Filed under: Israel
David the Red Sea Singer was from Tel Aviv, Israel.
I have not been able to find out much about David, other than what was printed in the liner notes:
When David was born some 24 years ago, the Tel Aviv population was totally in aware of the fact that anew star was to rise at the bright skies of show business.
David’s love for the stage first manifested during Welfare Showprograms while he was serving his country. It was right after leaving the army that David was offered his first contract as a singer in “The End of the World Club” in Elath-on-Red Sea.
His Performance there was a smash and definitely kicked off his career. In less than no time David’s tenor voice gained tremendous popularity throughout Israel.
David specializes in folksongs and spirituals in Hebrew, English, Spanish and Greek.
Furthermore he is an expert showman on a native drum, the TOS DRUM.
During the last 8 months Davis has been touring Europe and has done television shots in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Holland.
“THE ORIENTAL BEAT GOES ON” is based on a Turkish melody, arranged by Ted Powder and put to lyrics by Rafi Nelson.
I read somewhere that the song this is based on is called ”Don’t Marry Abdullah”.
Catalog number: PS015 on Whamm Records, which I believe was from Holland. No release date given.
Filed under: Vietnam
Hūng Cuōng was from Vietnam.
Records from Vietnam are rare, at best. I have been unable to find hardly any information about music (outside of traditional folk music) in that country before the Eighties. Here is what little information I have been able to find about records such as this one: “Records of this nature were outlawed within days of the fall of Saigon, and most were either destroyed by the Communists or, interestingly, destroyed by their owners who did not want the communists to have them.”
Unfortunately, this record has seen better days. The cover needed a bit of Photoshop work, but the vinyl… Sound Soap can only do so much.
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number M.3611.12 on Việt Nam Records. No other information is available.
Filed under: Upper Volta
L’Orchestre Afro Soul System was from Upper Volta, which is now known as Burkina Faso.
I have not been able to find any information about the band. And at first, I was unable to find anything about the singer and songwriter Compaoré Youssouf (as it is printed on the label). But, I have since found out that his name was actually Compaore Issouf, who released two albums – One with the band The Noble Kings in 1978, and a solo record in 1981. Also, L’Orchestre Afro Soul System recorded another single for the label Société Ivoirienne du Disque in Côte d’Ivoire.
Thanks to Grégoire de Villanova for the information.
If you have any further information, please contact me.
Catalog number VDB 023 on Volta Discobel, and according to the Radio Africa website, was released in 1978 and pressed in Benin.
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Since this posting, I have been contacted by Olivier Gagneux, who was briefly a member of the band in 1981. Here’s what he had to say:
The leader was singer/composer Jean-Claude “Man” Bamogo, who is pretty famous in Burkina Faso nowadays. The lead guitarist was Roger Mballa from Cameroon, who had been with Fela Kuti & Africa 70 before (under the name of Roger Effiok, because a Nigerian passport had to be ‘organised’ on short notice because of a tour to Italy). He later went on to become musical director of the Ballet National de Maurétanie (a.k.a. Mauritania).
It was a very interesting time because back then the bands with the best equipment (or with equipment, period) was the one with the best gigs. I remember that it took us more than one month to organise a guitar string. The drummer (we called him “Tumbarero”, because Cuban music was very popular back then; Most people actually thought Monguito was from the Côte d’Ivoire) had never seen real drum sticks (he would go out in the bush to cut his own before each gig) and you could not see the original rim on his cymbals.
The top band was “Desi et les Sympatiques” because their leader Desire Traore had a job at OFNACER (Office Nationale Des Cereales) where he would SELL the food donated by international relief agencies and thus made a lot of money. He was also taking guitar lessons from Roger Mballa. I think once Thomas Sankara took charge he did some time for this.
So we ended up playing a lot in little villages. We always had to organise transport (no public transport in the country back then) and a generator for one light bulb above the stage and the PA/amps. The cables did not have any plugs, they were just joined together and a stone was placed on top of it. We would sometimes play until 9 in the morning and some of the musicians would take “speed“.
