IRAN’S Islamic Propagation Organisation has decided the music of Cat Stevens, the British singer who converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam, has been given regime approval and will soon go on sale in the Islamic republic.
"We have chosen to put on the market a selection of songs from Cat Stevens, to show to the Iranian youth that not everything in the West is bad," the organisation`s music director Reza Mahdavi said.
He said Stevens, a folk icon of the late Sixties and early Seventies, contrasted with the likes of Michael Jackson - the "King of Pop" currently facing trial in the US for alleged child abuse.
"There may be Michael Jackson, but there is also Cat Stevens - who converted to Islam while in the heart of the same Western world," Mahdavi enthused.
"We chose Yusef Islam because he is a Muslim artist," he said, adding that cassettes and CDs containing 75 of his songs - recorded before and after his 1977 conversion to Islam - would go on sale here on September 20.
The music will be accompanied by a book featuring lyrics and their Persian translations, statements by the artist and a biography of Britain`s most famous Muslim convert - best remembered for hits such as Wild World, Peace Train, Moon Shadow and Morning Has Broken.
"We will also publish the comments of Yusuf Islam after September 11, in which he denounces the allegations made against Muslims," the official said, before going on to say the singer should visit the Islamic republic.
"We want to invite Yusuf Islam to Iran. When his album and book comes out, it will be a good time for him to come," Mahdavi said, adding a second album and book was ready to roll if the first release proved a success.
But it is unclear if Stevens, who is 56 and lives in London where he is involved in several Muslim charities, will be making any royalties from the Iranian release of his work.
Iran does not respect international intellectual property laws and even officially sanctioned releases of Western music or films are merely copies pirated locally.
According to the organisation, each cassette will cost 7,000 rials (a little less than a dollar), a CD will cost around and the book .
Last month another Iranian state body, the culture and Islamic Guidance ministry, said that Queen had become the first rock band to be given the official seal of approval in Iran with the release of an album of their greatest hits.
This decision was taken even though Queen`s frontman Freddie Mercury was an outlandish gay icon. Homosexuality is strictly banned in Iran.
Western music is strictly censored in Iran and those selling foreign music need special permits, although millions of pirated banned CDs and cassettes are sold on the black market throughout the country.
Other western acts to have had albums of selected songs released on the official Iranian market are Elton John, Julio Iglesias and Gypsy Kings.
There are also books containing original and translated lyrics by many western singers such as Leonard Cohen, Celine Dion and even white rap artist Eminem, published to respond to the ever-increasing demands of a nation where 70 per cent of the population is under 30.
