Filed under: Sri Lanka
The Mendis Foursome were brothers Maxwell, Lalith and Ranjith Mendis with their sister Rohini. They formed in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They recorded at least three singles before breaking up. Lalith moved to Japan, Ranjith moved to France and Rohini started a garment business. Maxwell continued on as a solo Baila artist.
>The title track of this e.p. “Mama Bohoma Bayauna” is featured on the Akuphone compilation Sri Lanka: The Golden Era of Sinhalese & Tamil Folk-pop Music.
Catalog number CHB 027 on Sooriya Records of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Release 1972.
Filed under: Tanzania
According to Kelly Askew’s Performing the Nation: Swahili Music and Cultural Politics in Tanzania, Lucky Star Musical Club formed in 1970. They were the house band for the club of the same name in Tanga, Tanzania. Unlike their local compatriots / rivals Black Star Musical Club, Lucky Star Musical Club had more songs that were explicitly politically oriented. They were known to sing the government’s praises, “serving as de facto government praise poets” – which was unusual for a Taarab band. Typically, most Taarab songs are about love: Love lost, love gained, love desired.
They released over 20 singles on numerous labels in both in Tanzania and Kenya as well as one album under the name Lucky Star Jazz Band.
Catalog number US 60 on Uhuru Stars of Tanzania. No release date listed.
Filed under: Cambodia
♬ A Brave Young Hunter / ព្រាន ព្រៃ ក្លាហាន
I’ve covered Im Songserm / អ៊ឹម សុង សឺម previously. I have also covered Ennio Morricone and his influence around the world. But I did not expect to find a single from Cambodia that covered both. Well… This single is actually from France. Like the previous Im Songserm single I posted, this is a re-issue that was aimed at the Cambodian diaspora.
Catalog number EP 17 on Europasie of France. No release date listed.
Filed under: Algeria
The only information that I have been able to find about Cheb Kada is that he is mostly known for writing music for and playing on albums by his famous cousin – Cheb Khaled.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number C101 on Edition Laser of France. Released 1979.
Filed under: Somalia
I first became aware of Faadumo Qaasim – listed on this record as Fadumo Kassim – when I stumbled on an article about the label Light & Sound of Mogadishu on the Voice of Africa website well over a decade ago. And since that time, I have been searching for anything that was released on that label.
Faadumo Qaasim commonly referred to as “Faynuustii Fanka” – or “the candlelight of the art”. Her father Qasiim Hilowle, better known by his Italian nickname Qasiim Schiffo, was a poet who also played a major role in the struggle for his country’s independence. As early as 1958, while Faadumo was still a child, she was already gaining national attention in Somalia.
As I mentioned in the previous Somali post, there have been a few recent releases to feature the music of Somalia. Faadumo appears on both Analog Africa’s Mogadisco – Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972-1991) and Ostinato Records’ Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa. Oddly, she was left off Afro7‘s Light & Sound of Mogadishu.
Catalog number L&S 1 on Light & Sound of Mogadishu, Somalia. No release date listed.
Filed under: Paraguay
The Rabbits were from Asunción, Paraguay. The majority of the members were of children of German immigrants and the band formed while attending Colegio Goethe. They released this lone single before breaking up. Brothers Dirk and Jörn Wenger formed a new band IODI who were widely popular throughout South America during their run from 1969 to 1976.
Catalog number 281 on Industrias Fonoelectrónicas Guarania of Asunción, Paraguay. Released 1969.
Filed under: South Korea
Kim Hee Gap / 김희갑 was born in Pyongyang / 평양시 on March 9, 1936 during the Japanese colonial period and Korea was still one country. At the age of 15, with the onset of the Korean War, his family moved to Daegu / 대구 in what would become South Korea.
After graduating from high school in 1955, he started his music career as a guitar player in the stage band of the Eighth US Army. In 1964, he became a record producer as well as a lyricist and composer. The first artist he worked with was the Key Boys. He would go on to work with many other artists well into the 1980s. He also produced over a dozen albums of his own music.
Catalog number K-Apple-45 on Universal of South Korea. Released 1970.
Filed under: Afghanistan
♬ Kupc Gul Jorah Wahe / کپک ګل جوره وه
Other than the fact that he was born in Kandahar, I have not been able to find any information on Wali Mohammad Qandahari.
On a side note: Transferring cassettes can occasionally be more challenging than trying to salvage old vinyl. Believe it or not, this cassette was sealed when I got it. But due to how it had been stored, there was a lot of grime in there…
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number M-631 on MMC of Peshawar, Pakistan. No release date listed.
Filed under: Côte d'Ivoire
I thought I had read somewhere that Le Prince Dossou Gilbert – also known as Prince Dgib’s – was from Dahomey – which now known as Benin. But after a bit of research, he was apparently from Côte d’Ivoire. He released four singles on Discophone and one on Badmos – both labels which were based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number DISCO 1003 on Discophone of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. No release date listed.
Filed under: Indonesia
Who would have guessed that Black Sabbath had been so popular in Southeast Asia? First, you have Sroeng Santi’s “Kuen Kuen Lueng Lueng” – which borrows heavily from “Iron Man” – and then this take on “Paranoid“.
After releasing their first single as Orkes Rima Melati Indonesia, the band changed their name to The Commandos in 1968. They released two other singles and three albums backing various singers. They apparently broke up in 1973.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number MCEP 8023 Roebuck Record of Malaysia. Released 1970.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 