Half of our repertoire consisted of songs in traditional Mossi rhythms (the rest was Reggae and Cuban Son). One of these rhythms especially (“Waraba“) is tricky to feel the beat, and the kids who had grown up in the city (Ouagadougou) would often dance it the ‘wrong’ way (they did not feel the beat correctly) while the kids in the villages danced it the way it is.
Thanks Olivier!
Filed under: Pakistan
Nisar Bazmi was born Syed Nisar Ahmed in 1924 in Bombay, India.
He did not belonged to an artistic family and nor did he have any prior musical training. Noted Indian musician, Khan Saheb Aman Ali Khan, convinced of Nisar’s musical talent, decided to teach him. Equipped only with artistic know-how, young Nisar, quickly mastered the various ragas, the musical instruments and took all music lessons to heart.
At the age of fifteen, All India Radio hired him as an artist in 1939. Five years later, he composed some songs for the drama, “Nadir Shah Durrani”, which was broadcast from the Bombay Radio Station. All of the songs that he composed for the show became hits.
Soon after, he was asked to compose music for the film “Jamana Paar”, which was released in 1946. Nisar accepted the offer and changed his name to Nisar Bazmi. He composed the music for twenty eight films before he decided to move to Pakistan in 1962.
Once permanently settled in Pakistan, he resumed his music career by simultaneously composing songs for two movies: Director Nazeer Sufi’s film “Head Constable” (released on September 25, 1964) and director Fazal Ahmed Karim Fazli’s movie “Aisa Bhi Hota Hai” (released on February 5, 1965).
He responsible for introducing Alamgir to film music in Pakistan. During his musical career he composed many hit songs for Runa Laila , Ahmed Rushdi , Noor Jehan and Mehdi Hassan. Also, the well known songwriting duo of Laxmikant-Pyarelal were musicians of Nisar Bazmi in India before he left for Pakistan, and later they became famous music composers.
Furthermore, Nisar is also an accomplished poet. His poetic collection were to be brought to the limelight by his admirer, Shamim Bazil (against his wishes).
Catalog number EMPP 5006 on EMI of Pakistan, released in 1976.
Filed under: Japan
In June 1966, the Beatles visited Japan to perform a series of concerts at Tokyo‘s legendary Budokan Hall. Their visit created such national excitement among teenagers that almost overnight there was a dramatic shift in the way young musicians formed groups, played their instruments and thought about fashion and style.
This new wave of 1960s Japanese rock groups was called Group Sounds—or GS for short. The term GS was purportedly coined when Jackey Yoshikawa and the Blue Comets were guests on Yuzo Kayama‘s TV show. Kayama started teasing Yoshikawa about his poor English pronunciation of “Lock ‘n’ Lorr.” Yoshikawa admitted that because of the two R’s and two L’s, “Rock ‘n’ Roll” is difficult for Japanese people to pronounce correctly. Yoshikawa then challenged Kayama to come up with an English term that Japanese people could easily pronounce. Kayama thought for a moment and suggested, “Why not call “Rock ‘n’ Roll” the “Group Sounds?” Within days the media and fans all over Japan began using the new expression.
The Spiders first formed in 1961 by Shochi Tanabe, originally playing mostly country music, but basically serving as a backing band to singers and playing whatever the gig called for. The GS version slowly came into being, the final link being the addition of teenager Jun Inoue on vocals in 1964, just as the British Invasion was hitting. Early on they recorded some cover versions of instrumental hits like “Wipe Out”, which were in vogue at the time, although they were not major hits. Soon however their sound was more along the lines of the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Animals and the Kinks, which is to say R&B influenced rock, and in fact the band did a fair number of covers of UK rock songs and R&B.
