Bobo Yéyé – Belle Epoque in Upper Volta
https://amf.didiermary.fr/bobo-yeye-belle-epoque-in-upper-volta/
Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta is a compilation available as a 3-disc, 37-song box set by archival label Numero Group.
Burkina Faso was called The Republic of Upper Volta. Then came Thomas Sankara. During this period of cultural revolution, in the ’60s and ’70s, the nation exploded with new bands and sounds, […]
From the LP I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) released in 1979.
Fela and his political party Movement Of The People are banned from contesting Nigeria’s presidential election. Fela forms a new Afrika 70 and plays a comeback concert at the University of Ife. He also defies police opposition and opens a new Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, […]
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-international-thief-itt/
Fela Kuti – Gentleman (LP)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-gentleman-lp/
1973’s “Gentleman” is the 7th in the series of celebratory Fela 50th Anniversary reissues.
Like Fela’s other early 70’s releases, he used each side of his LPs to create a deep groove that pulls the listener in and follows with metaphoric lyrics that call out and critique the corrupt hangover of colonialism. Gentleman is the […]
Petelo Vicka et son Nzazi – Sungu Lubuka
https://amf.didiermary.fr/petelo-vicka-et-son-nzazi-sungu-lubuka/
En septembre 1974, le festival “Zaïre 74” avait fait monter la pression sur toute une génération de musiciens locaux, en les poussant à injecter une bonne dose de Funk dans la Rumba congolaise.
Dans la compilation Congo Funk!, on retrouve des groupes de Kinshasa et Brazzaville, tels que l’Orchestre OK Jazz et Les Bantous de [...]
#70smusic #80smusic #AfroFunk #Congo #Rumba #OldAfricanMusic
Fela Kuti – Mr Follow Follow
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-mr-follow-follow/
Fela Kuti’s Mr Follow Follow was released in 1976/77 on the Zombie album.
The song is about those who allow themselves to be led blindly by others.
“…if you dey follow them book! Na inside cupboard you go quench!… Cockroach dey! Rat dey!… Na inside darkness you go dey! If you have to follow them books, […]
Tunji Oyelana - A Nigerian Retrospective 1966-79
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLsfENQU2UY
"Equal parts singer-songwriter, actor, bandleader, dramatist, comedian and academic, Oyelana elevated the realm of pop music by infusing it with the poetic storytelling of Yoruba folklore."
The story of Zamrock
https://amf.didiermary.fr/story-zamrock/
Discover the story of Zamrock, a music genre born in 1970s Zambia out of influences from James Brown’s funk and Jimi Hendrix’s acid guitar.
Seminal Zamrock groups such as Witch, Amanaz, 5 Revolutions, Ricky Banda, Ngozi Family, Oscillations, Fireballs, and Crossbones.
#70smusic #Documentary #Rock #Zambia #Zamrock #OldAfricanMusic
Spirits Rejoice – Electric Chicken
https://amf.didiermary.fr/spirits-rejoice-electric-chicken/
Spirits Rejoice drew together some of South Africa’s most abundantly talented and forward-thinking jazz players and created a complex and challenging jazz fusion that shifted the terms of South Africa’s engagement with jazz towards new music being made by pioneers such as Chick Corea, Weather Report, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny and others. [...]
Yehouessi Leopold & T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: Volume 4
https://amf.didiermary.fr/yehouessi-leopold-poly-rythmo/
The T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou was formed in 1966. Their output has been extremely prolific numbering upwards of 50 LPs and a hundred 45s. Here’s an album with Yehouessi Leopold (drummer) from 1978, that was rereleased in 2021.
Douala by Night
https://amf.didiermary.fr/douala-by-night/
“Douala by Night” est un excellent AfroJazzFunk de la fin des années 70, dernière piste de l’album “J.M. Tim & Foty” de Jean Marie Tiam (aka Tim) et Maurice Foty (décédé en 2011). L’album est paru en 1977. […]
Next Stop Soweto
https://amf.didiermary.fr/next-stop-soweto-compilations/
“Next Stop Soweto” is a compilation series, to remember an era of South Africa’s musical history where such genres as Funk and Soul were being played by bands even as apartheid firmly gripped the country’s music culture.
Volume 1 explores the vibrant energy of the township jive sound, whilst Volumes 2 and 3 cover [...]
#60smusic #70smusic #80smusic #AfroFunk #Apartheid #Compilation #Jazz #Mbaqanga #SouthAfrica #AfroJazz
Journeys Into Psychedelic Africa
https://amf.didiermary.fr/journeys-psychedelic-africa-1972-1977-afro-psych/
Afro Psych (Journeys Into Psychedelic Africa 1972 – 1977) is a compilation, presenting the music style that emerged after the Biafra war and “the feelings of confusion and anger permeating Nigeria’s music, giving way to heavier, trippier sounds.”
#70smusic #Compilation #Nigeria #Psychedelic #OldAfricanMusic
Ogyatanaa – Yaa Amponsah
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ogyatanaa-yaa-amponsah/
In the 1930s, Sam’s Trio, led by Jacob Sam, was the most influential of the high-life guitar-bands. Their “Yaa Amponsah”, three versions of which were recorded in 1928 for Zonophone, was a major hit that remains a popular staple of numerous high-life bands.
