Radio DEEVAAR— Episode 16 | Early Iranian Music (1906–1933) | Let No One Judge You – 4 Vinyl LP Set

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In West London, on Portobello Road, there’s a record shop like no other — Honest Jon’s Records. Since the late 1970s, it has been a gathering place for musicians, collectors, and sound obsessives. Its shelves hold treasures from every corner of the world — West African 78s, dub plates cut in Jamaican back rooms, Balkan brass bands on brittle shellac, field recordings from the Arctic — arranged not by genre, but by curiosity.

One of their most extraordinary projects is Let No One Judge You: Early Recordings from Iran, 1906–1933 — a 4-LP set of 34 tracks captured on shellac during the last Qajar years and the first Pahlavi decades. Restored at Abbey Road Studios, these fragile 78s preserve not just the music, but the atmosphere: the hiss, the air, the imperfections of time.

From the grandeur of the Royal Court Orchestra in 1906 to the cross-cultural experiments of the Persian Concert Party in London (1909), these recordings reveal a world in transition — Qajar ceremonial elegance meeting modernity, Persian modes weaving through unexpected instrumentation, and women’s voices breaking through social barriers.

Here, the full spectrum of classical Persian dastgāhs comes alive: Homāyun, Shur, Segāh, Chahārgāh, Māhur, Navā, Rāst-Panjgāh — each performed in a way that predates radio, conservatories, and cultural reforms. You’ll hear regional inflections, improvisational freedom, and the subtle fingerprints of musicians who lived between worlds.

The backbone of the collection is a set of powerful performances by women, in defiance of the social stigma attached to professional musicianship. A singer calling herself simply Helen turns in some boozy Hafez wisdom: ‘Keep your cards close to your chest. Kiss nothing except the lips of your beloved and the rim of a cup of wine. Let no one judge you.’ 1:21:00


منم که شهره شهرم به عشق ورزیدن

منم که دیده نیالوده‌ام به بد دیدن

وفا کنیم و ملامت کشیم و خوش باشیم

که در طریقتِ ما کافریست رنجیدن

به پیرِ میکده گفتم که چیست راه نجات

بخواست جامِ می و گفت عیب پوشیدن

مرادِ دل ز تماشای باغِ عالم چیست؟

به دستِ مردمِ چشم از رخِ تو گل چیدن

به مِیْ پرستی از آن نقشِ خود زدم بر آب

که تا خراب کنم نقشِ خود پرستیدن

به رحمتِ سرِ زلفِ تو واثقم ورنه

کشش چو نبود از آن سو چه سود کوشیدن؟

عنان به میکده خواهیم تافت زین مجلس

که وعظ بی‌عملان واجب است نشنیدن

ز خطّ یار بیاموز مِهر با رخِ خوب

که گرد عارضِ خوبان خوش است گردیدن

مبوس جز لبِ ساقی و جامِ می حافظ

که دستِ زهد فروشان خطاست بوسیدن


Let No One Judge You is more than an archival project. It’s a time capsule — a reminder that every note carries history, and every performance bridges past and present.

At Radio Deevaar, our archive is built from moments like these — fragments of sound that connect musicians across centuries and continents. From a Qajar court musician in 1906, to a record collector in West London a hundred years later, to you now — the chain remains unbroken.

🎧 Let no one judge.



Side A
Ebrāhim, Royal Orchestra – Bidād (Homāyun)
Rezā-Qoli, Akbar – Gavri (Shur)
Seyyed Hoseyn Tāherzādeh, Habibollāh Moshir-Homāyun – Bayāt Esfahān (Homāyun)
Seyyed Hoseyn Tāherzādeh, Akbar – Darāmad (Homāyun)
Unknown – Tar Solo

Side B
Moluk Zarrābi – Darāmad, Dād (Māhur)
Parvāneh – Mansuri (Chahārgāh)
Parvāneh – Zābol, Mokhālef (Segāh)
Abd-ol-Hoseyn Shahnāzi – Mokhālef (Segāh)

Side C
Akhtar – Bayāt Esfahān, Bayāt Rāje’ (Homāyun)
Javād Badi’zādeh – Morgh-e Bi-Āshiān / Afshāri (Shur)
Irān-od-Dowleh Helen – Bidād (Homāyun)
Moluk Zarrābi – Dashti (Shur)

Side D
Montakhab-oz-Zākerin – Qafqāz I (Segāh)
Montakhab-oz-Zākerin – Qafqāz II (Segāh)
Abd-ol-Hoseyn Shahnāzi – Darāmad (Homāyun)
Hayk – Shushtar (Homāyun)

Side E
Qoli, Royal Orchestra – Abu-‘Atā (Shur)
Seyyed Hoseyn Tāherzādeh, Akbar – Qafqāz (Segāh)
Seyyed Hoseyn Tāherzādeh, Hoseyn – Darāmad, Bayāt Rāje’ (Navā)
Seyyed Hoseyn Tāherzādeh, Akbar – Afshāri (Shur)
Asadollāh – Rezā-Qoli Shahnāz (Shur)

Side F
Rezā-Qoli, Bāqer, Akbar, Moshir-Homāyun – Nā Dideh Rokhat / Bayāt Esfahān (Homāyun)
Abd-ol-Hoseyn Shahnāzi – Māvarā’-an-Nahr (Rāst-Panjgāh)
Irān-od-Dowleh Helen – Darāmad, Dād, Khāvarān (Māhur)
Irān-od-Dowleh Helen – Delkash, ‘Erāq (Māhur)

Side G
Adib Khānsāri – ‘Erāq (Māhur)
Irān-od-Dowleh Helen – Golriz (Shur)
Ruhangiz – Darāmad, Zābol (Segāh)
Akhtar – Hejāz (Shur)

Side H
Mortezā Ney-Dāvud – Bayāt Esfahān, Bayāt Rāje’ (Homāyun)
Mortezā Ney-Dāvud – ‘Oshshāq, Bayāt Esfahān (Homāyun)
Moluk Zarrābi – Darāmad, Zābol (Chahārgāh)
Abd-ol-Hoseyn Shahnāzi – Bidād (Homāyun)


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