Amongst the things that set the Spiders apart from other GS bands was that their style was a bit more frenzied, and they often danced and clowned around while playing. The Spiders became the premiere GS band, and were called on often to open for visiting foreign bands, including the Animals, the Astronauts, Beach Boys, and the Ventures. In 1966 the Spiders released their debut Album No.1, which was all original material. Later the same year they released Album No. 2 which was all covers. Both were well received. The Spiders were Masaaki Sakai on vocals and flute, Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayastu on guitar and vocals, Takayuki Inoue on guitar, Mitsuru Kato on bass, Shochi Tanabe on drums, and Katsuo Ohno on keyboards and steel guitar.
Like many if the UK groups the Spiders usually wore matching suits. And inspired by the Beatles, the Spiders made four Help! like movies – Wild Scheme A-Go-Go (1967), Go Forward!!, Big Commotion! and The Road To Bali (all in 1968). Some of these movies have been released in other countries, sometimes with different titles. The band also made attempts at international markets, releasing records in many major markets and playing dates in the States and Europe, including an appearance on British TV show Ready Steady Go! and shows in Paris. The band had little impact overseas, but continued on in Japan until 1971.
The group has reunited a few times, and the band remains fondly remembered. All of the Spiders went on went on to have successful careers somewhere in the entertainment business. Kamayatsu, whose father was also a professional musician, has remained active in music and is a well known, popular TV personality. Sakai, whose father had been a comedian, had a successful solo career, and has remained active in music and acting. Tanabe runs Tanabe Agency, one of the best known music production and management companies in Japan. Takayuki Inoue joined a new band called PYG with Ohno, which was sort of a GS super group, and later became very successful writing music for TV and film. Jun Inoue went on to have a career as a solo singer and comedian
Catalog number FS-1030 Philips Japan. No release date listed.
Filed under: Guinea
♬ Samba
Balla et Ses Balladins were from Guinea.
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a nation in West Africa, formerly known as French Guinea. It borders Guinea-Bissau and Senegal on the north, Mali on the north and north-east, the Côte d’Ivoire on the south-east, Liberia on the south, and Sierra Leone on the west. Its territory encompasses the water source for the Niger, Senegal, and Gambia rivers, with a coastline facing the Atlantic Ocean. The name Guinea (geographically assigned to most of Africa’s west coast, south of the Sahara desert and north of the Gulf of Guinea) originates from Berber and roughly translates into ‘land of the blacks.’ It is sometimes called Guinea-Conakry per its capital to differentiate it from the neighboring Guinea-Bissau (whose capital is Bissau).
Below is an attempt at translating the French liner notes from the back of the record sleeve (using the Google translator):
First national formation Guinean with launching the songs and folk dances African, “Balla et Ses Balladins” produce a more elaborate music, richer in the rhythmic fitting. Wrongly or rightly, one them called “intellectuals” of the African music of Guinea, because of the severe meticulousness which they bring to the orchestration and the execution of each title of their punished repertory. In their obsessional research of the perfection, the “Balladins” go until proposing two or three different interpretations of the same piece.
“Samba” (Face A), presents an unquestionable consonance with the “Rythm and Blues”, however it is popular very widespread in Wassoulou. The merit of the “Balladins” is to have taken it again, and especially to have left the support on the neck with Sekou Diabate – Doctor, whose guitar pluri-octave makes this sensuality melody and rhythmic of the organ electronic.
I don’t know what kind of fuzz pedals they had access to in Guinea at this time, but it doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve ever heard. Sextet Camayenne, who were also from Guinea, used a similar sounding fuzz pedal (may have even been the same guitarist) on their song “Kanimba”.
Catalog number SYL 545 on the state run Editions Syliphone Conakry, République de Guinée, released 1972.
Filed under: Egypt
Modern Egyptian music blends musical traditions encompassing indigenous Egyptian varieties as well as Turkish, Arabic, and Western elements. Arabic musical tradition is usually said to have begun in the 7th century in Syria during the Umayyad dynasty. Early Arabic music was influenced by Byzantine, Indian and Persian forms, which were themselves heavily influenced by earlier Greek, Semitic, and ancient Egyptian music. The tonal structure of Arabic music is defined by the maqamat, loosely similar to Western modes, while the rhythm of Arabic music is governed by the awzan (wazn, sing.), formed by combinations of accented and unaccented beats and rests.
