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.
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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.
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Catalog number MCEP 8023 Roebuck Record of Malaysia. Released 1970.
Filed under: Nicaragua
Los Fermons – also seems Los Fermon’s and Los Fermons de León – were presumably from the city of León in Nicaragua. The band formed in 1965 with Juan Ruiz and Manuel Flores on guitar, Jorge Orozco on bass and Nedar Sirias on drums. They recorded at least four singles.
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Catalog number 95 on Discosa of Nicaragua. No release date listed.
Filed under: Morocco
Said Ziani / سعيد الزياني – also know as Said Dahman – was born in capitol city of Rabat, Morocco on December 1st, 1952. He was a singer, artist, author, composer, actor, producer, director and presenter of programs on Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision . In 1984, he announced his retirement and devoted the rest of his life seeking Islamic knowledge and advocacy.
Catalog number 2.225.035 on Polydor. Released 1974.
Filed under: Nigeria
Just when I was starting to think that all of the good music from Nigeria had already been compiled by Soundway, I stumbled on this single.
The Future Hopes were also known as Future Hope International Dance Band of Nigeria. Their front man was Sonny Okpala, who went by a number of aliases / variations: Sonny Ikoro, Sonny Okpalla, Sony Ikoro Okpara, Sony Okpala, Sunny, Sunny Elvis Okpala, Sunny Ikoro, Sunny Okpala, Sunny Okpalla. But beyond that, I have not been able to find anything else.
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Catalog number SD 8 on Scottie Silver Disc Recordings of Nigeria. No release date listed.
Filed under: Burma
♬ Dearest and Best Friend / အချစ်ဆုံးနဲ့ အချစ်ဆုံးသူငယ်ချင်း
Lashio Thein Aung / လားရှိုးသိန်းအောင် – who was also known as “Jimmy Jack” and the “Burmese Texan” – was born in the Lashio District of the Shan State in Burma / Myanmar in 1946.
Lashio Thein Aung was one of the first big recording artists in Burma. His songs were not only successful , but still resonate with fans to this day. Being a Buddhist, he was unable to accept the Burma Socialist Programme Party, Lashio Thein Aung went into hiding in 1972, eventually ending up in Houston, Texas. He did not return to his home country again until 2012.
Like many people, my first introduction to Lashio Thein Aung was on Sublime Frequencies’ Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma) Vol. 2.
Like many people, my first introduction to Lashio Thein Aung was on Sublime Frequencies’ Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma) Vol. 2.
As per usual with these Burmese tapes: No catalog number, record company or release date listed.
Filed under: Lebanon
♬ Muqadimat Musiqia / مقدمة موسيقية
♬ Khaliyk Huna Khaliyk / خليك هنا خليك
Nabil Abd el Al / نبيل عبد العال – also seen transliterated as Nabil Abdell Aal, Nabil Abdel Ali, Nabil Abdelaal and Nabil Adbel Ali – was, to the best of my knowledge, from Lebanon. He was apparently a studio musician, and played on records by Mohamed Abdel Wahab / محمد عبد الوهاب and Hassan Abu El Seoud / حسن أبو السعود. He may or may not have been related to Aboud Abdel Al / عبودعبدالعل – who was a violinist and composer.
You can find two more songs from the album above on Cedarphon’s The Groovy Sounds of 1970s Lebanon.
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Catalog number SLD 15023 on Société Libanaise du Disque. Released 1974.
Filed under: Eritrea
Regarded as the mother of Eritrean soul and dubbed the “Sunshine of Eritrea”, Tsehaitu Beraki / ጽሃይቱ በራኺ (also seen as Tsehaytu Beraki or Tsèhaytu Bèraki) was born in Quatit, Italian East Africa – now known as Eritrea – on September 1st, 1939.
Beraki started playing the krar, a five-stringed harp, when she was about eight years old, eventually playing at weddings and parties. She left school at sixteen, and played the krar as her full-time career. She also learned to play kebero and bass-krar. She wrote all of her own music and lyrics, and people would come from as far as Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to record her. From 1964 onwards, her lyrics became more political, and “people were surprised that I dared to sing them”.
Beraki became actively involved in the Eritrean independence struggle in 1977. She eventually had to leave, moving to Sudan and in 1988, Rotterdam, Netherlands. She returned to Asmara in 1999.
In 2004, Beraki recorded the album Selam that was released by Terp Records in 2004 and reissued by Catalytic Sound in 2016.
Tsehaitu Beraki died on May 24th, 2018 in Rotterdam at the age of 78.
You can find all of the details of the single posted above, including the cover, over at the Eritrean Anthology’s Instagram page.
Catalog number TDA 0020 on Yared of Asmara, Eritrea. Released 1973.
Filed under: Hong Kong
♬ Girl with Mini Skirt / 穿短裙的小姐
I was first introduced to Liu Yun on a mix disc of music from Taiwan that was given to me from Menghsin Cindy Horng. On that mix was a song titled “Sister Is of Age”. I instantly fell in love with the song – especially it’s Booker T. & The M.G.’s infected bridge. And for the next 16 years, I searched to find the record with that song on it. Of course, that was not the name of the song. The name of the song is “She Is Eighteen”. Also, she wasn’t from Taiwan.
Liu Yun born in Beijing in 1941. She recorded her first record – “Wisteria Flower “/ “藤蘿花“ and “Bridal Chant“ / “洞房吟“ – in 1958 for Angel Records. Following that release, she recorded a handful of soundtracks for Shaw Brothers films. She went on to record over a dozen albums, most of which were released by Pathé – up until 1981. Then her output ceased.
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Catalog number S-CPAX-331 on Pathé. Released 1967.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 