Filed under: Israel
♬ Katja
The Lions of Juda were from Israel. They released a handful of singles, almost all of which are credited to The Lions. But in 1968, they recorded their big hit “Our Love’s A Growin’ Thing”, which was released all over Europe. But the flipside is the track that they are most remembered for today.
This song is probably one of the heaviest songs to come out of the Middle East, with the exception of some of Erkin Koray’s records.
I have not been able to find any information on the band, although I know that they were somehow connected to Uzi & The Styles, who were a legendary band in the history of rock music in Israel.
Catalog number 72007 on Phonodor Records of Israel, released in 1968. This record was re-issued in France, Germany, Holland and Spain by Fontana.
Filed under: Vietnam
♬ Đức Minh • Saigon Thứ Bẩy
♬ Thanh Vū, Hôʼng Phủc & Phượg Bắʼng • Tīnh Yêu Trên Đại Dượng
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.”
These songs fall a bit more into the Easy Listening or Lounge category, but the use of reverb on both tracks is quite interesting. Also this record came out in 1966, which was one year after the U.S. troops arrived in Vietnam.
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number S.N.1009 / 2177 on Sōng Hnac of Vietnam.
Filed under: Zaïre
♬ Venus
Orchestre Vévé was founded in Léopoldville, Zaïre by Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta after he left Franco & OK Jazz in 1969. Now, Léopoldville is known as Kinshasa and Zaïre is called the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta he was mostly known for playing the saxophone, but he also played guitar and organ. He owned a recording studio and established his own production company as well as a record label.
This song was originally by Shocking Blue who were from Holland, and it was later made famous by Bananarama in the Eighties. As far as I can tell, this is the only song that Orchestre Vévé recorded with Bovic (a.k.a. Bovick Ye Bondo) on vocals. I do know that Bovic did record two songs with Docteur Nico & L’Orchestre African Fiesta…
I stumbled across an article (which I am unable to find now) that said Orchestre Vévé were going to reunite and record a new album in 2003, but have yet to find any other information to support that story.
Catalog number 90.465 on African Records of France, originally issued on Vévé records of Zaïre (catalog number 37) in 1970.
Filed under: Egypt
Omar Khorshid is where all this insanity started for me, although I did not know it at the time.
Back in 2005, while I was in San Francisco for my job, a friend of mine took me to Aquarius Records, where I picked up a disc called “Radio Morocco“. Although I had purchased a few other compilations of 60’s and early 70’s music from India, Asia and Turkey, as well as discs by Ananda Shankar and Takeshi Terauchi in the past… This was different. What was this music even called? I had no idea. So, to the internet. I started Google-ing everything I could think of. Eventually, I stumbled on some information about Omar Khorshid.
Omar was originally from Egypt, where he got his start playing with Umm Khulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Abdel Halim Hafez. He was the first person to introduce electric guitar into Arab music. Apparently, his brother Elhamy tried to imitate his sound but was supposedly not as popular as Omar.
Besides being a musician, Omar was also an actor as well as having scored thirteen motion picture soundtracks. In 1971 he won the Premier Prize at the Film Festival of Tachkand for his music for the film “Abnati El Aziza” (“A Teen’s Life”). His sister is also a famous Egyptian actress, Sherihan Ahmed Abd El Fatah al-Shalakani.
In 1972, he moved to Lebanon where he recorded a handful of solo albums. He returned to Egypt after the civil war began in Lebanon in 1975. Upon his return, he starred in “Hata Akher El-Omr” (“Until The End of Lifetime”) along with Nagwa Ibrahim and Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.
Omar delivered his most noted performance opposite Madiha Kamel in “El-Arrafa” (“The Fortuneteller”) in 1981. He played a police officer who sympathizes with a student arrested for her political opinions. Two months after the critical acclaim and box-office success of the film, Khorshid was killed in a car accident. One of the more popular rumors was that he was having an affair with a married woman whose husband arranged the accident.
As of March 2007, actor and singer Sameh Youssry is trying to convince members of Omar Khorshid’s family to authorize a biographical movie in which Youssry would star.
The fact that there is not a shrine (or at least a website) dedicated to the man is a mystery. He does not even have a listing on Wikipedia. What little of his solo recordings that are in print and available on compact disc are not exactly his best material, but are will still worth tracking down.
