Habibi Funk collects 1970s and 80s Beirut pop on Beirut City Pop

Habibi Funk Records released Beirut City Pop on October 19, catalogued as Habibi Funk 035. The Berlin label's compilation collects archival Lebanese pop recordings from the 1970s and 1980s, out on Vinyl LP and CD. Official listings date the release to October 16.

The title leans on a specific history. Between 1955 and 1975 Beirut was known as the Paris of the East, before the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975 and split the city into predominantly Muslim West Beirut and largely Christian East Beirut. Some tracks were recorded straight onto cassettes, and many were previously unreleased, including recordings by Stephanie Stephanou and by Walid Itayim & Sami Shabshab.

The credits carry their own thread. Force and Games were sister acts, with Games set up as a vehicle for songs cut during discounted studio time. Guitarist Walid Itayim was an early member of Force before moving to Cyprus, where he married singer Stephanie Stephanou. Many of the tracks were recorded at Ziad Rahbani's Bypass Studio.