The Ogyatanaa Show Band, aka Burning Fire Show Band, was one of […]
Osibisa, the “Flying Elephants”
https://amf.didiermary.fr/osibisa-flying-elephants/
Osibisa is a British Afro-pop band, founded by Teddy Osei (RIP) in London in 1969 by four expatriate African (Ghana) and three Caribbean musicians. Osibisa were one of the first African bands to become widely popular, leading to claims of founding World Music.
I discovered Osibisa when I was a teen, and this band is […]
Ebo Taylor – Heaven
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ebo-taylor-heaven-ghana-soundz/
Ebo Taylor’s hypnotic track “Heaven” comprises modern jazz elements, and the song’s vocals borrow their format from a Ghanian nursery rhyme style, whereby children would repeat the final word of each sentence.
Originally released in 1977, Ebo Taylorʼs self-titled album is a rarity that truly exposes the genius of the Ghanaian producer and arranger. [...]
Soul to Soul (1971)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/soul-to-soul-ghana-1971/
Je pensais vous avoir déjà parlé de ce fameux concert Soul to Soul, mais en fait il semble bien que je l’ai omis pour l’instant…
Quelques années après cet événement, il y eut le fameux “Soul Power” à Kinshasa en 1974. Celui-ci à Accra y ressemble un peu, mais sans le contexte des boxeurs… Ce concert […]
Charlotte Dada – Don’t Let Me Down
https://amf.didiermary.fr/charlotte-dada-dont-let-me-down/
Charlotte Dada (sometimes spelled Dadah or Daddah), the “Girl with the Golden Voice,” is probably best known in the West for her soul cover of The Beatles’ song “Don’t Let Me Down” below, but she was on stage during the famous Soul to Soul concert in Ghana in 1971.
She started off her career with […]
Ngozi Family – Happy New Year!
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ngozi-family-happy-new-year/
Ngozi Family is one of the famous Zamrock bands in 70s Zambia.
Paul Ngozi (1949–1989), born Paul Dobson Nyirongo, was a Zambian musician who was prominent in the Zambian music scene in the 1970s and 1980s. He first became popular as the band leader of a top local rock group which was one of the […]
#70smusic #FullAlbum #Rock #Soundcloud #Zambia #Zamrock #HNY
Bongos Ikwue & The Groovies – Still Searching
https://amf.didiermary.fr/bongos-ikwue-groovies-still-searching/
Bongos Ikwue is a Nigerian singer and song writer born in June 1942 in Otukpo, Benue state.
He started his first band (The Cubana Boys) while in secondary school in 1962.
In 1967 he founded and headed the Groovies band, which became extremely popular in the 1970’s through to the 80’s. Many love him for […]
The compilation “Sénégal 70 – Sonic Gems & Previously Unreleased Recordings from the 70s,” released in 2015, offers an insight into the musical adventures that were taking place in the major Senegalese cities during the 60s and 70s.
https://amf.didiermary.fr/senegal-70-compilation/
It reflects the unique fusions of Funk, Mbalax, Cuban Son and Mandigue guitar sounds that transformed Dakar […]
Pop Makossa
https://amf.didiermary.fr/pop-makossa/
Compilation “Pop Makossa – The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon (1976-1984)”
[…] all the tracks are a revelation. The beat that holds everything together has its origins in the rhythms of the Sawa people; Ambassey, Bolobo, Assiko and Essewé, a traditional funeral dance. But it wasn’t until these rhythms arrived in the cities of Cameroon […]
Cameroon Garage Funk
https://amf.didiermary.fr/cameroon-garage-funk/
“Cameroon Garage Funk” is a compilation of “obscure” tracks from 1964 to 1979.
Yaoundé, in the 1970´s, was a buzzing place. Every neighbourhood of Cameroon´s capital, no matter how dodgy, was filled with music spots but surprisingly there were no infrastructure to immortalise those musical riches. The country suffered from a serious lack of proper […]
Manu Dibango – New Bell (Hard Pulsation)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/manu-dibango-new-bell-hard-pulsation-1972/
New Bell (Hard Pulsation) was released as a single in 1972 (B-side: Hibiscus), as the B-Side of an unofficial release of Soul Makossa in the US, and is of course part of the tracklist on the original Soul Makossa album.
Kabaka International Guitar Band
https://amf.didiermary.fr/kabaka-international-guitar-band/
Kabaka International Guitar Band, lead by G. Kabaka Opara, who was part of the legendary Oriental Brothers Band International, but walked out of the group in 1977, to set up his own band. […]
Batsumi (1974)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/batsumi-apartheid/
Many years after the fall of Apartheid, Batsumi remains sublime… and transformative, and its resonance hasn’t faded at all over the years.
During the brutal era in South African history known as Apartheid, the minority-white ruling party forcibly moved millions of black South Africans from their homes to segregated areas, stripping them of their citizenship […]
#70smusic #Apartheid #FullAlbum #SouthAfrica #AfroJazz #Jazz
