Filed under: Somalia
This week, we have a guest post from Andreas Vingaard. Andreas took me up on my plea for a guest post on the music of Somalia. Here is his bio:
“Andreas Vingaard moved to New York City from Denmark in 2007. He has worked with the Maysles Institute on several projects since its opening including a night of documentaries on New York street gangs featuring several original members present; the successful graffiti film festival “Kings of the City”; and a collaboration with “ego trip” highlighting some of the more obscure early hip hop films. Andreas Vingaard works as a video journalist and still photographer. He has worked on assignments all across Europe and the US as well as Lebanon, Haiti, Iraq, Chile. He loves music from around the world as well as forgotten documentaries which he makes an extraordinary effort to track down.”
Take it away, Andreas…
It’s a sad fact that Somali music culture is very poorly documented. Even when it comes to field recordings, Somalia is highly overlooked. This album is one of the very few 45s and albums produced in Somalia.
Modern Somalia was essentially created out of the protectorate, British Somaliland and a colony, Italian Somaliland when the two territories united in 1960.
General Siad Barre, a man who wasn’t shy of having portraits painted of himself next to Lenin and Karl Marx, came to power in 1969 after the assassination of the sitting President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. General Barre went on to establish the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party where the hope was to bring a blend of Islam and Marxism to Somalia. In reality, Barre transformed Somalia into a military dictatorship. In 1991, a coalition of different groups lost patience with Barres totalitarian rule and forced him into exile. He died in Nigeria in 1995. His remains are buried in the Gedo part of Somalia.
Since 1991 Somalia has been without a effective government, leaving the country in a chaotic power struggle between clan based warlords and religious militias. Recently, the Al-Shabab militia (“The Young Ones”) has made a name for itself with attacks that killed 42 aid workers in 2008 and 2009 alone. According to the non-profit organisation freemuse.org, the Islamist hard-liners in Al-Shabab are responsible for a total ban on music forcing 14 radio stations to close down in April 2010. To make things even more complicated “the government threatened to suspend stations in their strongholds that complied with the music ban.”
CPJ, Committee to Protect Journalists named Somalia as “Africa’s deadliest country for journalists.” However, brave souls keep Radio Mogadishu and other independent alternatives alive. At least Radio Mogadishu’s website is up and running – whether they are actually on-air is unknown at this point.
This album is sung in the local Somali language. I know that there’s at least two LPs in this series. This is the second volume with the following info on the label:
Somali Broadcasting Service, Somalia Sings, Radio Mogadishu, SBSLP-101
You can read about the first one album in the series HERE.
If you have more information on these or other Somali recordings then please leave a comment.
Here’s to a peaceful Somalia. Enjoy!
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Since this posting, I have been contacted by Andreas, who was contacted by a person by the name of Sanaag. He provided the name of the band, as well as the song titles. The first track, Guulwade Siyaad (Victorious Siyaad), was exemplary of Siyaad Barre’s self-glorification and personality cult. Schoolchildren had to sing it every morning and it was often parodied to ridicule Barre and his minions. The second song, Dadkaaga Dhinac Ka Raac (Follow Your Peers / Keep Up With the Pace), carries a positive message. It calls upon all Somalis to pursue relentlessly the goal of developing the country and to work hand-in-hand for the benefit of the whole society.
Filed under: Singapore
♬ 爱情感气球
Back in October of 2007, I posted a single by The Vampires of Singapore. I did not have any information back then, but I have since been contacted by one of the members of the band. Her name is Connie Fong. We did a little e-mail interview back in July of last year.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Which instrument did you play?
Connie Fong I played the guitar.
RI Do you remember when the band first got together?
CF 1964/5 when we met as music students under Harry Martinez (Harry also formed several boys band those days).
RI Do you recall how the band decided to call themselves The Vampires?
CF There was another all-girl band named ‘Angels’ at that time, and we cheekily decided to be different
RI I know that the band recorded two singles, the one that I have posted on my site and the one on Philips that is by Dorothy & The Vampires. Did the band record any other singles?
CF No, those were the only two recordings we did.
RI Is there any reason that the second single was credited as Dorothy & The Vampires versus just The Vampires?
CF No reason I believe, as everything were arranged by our mentor and manager, Harry Martinez. The other single recorded by Philips was all instrumental with all the titles composed by Harry, therefore Dorothy was not featured in that single.
RI When did the band decided to break up?