From the 1970s onwards, Egyptian pop music has become increasingly important in Egyptian culture, particularly among the large youth population of Egypt. Egyptian folk music, a direct descendant of ancient Egyptian music, is also popular. It is played during weddings and other traditional festivities. In the last quarter of the 20th century, Egyptian music was a way to communicate social and class issues.
Magdy El Hosseini, as well as Omar Khorshid and others, were part of an Western music scene in Egypt from the mid 60s influenced by The Beatles and other beat music of the time. Both Magdy and Omar were in bands that performed in hotels and night clubs. But by the late 60s Omar switched from playing Western music, to more traditional music.
When Omar Khorshid joined the backing orchestra for Umm Kulthum, he had Magdy join as well. Then later, when Omar recorded with the Al Massiyah Orchestra that backed Abdel Halim Hafez, he brought Magdy with him again. Like Omar Khorshid, Magdy tried to find a wide audience outside of Egypt, playing in Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain. But after the death of Abdel Halim Hafez, Magdy’s only appearances were on Egyptian television.
Thanks to Hany Zaki for the translation and the invaluable information.
Catalog number 87-74083 on Moriphon Records of Egypt, recorded in 1974.
Filed under: Malaysia
Los Caballeros were from Malaysia.
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states in Southeast Asia. The name “Malaysia” was adopted in 1963 when the Federation of Malaya (Malay: Persekutuan Tanah Melayu) Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak formed a 14-state federation. Singapore withdrew from Malaysia in 1965 to become an independent country.
The country consists of two geographical regions divided by the South China Sea:
- Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia) on the Malay Peninsula shares a land border on the north with Thailand and is connected by the Johor-Singapore Causeway and the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link to the south with Singapore. It consists of nine sultanates (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu), two states headed by governors (Malacca and Penang), and two federal territories (Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur).
- Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia) occupies the northern part of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia and surrounding the Sultanate of Brunei. It consists of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan.
Although politically dominated by the Malays, modern Malaysian society is heterogeneous, with substantial Chinese and Indian minorities. Malaysian politics have been noted for their allegedly communal nature; the three major component parties of the Barisan Nasional each restrict membership to those of one ethnic group. The only major violence the country has seen since independence was the May 13 racial riots in the wake of an election campaign based on racial issues. Nonetheless, Malaysia is considered to be a model of racial harmony
A small number of Eurasians, of mixed Portuguese and Malay descent, speak a Portuguese-based creole, called Papiá Kristang. There are also Eurasians of mixed Malay and Spanish descent, mostly in Sabah. Descended from immigrants from the Philippines, some speak Chavacano, the only Spanish-based creole language in Asia. This may explain the name of the band, and the fact that they use the word “señor”.
As far as I know, Los Caballeros only released one other single. And with the esception of this song, all of the other songs on this record are covers of Western songs performed in English.
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number FL 121 on Tung Po Records. No other information available.
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Since this posting, I have been contacted by Massimiliano Tittarelli. Here’s what he had to say:
Dracula It’s a cover in broken Italian of Renato Rascel – Dracula cha-cha. Closing theme of the movie Tempi Duri Per I Vampiri (aka Uncle was a Vampire, 1959) starring Christopher Lee in person. I’m just wondering how this song landed in Malaysia… here’s the movie dubbed in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RswjXaMMrNM or here the final in the original Italian version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8BWIPfNGhQ on youtube you can find also a version by the famous Italian crooner Bruno Martino.