Catalog number GVDL-202 on Voix de l’Orient series for A. Chahine & Fils in Lebanon, and manufactured and distributed by EMI of Greece, 1974.
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Since the initial posting of this article, Hany Zaki has started work on a website dedicated to Omar Khorshid.
Filed under: Japan
♬ キサナドーの伝説
The Jaguars were from Japan.
After The Beatles toured Japan in 1966, Japanese bands started playing music with vocals. Previously, The Ventures had been the biggest band in Japan, so instrumental music was more common.
The new style was called the “Group Sounds” or simply G.S., and had its peak from 1967-1968 with hundreds of professional bands that included The Golden Cups, The Mops, The Spiders, The Tempters and The Tigers. Apparently wearing matching outfits was a requirment to be in a band at that time.
Beside playing covers of The Beatles, The Monkees and the Rolling Stones songs, the groups had also their own material. Most of their perfomances were in “jazz kissa’s” (coffee shop with jazz music) and American airbases.
The Jaguars also made teen-oriented feature films in the style of “Help!” and “Hold On!” Just like American and British teen-rock movies, the movies were more known for the music performances than the plot development.
Thanks to John Sharp for getting this translated for me.
Catalog number ES1047 on Philips of Japan. No release date listed.
Filed under: Republic of the Congo
♬ Makelele
Uele Kalabubu (and his tribe) were supposedly from the Republic of the Congo. I am unable to find any information on them (or is it he?) or Afroground. Not sure if they were some European studio creation like Kongas… But I have seen other singles and albums by them, but none of them have a picture of any musicians.
Sometimes while researching these records, I end up with more questions than answers. If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number SG 119 on AZ records of France.
Filed under: Morocco
The four Megri brothers were popular session musicians / composers / producers from Morocco. There names were Hassan, Mahmoud, Jalila and Younès. Jalila was apparently a songwriter and producer, and Younès had a solo career. But, Hassan and Mahmoud recorded two singles singles as Les Frères Megri.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a new form of pop music emerged in the region of North Africa. This new form resulted from the fusion of local Arabic music with European pop music. Arab media often referred to this new style as “Progressive”. In many ways, it is an independent form of music that has strong and variable Arab, African and European influences; an expression that has branched out and evolved separately from popular traditional Cha’abi music of the region.
Darja, the Arabic dialect of North Africa, is often used as the lyrical language for songs in this genre. While the music is sometimes distinguishably Arabic, it is often not. The rhythms are mixtures of Berber, Arab, African and popular European, performed to the artists’ own recipe and vary to their interpretation.
I have seen quite a few records that they have either played on or produced, but I’ve only seen two singles (with Hassan and Mahmoud) and two albums (one with Hassan, Mahmoud and Younès, and one with just Mahmoud and Younès) by ‘Les Frères Megri’. Apparently they still run a recording studio in Morocco, and Younès released an album in 2004.
Catalog number 6269 013 on Philips of France. No release date listed.
Filed under: India
S. Hazarasingh was from India.
The term “Bollywood” originally referred to Bombay’s (now known as Mumbai) Hindi language film industry. Although there are a number of other studios that produce films in other languages, more recently the definition has been expanded in the West to describe pretty much all films produced on the sub-continent. But where in most countries a film’s soundtrack would merely be used as a promotional tool for the film, in India film music has become an industry unto itself with playback singers and dance numbers. The music is just as important as the film and lives on long after the film has left the theaters. These songs are, for the most part, the pop music of India.
As with most popular music, other artists sometimes recorded cover versions of these songs. Of these musicians, a small number specialized in instrumental arrangements and created what could be called the elevator music of India. While there were a few who used the harmonium or ‘mouth organ’, the most popular instrument used in these “instrumental favorites” was the steel guitar.
The earliest known report of anyone playing slide guitar was Gabriel Davion, a native of India who had been kidnapped by Portuguese sailors and was brought to Hawaii in 1876. Of course, there are Indian string instruments like the gotuvadyam and the vichitra vina that utilize slide known to have existed since the 11th century. But it was not until Ernest Ka’ai and his Royal Hawaiian Troubadours’ toured in 1919 before the slide guitar was introduced to India.