CF There was no breaking up, we are still friends except that we grew tired going for our regular band practices and after playing together for five years.
RI Did you play in any other bands? Did they release any recordings?
CF No.
RI I am guessing from your e-mail address that you are back in Singapore now, right?
CF Yes.
RI Have you stayed in touch with any of the other members? If so, do you know if they stayed in Singapore, or moved away?
CF Yes, they are all in Singapore except Dorothy Sin, I don¹t know her where about, have lost touch with her.
Catalog number 43802 QE on Philips. No release date listed.
Filed under: Turkey
♬ Mahizer
Just the other night, I was talking with a fellow record collector – err, I mean archivist – and he was lamenting about how record hunting – I mean researching, researching – has become more competitive and that the prices for these records – Sorry, research materials – has gotten out of control. There are more and more people searching for these unheard sounds. Due to onslaught of re-issues and compilations, as well as websites like this one, folks have been turned on to something they never knew even existed before.
Hell, I’m guilty. Only about five years ago, I had barely an inkling of what was out there. I had picked up a few compilations here and there, and then the next thing I know I’m blowing my whole paycheck on eBay. One of the first compilations that clued me in – if not the first – was Grey Past’s Turkish Delights.
Turkey seems to be the gateway drug – I mean country – for record collectors. For many, it seems to be where the record collecting bug emanates from – and for good reason, too. Turkey is quite unique due to the fact that, besides being crossroads between Europe and Asia, the population is 99.83% Muslim and yet they have a secular democracy. Add in a thriving music scene in the 60s and 70s that was fueled by annual Battle of the Bands – which were promoted and funded by the local newspaper. Thanks to all of these factors, there is a seemingly endless supply of amazing records from Turkey.
As for İskender Doğan, I see that he has a Facebook page…
Catalog number A. K. 44 on 1 Numara Records of Turkey. No release date listed.
Filed under: Angola
The music of Angola usually does not get the attention that many other African countries receive. The music is a mix of influences from Congolese music from their northern neighbors, Portuguese Fado and Latin Merengue, as well as Cuban and American Jazz. The result can be heard in Angolan merengue (based on Dominican merengue), kilapanda and semba – the last being a genre with roots intertwined with that of Brazilian samba music.
Os Bongos have been featured on a three compilations. The song “Lena” can be found on Soul of Angola: Anthology 1965/1975 and “Kazucuta” appears on the album Angola 70s: 1974-1978 – both on Stern’s Music. “Kazucuta”, as well as the song “Pachanga Maria”, will be on the upcoming compilation Angola Soundtrack on Analog Africa. The only information I was able to find on the band, is from the press release for Angola Soundtrack: “Boto Trindade, guitarist of Os Bongos, abandoned his dream of becoming a football player to support his brother’s family by earning money as a musician.” Having seen the other packaging for previous Analog Africa releases, I am sure that the booklet that will accompany this compilation will have plenty of information…
Catalog number R: 1207 on Rebita, pressed by Fadiang (also known as Rádio Reparadora do Bié) in Silva Porto for Discoteca de Angola in Luanda. No release date listed.
Filed under: Thailand
♬ Pee Lok
It’s funny. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few random words in various languages that I see over and over. A good example is ‘bintang’, which is Indonesian for ‘star’ – as well as the name of a brewery in Indonesia. ‘Ngozi‘ is Igbo for ‘blessing’ and ‘hob’ is Arabic for ‘love’. But ‘pee’ is the Thai word for ‘ghost‘. And there are a lot of songs from Thailand about ‘pee’…
The title of this song translates as “Ghost Haunting”, and I figured it was a good way to start off October. I have not been able to find any information on Tuangchai Boonparaksa, other than the song “Mahn Kao Lah” – or “What Fun” – on Subliminal Sounds‘ Thai Beat A Go-Go Vol. 2 compilation. If you have any further information, please get in touch or leave a comment.
Thanks to Peter Doolan from the always amazing Monrakplenthai for the translation.
Catalog number ST-182 on Star Records of Thailand. No release date listed.
Filed under: Lebanon
Just a quick post this week… I’ve been a bit busy as of late, and haven’t been putting in as much time as I need with the site.
So here’s a single I have nothing on, other than it was “Recorded and mixed on August 21, 1972 at Baalbeck Studios, Lebanon.”
If you have any information on Abdallah Geahel, please get in touch or leave a comment.
