Filed under: Pakistan
Back in the first post when I restarted this mess, I mentioned how being ignorant of an artist’s / band’s other releases was bliss. And that once I did know that those records did exist, then I would start to obsess.
The Blue Birds were the band I was referring to when I wrote that. When I compiled the Pakistan: Instrumental Folk & Pop Sounds 1966-1976 compilation, I thought there was only one album by The Blue Birds. Once again, I was wrong. They actually have four singles as well. This is one of them. But none of their records provide any information about the band. The only information is that their music was composed by Sanesra Mohd. Ayub – who was the lead guitarist for 20th Century Deterioration.
If you have any further information about The Blue Birds, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number EKDE 20009 on His Master’s Voice of Pakistan. Released 1973.
Filed under: Tunisia
On my last Tunisian post, I got some emails that there are plenty of musicians from there who released more than one single. And whereas that is true – like K. R. Nagti for example – most of the artists that I am interested in only did release one single. An exception to that rule is Carthago.
Carthago was founded in the late 1970s with Fawzi Chekili (guitar), Ridha Kouhen (bass) and Skander Almi (drums) of the band Dalton and Hechmi Miliani (guitar) and Kamel Sellam (synthesizer) of Marhaba Band. Both bands had similar musical influences, despite the fact that they were competition with each other. Musically, Carthago followed the same path of Dalton and Marhaba but incorporated disco, a relatively new style at that time. At the end of the 70s, Carthago went to Paris to record their self-titled album.
If you have any further information about Marhaba Band, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number MB 01 on Marhaba Band Records of Tunisia. No release date listed.
Filed under: Comoros
Somehow, I have managed to not post anything from Comoros before now.
Located between Mozambique and Madagascar, Comoros is a volcanic archipelago. The religion of the majority of the population, and the official state religion, is Sunni Islam. As a member of the Arab League, it is the only country in the Arab world which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere.
The major islands are Grande Comore (Ngazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Ndzwani). The country also claims a fourth major island Mayotte (Maore), although Mayotte voted against independence from France in 1974. Since that referendum Mayotte has never been administered by an independent Comoros government, and continues to be administered by France as an overseas department.
Les Rapaces were the first group from island of Mayotte. Originally formed in 1958, they started out playing cover versions of Yé-yé and other Indian ocean styles – like Salegy and Sega. The band recorded two singles – this release being their first – on the Comorian label Voix Des Comores and a single and album on Prios of Réunion.
Catalog number 466 171 on Voix Des Comores of Moroni, Comoros. Manufactured by Discomad of Antananarivo, Madagascar. No release date listed.
Filed under: Laos
♬ A Happy Tune (Mashed Potato) / ເພງພາເພິນ (ບົດມັນຕົ້ນ)
I managed to find another single by Chanthara Outhensackda. Here, he’s listed as just ຈ້ນທະຮາ / Chanthara.
You can find more information here.
Catalog number JC 1010 on Laos Jaycee, manufactured by Thai Phonograph Record Co., Ltd. No Release date listed.
Filed under: Suriname
Mohammad Sharief – AKA Mohammad Sharief Ishaak – was from Suriname.
The country’s largest ethnic group is East Indians. They are descendants of 19th-century indentured workers from India, hailing mostly from the modern Indian states of Bhojpuri speaking areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh along the Nepali border and also the states of Haryana and Tamil Nadu.
The music is called called Chutney and is a fusion of Bhojpuri folk music with Calypso, Soca and Bollywood music. The genre developed in Trinidad and Tobago and is also popular Guyana, Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius and South Africa. Chutney music emerged mid-20th century and reached a peak of popularity during the 1980s.
Mohammad Sharief recorded two other singles, one on a label called Selection from the Netherlands and the other he self-released. He also recorded an album with the Bwia National Indian Orchestra for Acme Record of Trinidad.
If you have any further information about this artist, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number Sam 1001 on Sam’s Production of Den Haag, Netherlands. Released 1976.
Filed under: Algeria
♬ Men Win
Abdelkrim Zouaoui – AKA Krikri – was born in Constantine, Algeria on January 19, 1945. He formed his first band – Blue Jeans – at the age of 17. He would go on to record two singles for the Oasis label, accompanied by his brother Hassan. The song on the A side of this single – Wahdi – can be found on Sublime Frequencies “1970’s Algerian Folk And Pop” compilation.
Catalog number 10792 on Oasis Disques of Algeria, release 1978.
Filed under: India
Mukesh Karia released three singles of instrumental versions of film songs.on the Gathani label between 1977 and 1979.
If you have any further information, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number S/GRE 1079 on Gathani Records of Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. Released 1979.
Filed under: Eritrea
The Kothari Music Shop was located at 74 Peace St in Asmara, Eritrea. The only reason I know this is because the address is listed on the two singles they produced: K1 by Wendyifraw Weretta and K5 by Berhane Messele.
I am sure you are asking yourself “What about K2, K3 and K4?” I have asked that question to many other collectors of Eritrean music. No one has an answer. There is a record by Ato Abraham Saghid that was co-released with Fikre Records that was catalog number FR2 that may have counted as the second Kothari release. But who knows? And that still leaves K3 and K4 unaccounted for.
As for Berhane Messele / ብርሃነ መሰለ… I have nothing. This was his only recording.
If you have any further information about the artist or Kothari Records, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number K 5 on Kothari Record of Asmara, Eritrea. No release date listed.
Filed under: Malaysia
♬ a) Gelisah b) Kuchupan Azimat
This is one of those records that raises more questions than it answers.
Discogs lists this single in with The Wanderers – who were a five piece and primarily were a backup band for various singers like Adnan Othman, Betty Ismail and S. Ahmad.
Also, the single clearly lists four songs. But there’s only one per side. Could each side be a medley?
If you have any information about this record, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number KLC 902 on Cameron of Singapore, released 1970.
Filed under: Egypt
Tawfika Ahmed Nada – better known as Sharifa Fadel / شريفة فاضل – was born in Cairo on January 7, 1938. She started acting at age 9, with her first film The Father / الأب in 1947 after being discovered by director Omar Gomai / عمر جامعي at the Institute of Performing Arts of Cairo. Soon after, she started her recording career. Her first big hit was “Amana Ya Bokra” / “أمانه يا بكرة “.
You can read more about Sharifa Fadel – as well as find more songs by her – over at the wonderful Arab Tunes blog.
The music for this track was composed by Baligh Hamdi / بليغ حمدي. Sublime Frequencies has recently released an overview of his music entitled Instrumental Modal Pop of 1970’s Egypt. Although he is not credited, that fuzz guitar is most likely Omar Khorshid / عمر خورشيد.
Catalog number 45 S 139 on Soutelphan of Cairo, Egypt. No release date listed.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 