S. Hazarasingh started out in the film studio orchestra as early as 1941, and had played on the original version of “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu.” On many of his records, he is listed as “S. Hazra Singh”. Apparently there was a popular comedian in India named “Hazara Singh”, and he changed it to prevent confusion. I do not know how many 78’s he may have recorded, but I have seen two singles from 1964 and 1967. He didn’t release his first solo album until 1966, and only released two more before he passed away in 1971.
Since the initial posting, these songs have been included on the “Bollywood Steel Guitar” compilation on Sublime Frequencies.
This is a Malaysian pressing of this record. There is no indication of the company that pressed it, but the catalog number is RSLP 2012. The Indian version on HMV of India has the same cover, except for a red background instead of the blue background and was released in 1969.
Filed under: Singapore
The Impianbateks were not from the Middle East, as the cover may have led you to believe… They were actually from Singapore.
Arabic culture has a large influence on the cultures of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
I tried translating this using an online Malay to English translator, but didn’t get very far before I threw in the towel. I do know that this band is comprised of what was previously two bands: D’Impians and The Bateks. I have seen one other single by them, but it was not in Arabic.
Here are the liner notes, for those of you who know Malay…
Sunggohpun lagu2 “The Bateks” sering kedengaran di-udara, ahli2-nya sudah berpisah di-sebabken oleh sa-suatu yang tidak dapat di-elakkan. Tetapi dengan ada-nya, semangat seni di-sanubari dua daripada ahli nya, mereka menyesuikan diri mereka dengan kumpulan “D’Impians” yang mempunyai chiptaan-chiptaan lagu dan gaya menyanyi tersendiri. Pada awal’tahun ini tertubohlah suatu pancharagam. Yang di-beri nama “Impianbateks”.
If you can make heads or tails of that, let me know… Also, If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number CEP 3005 on Cosdel Records of Singapore. No release date listed.
Filed under: Ethiopia
♬ 
?
With the exception of Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed is probably the most well know musician from Ethiopia. He has been featured on three of the Éthiopiques volumes on Buda Musique (numbers 6, 7 and 19) and has recently released a live album. He still records and tours to this day, mainly in Europe.
Here is an excerpt of his biography from the Afropop Worldwide website:
Mahmoud Ahmed was born in the Mercato district of Addis Ababa, but he hails from the Gouragué people, who live south-west of the Ethiopian capital. The Gouragué are known for their cuisine, their diligence in business, and their exuberant traditional dances. Young Ahmed showed little aptitude for schooling. Only music interested him, and instead of studying, he would spend his hours listening to the Tèquali Radio, to bands like the Imperial Body Guard Band, and singers like Tilahoun Gèssèssè.
As a result, Ahmed soon wound up shining shoes alongside other poor, going-nowhere boys in the capital. In 1962, Ahmed took a position helping out at the Arizona Club, one of the semi-legal night spots that were popping up in Addis in those days. This was the time when Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie, in power since 1930, began to sense that his country was slipping away from him. In an effort to appease roiling popular sentiment against him. Sellassie would ultimately relax restrictions on music production, formerly the sole province of the state cultural organization and recording company, Agher Feqer Mahber (“The Love of Country Association”). This paved the ways for Ahmed’s early releases on Amha Records. But first, Sellassie allowed state bands, like the Police and Army Orchestras, to create side branches that played popular music. Sellassie had had a hand in creating these brass orchestras when back in 1924 he invited 40 Armenian musicians refugees to come to Ethiopia as state musicians.
Despite their new liberties, these institutional bands were technically barred from performing except when on official government contracts. But many defied this law. As it happened, the Arizona Club where Ahmed worked became a favorite moonlighting hangout for the Imperial Body Guard Band. One night when the band’s lead singer failed to show, Ahmed persuaded the band to let him sing a few current hits. Arrangers Sahlé Dègado and Girma Hadgu took up his cause and gradually introduced him into the band’s official lineup, where he remained until 1974. Ahmed recorded his first 45-RPM single in 1971.
Here is a discography that lists just about all of Mahmoud Ahmed’s releases, including early singles and cassette only releases…But it does not look like this record is listed.
Catalog number is C-0284 on Hitachi of Japan, distributed in Ethiopia by E. A. K. of Addis Ababa. This record originally came with a pamphlet, all in Amharic, which you can view here.
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