Filed under: Ethiopia
♬ Damtew Ayele • Wofe Yillala
♬ Samuel Belay • Keresh Endewaza
If one were to pick a specific point that marked the birth of the distinctive Ethiopian soul music, one could do worse than choose the late Emperor Haile Sellassie’s visit to Jerusalem in 1923. During his stay he heard European brass instruments, which made such an impression on him that he hired a group of Armenian players to become official musicians of the empire. One of these players, Kevork Nalbandian, even composed the current Ethiopian National Anthem in 1926 (Although, according to Wikipedia, it was Solomon Lulu Mitiku).
Thus a distinctly European flavour of brass band music was brought into a country whose traditional music bore heavy influence from Muslim forms, and its own modal pentatonic scale. Additionally, because it was actually impossible to buy saxophones, drums or other musical instruments under the Selassie regime, only the marching bands had access to them, giving the subsequently played music a foreboding, militaristic ambience.
Meanwhile in Europe, a new generation became that baby boomers started the cultural revolution of rock ’n’ roll, R ’n’ B and pop music in the 1960s. The same generation in Ethiopia, in their 20s during the early 60s, wanted to change the country and get connected with the world. But where Ethiopia was different was that they had about 6,000 Peace Corps from America. President Kennedy invented this civil service for youngsters in order to work in third world countries, so these people brought with them a lot of American flavours: long hair, bell-bottom trousers and plenty of vinyl records.
Thanks to the newly acquired influences from the West, the sound emanating from the clubs Addis Ababa was a heady stew of deep, hypnotic rhythms, distinctly Western guitar licks and soulful eastern melodies and vocals. The sound bore the unmistakable badge of American records (Stax and Motown artists in particular) plus something distinctly African and new.
Soon labels such as Amha Records and Kaifa Records sprung up around the city to capture the sounds produced by the more popular singers and performers. Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatke, Alèmayehu Eshété, Tlahoun Gèssèssè, as well as others all brought their soulful sound to the clubs and cut records. But they disappeared from public view after Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam’s military coup against Selassie in 1974. Under Mariam’s Derg, or ruling council, Addis Ababa’s nightlife died off.
Amha Ashèté, creator of the Amha Records label, was the driving force behind this brief creative burst and one of the main founders of the modernist movement which swept the Ethiopian scene during the end of the rule of the Emperor Haile Sellassie. The company released 103 singles and 12 albums between 1969 and 1975.
The song “Qeresh Endewaza” (which apparently translates to “You Are No More “) by Samuel Belay was featured on Budda Musique’s “Ethiopiques, Vol. 8: Swinging Addis”.. I am not sure if this is the same recording. As for Damtew Ayele, the only information I have been able to find says that he was “a traditional Ethiopian male singer. Ethiopian traditional songs include musical instruments such as the kebro, a percussion instrument, kirar and masinqo, both string instruments.” Which you can tell from this recording is incorrect.
Catalog number AE 710 on Amha Records of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All other information in Amharic, no release date given. This record (as well as many of Amha Records releases) was pressed on swirly green and purple vinyl, which unfortuanately does not sound all that great.
Filed under: Morocco
In the late 60’s and early 70’s most bands in Morocco were moving away from modern music, and were more interested in reviving the Melhoun traditions of Moroccan music. The most well know of these artists being Jil Jilala, Lemchaheb, and Nass el Ghiwane, all of whom used traditional acoustic instruments. But there were a handful of other artists who decided to stick with rock ‘n’ roll, and The Golden Hands were one of them.
From what I have read, it appears that they only released three singles. Their first single was backing an Algerian singer by the name of Jalil Bennis, and they did a version of a song by Nino Ferrer called “Mizra”. From what I have read, it’s supposed to be “the guitar of surf pitch” (according to the Google translator). And their last single was released on Philips, and was for the song “What To Say”. The song posted here is from their second single.
I have also read that there was some connection to Lester Vigon, who was originally from Morocco but moved to France where he did most of his recordings (in English), but I have not been able to find any information which substantiates that.
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number E.C.M. 1000 on E.C.M. Records of France. No release date given.
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Please see the more recent post on the Golden Hands here for updated information.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 