Catalog number EM 115 on Empire. No other information available.
Filed under: Kenya
Of all of the countries on the African continent, I have probably seen more records from Kenya than anywhere else. And that goes for the number of labels as well, especially considering that in many countries one label held a monopoly over all recordings.
Although CBS, HMV, Pathé, Philips and Polydor did release a few singles, the majority of Kenyan recordings were issued on countless small labels that must have only produced one or two releases each. According to the handy KenTanza Vinyl label index, there were over 450 labels that released singles in Kenya and neighboring Tanzania. What? Was there a record label on every corner in Nairobi and Dodoma? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
The only information that I have been able to find about the New Sunshine Band is that released one other single on the Sounds Express label. If you any information, please contact me or leave a comment.
Catalog number SUL 7-012 on Sululu of Kenya. No other information available.
Filed under: Upper Volta
♬ Mori
Many of the records that finally find their way into my hands, have had a hard life. I would guess that at least a quarter of the records posted on the site are unplayable. They have scratches. They skip. Scuffs and cracks. Some even have pieces of the record that are missing. But with the use of various computer and turntable tricks, I can usually bring a track back from the dead. Usually…
Finding pristine copies of these records are practically impossible. Yeah, maybe if I travelled to these countries and was really really lucky. Don’t get me wrong, if I could I certainly would. I just don’t have that kind of budget. So due to the scarcity, I’ve learn to live with what I can get. Because, even if the record is beat – I still just want to hear it. I want to know what sounds are contained in that spiral groove.
Now… This record is near pristine – at least, to the naked eye. But, as you probably have already noticed, the audio track tells quite a different story. This record was not damaged by a previous owner or injured in transit. It was just pressed wrong. And the sonic surgery needed to bring this one back from the dead is beyond my expertise. Well, it’s not completely dead. But to EQ the particular frequency where the noise is, would also take out the guitar… Luckily, the noise fades out about two thirds in – just before the guitar solo.
I have not been able to find any information about Barou Kante or L’Orchestre Les Messengers du Promhotel. If you any information, please contact me or leave a comment.
Catalog number VDB 032 on Edition Volta Discobel of Ouagadougou, Upper Volta – now known as Burkina Faso. Pressed in Benin, no release date listed.
Filed under: Laos
I just got this single today, so I’m sure the translation is wrong and will have to be corrected later… I wanted to post it anyway just because Laos is such a blank slate, even though it really doesn’t fit in here…
As I have mentioned before, compared to their neighbors – Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, even Burma – no one really ever mentions Laos. Even amongst my fellow record collectors – um, I mean fellow archivists – there just isn’t a whole lot of information. The general censuses was that there wasn’t anything, and what little of what may have been was most likely destroyed by the Pathet Lao after they overthrew the government. But that seems to not be the case.
I was recently contacted by Chanthara Outhensackda. He is the gentleman on the cover of the first single from Laos that I posted back in September 2007. He was head of the studio for Lao National Radio from 1968 to 1975 in Vientiane. And, he recorded all of his songs in Laos – not in Thailand as some people have speculated. So there was something going on there. Some of which, you can listen to here.
Catalog number KSD 6604 on the Sat-Dtree Laos label. No other information available.
Filed under: Egypt
♬ Umm Kulthum • Amber of the Nile
♬ Saïd Darwish • Arabesque
There’s been more than a few records that I have posted on this site that have made me question who the intended audience was when it was released. This one is right up front about it. It’s says it right there on the cover: “a holiday souvenir”.
But one of the most annoying things about this record is that there are no artists listed. I have seen another version of this release that did list who did what songs, and I happened to have written down that Saïd Darwish was credited for the version or Arabesque… But the other track – which did not write down – required a bit more research
Eventually, I had Hany Zaki play name that tune for me. On the record, the track is listed as Amber of the Nile, but it is actually an excerpt from a much longer piece by Umm Kulthum called Lelit Hob, or Night of Love. Kulthum – who has almost as many variations on her name as Muammar al-Gaddafi – was know as the Star of the East (kawkab el-sharq). More than three decades after her death, she is still recognized as one of the Arab world‘s most famous and distinguished singers of the 20th century. But also of note was that the legendary Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid – who I believe is the guitarist on this track – got his start playing in her orchestra.
Catalog number 18-75171 on Sono Cairo records of Cairo, Egypt, released 1975.
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