but also with their colorful personalities? 

 

 

Biography and Life of MFO 

Mazhar Alanson

Mazhar Alanson was born on February 13, 1950, in Ankara, and completed his secondary school education at Ankara College. After the death of his father, who was the principal trumpet player at the symphony orchestra, he moved to Istanbul with his mother and siblings and enrolled in Istanbul Marif College for high school education. 

 

 

Choosing to have his university education at a conservatoire, he managed to be admitted to the State Conservatoire of Ankara University and graduated from the Higher Theater Department. He performed in lead roles in several plays in Ankara. During high-school, he aspired to play guitar and learned how to play it. In 1966, he met Fuat, one of the members of the band, and joined the band "Kaygisizlar". In the beginning, they performed the songs of famous groups like Rolling Stones, Crosby, Nash, Still and Beatles. They also started to write and compose their own songs. 

 

 

Making a splash with his musical gift and as a successful songwriter, Mazhar Alanson was honored with the "Songwriter of the Year" award in 1985. He also appeared in several movies, and played the lead character "Mefisto" in the movie "Arkadasim Seytan" directed by Atif Yilmaz.  The second movie "Her Sey Cok Guzel Olacak, where he acted with Cem Yilmaz in 1988, made an overwhelming impression and brought him remarkable success. Alanson was also the composer of the soundtrack of this movie. 

 

 

The song "Yandim", which he wrote and composed in 2002, became a hit, and he sung it together with the greatly enthusiastic audience at his concerts. Having become more popular with his slogan "Sapkasiz Cikmam Abi” (Never Without a Hat Bro), Mazhar Alanson also appeared in several commercials. The song "Gullerin Icinden" in the album AGU, which they released as the MFO band in 2006, has also become a song that left mark on the music world. Mazhar Alanson has two children named Eda Alanson and Hilmi Alanson.

 

 

Fuat Guner     

Aziz Fuat Guner, known as Fuat Guner, was born in Istanbul on April 1, 1948. He is of Albanian descent and his father is the famous photographer Sami Guner. His passion for music sprouted at Saint Joseph High School, which he started to study in 1959 with the guidance of his father. 

 

 

 

He founded the music band Kaygisizlar in 1966 and started to compose and write songs after Mazhar Alanson joined the band. After graduating from Saint Joseph, he started to study at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Yildiz Technical University and graduated in 1974. During high-school, he was also successful in athletics, sailing, volleyball, football, and radio-controlled model aircrafts. The foundations of the MFO band were laid after Ozkan Ugur joined them in 1971. 

 

 

 

Serving as an engineer at the State Highway Authority and STFA for a while, Fuat Guner quit his job as an engineer in 1980 and devoted himself to music. Two of the songs he composed for the play "Sahlari da Vururlar", written by Ferhan Sensoy in 1981, became very popular. Later on, Mazhar Alanson rewrote these two songs with new lyrics, under new titles "Ele Gune Karsi Yapayalniz" and "Yalnizlik Omur Boyu", which received great praises.

 

 

In 1981 and 1984, he acted in two plays written by Ferhan Sensoy, and demonstrated his succesful acting performance. He composed theater music, movie soundtracks and commercial music for brands. In 1984, he was honored with the “Composer of the Year” award for the song Ele Gune Karsi he composed. Having released a self-titled, solo album in 1999, Guner continues to act, compose music and carry out musical projects. With a son named Kaan Guner, Fuat Guner owns a music studio called "Tek Durak".

 

 

Ozkan Ugur

Ozkan Ugur was born in Istanbul on October 17, 1953, as the fifth child of the family. With a musical talent that was spotted at a young age, Ozkan Ugur started professional music career in 1970, when he was only 17, by playing the bass guitar in Kurtalan Ekspres, which was founded by Baris Manco. He also performed with Dostlar, Edip Akbayram and Ersen Dadaslar. In late 1970, he joined the band "Kaygisizlar", which consisted of Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Guner. In 1974, he joined a new band "Ipucu 5'lisi".

 

 

After his military service in 1979, Ugur performed as both a musician and an actor with Fuat Guner in the plays "Sahlari da Vururlar" and "Kahraman Bakkal Supermarkete Karsi", written by Ferhan Sensoy, in 1980 and 1983. In 1984, he parted company with Ferhan Sensoy, and joined the MFO band.

 

 

 

 

His acting career started in 1997 with the movie "Eskiya", directed by Yavuz Turgul. He made appearances as a guest actor at Istanbul State Theatre. With his slogan "Aganigi Naganigi" in a commercial of a hazelnut brand helping him capture the hearts of a wider audience in 1999, Ozkan Ugur achieved great success and received great praises as an actor in TV series "İkinci Bahar", "Yeter Anne" and "Cennet Mahallesi" and as a presenter in TV game shows "Agirliginca Altin" and "Ozkan'la Kac Para".

 

 

He captured the hearts of movie-lovers with his roles in the movie "Komiser Sekspir", directed by Sinan Cetin, and the movie "Gora". With a son named Alisan Ugur, Ozkan Ugur died of lymphoma on July 8, 2023. 

You can also read our article The Life of Famous Theater and Movie Star Metin Akpinar to know more about another famous person who sits on the throne of the hearts of Turkish audience.