Filed under: Colombia
I first discovered Afrosound at the amazing Super Sonido blog. My favorite tune that was posted there – “Caliventura” – which later showed up on VampiSoul‘s The Afrosound of Colombia Vol. 1 compilation.
The band was put together by the Vice President of Discos Fuentes, José María Fuentes. Afrosound’s mission initially was to emulate the tropical guitar sounds that were emerging in countries like Peru and Ecuador at the time. The 1972 theme, “La Danza de Los Mirlos” – by the Peruvian group Los Mirlos – was a great success in Colombia and with it, a new way of interpreting Colombia’s greatest exportable musical heritage.
The band is still active, although Mariano Sepúlveda is the only remaining original member. Their latest release came out 2022 to celebrate their 50th anniversary. You can find out more at their website: https://afrosoundoficial.com/
Catalog number 45 / 11742 on Disco Peerless of Mexico. Release 1981.
Filed under: Morocco
Brothers Hamid, Mohamed, Omar and Reda were from Oujda, Morocco. Their father, Benyounes Bouchnak, was a very famous Arab-Andalusian musician.
They released their first cassette in 1983 and would go on to release almost two dozen albums – all issued either as cassette or compact disc. In 1996, they participated in Eurovision with the song “Aynou Hara”. After their performance, Les Frères Bouchnak split up. Hamid and Reda then emigrated to France where they released “Ya Bent Nass” which was a big hit there. [Source]
Catalog number EH 1244 Edition Hassania of France. No release date listed.
Filed under: Ethiopia
Teshome Asseged / ተሸመ አሰግድ was from Ethiopia. He started performing in the choir when he was a student at the Sebeta School for the Blind. Students from the school would go one to form the Rainbow Band, of which Teshome Asseged was the lead singer.
Other than this single, the only other release listed on Discogs is a self-titled cassette. But you can find at least one other cassette posted on YouTube. You can also find a collection of his songs over at My Passion for Ethiopian Music.
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 PH 7 – 266 on Philips of Ethiopia. Released 1976.
Filed under: Pakistan
♬ Sanoon Wi Lai Chai / سانون وائی لائی چائی
♬ Bhul Gaee Main Bhul Gaee / بھول گئی میں بھول گئی
Lollywood Steel Guitar? Not really… But since they are many similarities with the music of Bollywood and Lollywood, I theorized that a record like this would be out there, somewhere.
Ghulam Ahmed Chishti / غُلام احمد چِشتی is most likely not the performer on this recording. Chishti was a film composer with almost 5,000 songs to his credit and scored the music to somewhere between 140 to 150 films. But, there is practically zero information on what is left of the record sleeve.
If you have any further information about who the actual artist is or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number EMPM 5002 on EMI Pakistan. No release date listed.
Filed under: Malaysia
The only information I could find about Alias Congo, was a news article about his family’s house burning down. In that article, he is listed as “television and Malay film comedian”. But the only film I have found that he is credited as being in is the 1963 film Raja Bersiong – also known as King of the Fanged Wings. According to Discogs, he recorded at least eight singles.
As for the backing band on this record – The Blue Beats – what little information that is available is from their Discogs catalog. They recorded at least ten singles and almost all of those records they were the backing band for a vocalist.
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 SL-801 on Sea Lion Record of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Released 1967.
Filed under: Ghana
Hedzoleh Soundz were a band from Accra, Ghana formed in the late 1960s. The word ‘hedzoleh’ means ‘freedom’ in the Ga language.
Stanley Todd Kwesi assembled an ensemble of musicians from the Ghana Arts Council, intending to form a new Afro-Rock group that would be more traditional and African in sound than Osibisa – and hoped to surpass in popularity. Their original songs were based upon traditional Akan and Ewe music, and employed dark, organic sounding African-made drums instead of modern western congas / drum-kit.
Legend has it that the band was introduced to Hugh Masekela by Fela Kuti. Masekela worked with them as early as 1967 and they were his backing band when he played the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1973.
Hedzoleh Soundz recorded two singles, plus a track that was used on the soundtrack for the Italian film Contatto Carnale. They also recorded two albums: The first being titled Hedzoleh – which has been reissued by Soundway Records – and the album Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz that they recorded with Hugh Masekela.
Catalog number BBN101 on Bibini of Ghana. Release 1973.
Filed under: Laos
I am assuming that Nit Vichittavong / ນິດ ວິຈິຕວົງ was from Laos – since that’s where this record came from. Beyond that, I know that this was the first of only two know records released by The Association of Lao Artists label. The song title translate as “Don’t Hate One Another”.
Thanks to Peter Doolan of Monrakplengthai for help with the translation.
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 001 on The Association of Lao Artists / ສະມາຄົມສ່ງເສິມສິລປິລລາວ of Laos. No release date listed.
Filed under: Venezuela
♬ Ayúdalos
Singer / guitarist Marco Tulio Guzmán, bass player Alexis Velásquez, drummer Alcides Monroy and percussionist Henry Velásquez formed Grupo Bota in Caracas, Venezuela in the early 70s. They would go one to record around twenty singles and five albums. The band broke up in 1979, Guzmán and Velásquez continued together under the name Los Bota.
The band’s fusion rock style had a huge influence on the Venezuelan music scene after their records gained cult status. Interest in the band had a resurgence in the mid-1990s after Los Amigos Invisibles covered the song “Dime” on their debut album A Typical & Autoctonal Venezuelan Dance Band. You can find the song “Solos” on the Soul Jazz Records‘ compilation Venezuela 70 Volume 2 (Cosmic Visions of a Latin American Earth: Venezuelan Experimental Rock In The 1970’s & Beyond).
Catalog number 59203 on Discos Dark of Venezuela, pressed in Colombia by Industria Colombiana. Released 1974.
Filed under: Libya
Sami Baroudi / سامي البارودي was from Libya. And that’s about all I can tell you about him.
I suspect that this song is not titled “Sibhā” / “سبها”. This single has the same label on both sides. There is no mention of a second song on the sleeve. But, as you can hear in the song, he says something that sounds a lot like “Lo-Lo” over and over. I suspect that the A side is “Sibhā” / “سبها” and the B side is something else – assuming that this is the B side.
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.P. 02 on Al-Marghani Sons Company / شركة أبناء المرغني of Libya and manufactured by En’nagham of Tunisia. No release date listed.
Filed under: India
With a backing band called “His Bullets”, you would expect at least a hint of Spaghetti Western music. Unfortunately, that is not the case with this record.
The only thing I can tell you about Rakesh Nath & His Bullets, is that they recorded this single and an album called “Musical Ripples” that came out a year after the single.
If you have any further information about Rahesh, any of his Bullets, whoever Prem Gupta was or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number 2308-3532 on Inreco of Kolkata, India. Released 1979.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 