K. Frimpong backed by Vis-A-Vis
https://amf.didiermary.fr/k-frimpong-backed-vis-a-vis/
The legendary K. Frimpong on this reissue of a fantastic rare album, recorded in 1978 at Ghana Films Studio in Accra. Here he’s backed by the famous Vis-A-Vis band. […]
Manu Dibango – Africadelic
https://amf.didiermary.fr/manu-dibango-africadelic/
“The Panther” is the main AfroFunk track found on “Africadelic,” an album released in 1973 by “Manu Dibango And His African Pop Group”.
In fact, this album was released a year before as part of the Mondiophone collection, a “library of recorded background music”…
Music design by Papa Manu, what else?
Gasper Lawal – Ajomasé
https://amf.didiermary.fr/gasper-lawal-ajomase/
“Ajomasé,” originally released in 1980 on his own label CAP, is the groundbreaking debut album by legendary Nigerian percussionist Gasper Lawal.
Mixing traditional Nigerian percussions, Rock & Jazz, he starts working on his own compositions in 1976, in his spare time or when he can access a studio, with the best musicians available [...]
#70smusic #80smusic #FullAlbum #Jazz #Nigeria #Psychedelic #Rock #AfroJazz
Cameroon Garage Funk
https://amf.didiermary.fr/cameroon-garage-funk/
“Cameroon Garage Funk” is a compilation of “obscure” tracks from 1964 to 1979.
Yaoundé, in the 1970´s, was a buzzing place. Every neighbourhood of Cameroon´s capital, no matter how dodgy, was filled with music spots but surprisingly there were no infrastructure to immortalise those musical riches. The country suffered from a serious lack of proper […]
Uselu Motor Park
https://amf.didiermary.fr/uselu-motor-park/
Edo Funk / Benin City, anyone?
Here’s “Uselu Motor Park” by the Drivers Union Dance Band & Osaro Nomayo, released in 1978. The album blends highlife rhythms with local influences, creating a lively and engaging musical experience.
David Osaro Nomayo (1956-2002), the lead figure in the band, contributes to its distinct sound and success in […]
Amara Touré – Temedy / Lamento Cubano
https://amf.didiermary.fr/amara-toure-lamento-cubano-temedy/
The enigmatic Amara Touré from Guinée Conakry finally getting a well deserved compilation showcasing all of the 10 songs ever released between 1973 and 1980. Cuban influenced music of a different kind featuring amazing spaced-out guitar works!
Touré’s 30 year-long career began in the late 1950s in Dakar as part of the Senegalese collective [...]
Dr. K. Gyasi’s Noble Kings – The Highlife Boss
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dr-gyasi-noble-kings-highlife-boss/
Highlife album released in 1975 on the Essiebons label, by Dr. K. Gyasi & his Noble Kings. Probably one of the best recorded Highlife there is from this period of time in Ghana. With Lead Vocals by Thomas Frimpong.
Thomas Frimpong (sometimes Frempong) was one of the most respected Highlife musicians Ghana has ever […]
Gnonnas Pedro et ses Dadjes
https://amf.didiermary.fr/gnonnas-pedro-dadjes-dadje-von-o-von-non/
Gnonnas Pedro [with or without his Dadjes band] had always excelled in many styles of music but if one had to associate him with a particular genre it would be Agbadja. Agbadja is a rhythm hugely popular in Togo, Benin and Ghana. Its based […]
#60smusic #70smusic #AfroCuban #AfroFunk #Agbadja #Bénin #Compilation #GnonnasPedro
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
https://amf.didiermary.fr/poly-rythmo-minsato-le-mi-dayihome-marionnettes-typiques/
A nice old video with characteristic puppets from the West African region, with Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou in the classic “Minsato Le, Mi Dayihome.”
By the late 60s the earlier synthesis of western popular music and African idioms, purveyed by such luminaries as E.T. Mensah, Bobby Benson, the Star Band and Alfa Jazz was wearing […]
Lagos All Routes
https://amf.didiermary.fr/lagos-all-routes/
Lagos All Routes (Juju, Highlife, Apala and Fuji) is a compilation of Nigerian music from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s, often considered the ‘golden age’ of African popular music. In Nigerian pidgin English, ‘chop-up’ makes figurative reference to a bountiful feast.
‘Lagos All Routes’ refers to the fact that while the [...]
#60smusic #70smusic #80smusic #Fuji #Highlife #JùjúMusic #Nigeria #Remixed #OldAfricanMusic
Super Negro Bantous
https://amf.didiermary.fr/super-negro-bantous/
Despite their Congolese-sounding name, Super Negro Bantous were a renowned Igbo band led by Elah Elvis, recording at least seven albums for Rogers All Stars while combining highlife, soukous and folk music.
The four songs on this self-titled album are sung in Pidgin English. [...]
#70smusic #FullAlbum #Highlife #Nigeria #Soukous #Vinyl #OldAfricanMusic
Tunde Williams – Mr. Big Mouth
https://amf.didiermary.fr/tunde-williams-africa70-big-mouth/
From “Tunde Williams plays with the Africa 70” – Mr. Big Mouth released in 1977.
[…] Tunde joined Fela’s Koola Lobitos as a trumpeter in late 1967, and remained with Fela through 1978, when he and several other bandmembers left the group acrimoniously following the Berlin Jazz Festival in September of that year. In Afrika 70 […]
Essiebons Special 73-84
https://amf.didiermary.fr/essiebons-special-73-84/
In Ghana, few labels are as influential as Essiebons, the “Ghana Music Power House.” Founded by the producer and businessman Dick Essilfie-Bondzie, its catalog features sterling work from number of modern highlife legends.
For most of the 1970s Essilfie-Bondzie’s Dix and Essiebons labels were synonymous with the best in modern highlife, and his [...]
#70smusic #80smusic #Compilation #Ghana #Highlife #OldAfricanMusic
Roger Damawuzan & Les As du Benin
https://amf.didiermary.fr/roger-damawuzan-les-as-du-benin/
Nine unreleased and rare tracks from the amazing Roger Damawuzan also known as the “James Brown from Lomé”, backed by the tremendous “Les As du Benin” orchestra, and recorded between 1972 and 1981.
Born in 1952 in Aneho (Togo), “The king of Gazo” (a traditional rhythm) is one of the most popular singer of his […]
Fela Kuti – Expensive Shit
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-expensive-shit-water-no-get-enemy/
The song refers to an incident in 1974 in which the Nigerian police planted a hemp joint on Fela Kuti in order to arrest him for narcotics charges. As the police converged upon his compound, Fela ate the joint. He was taken to a police station, so that they could “test” him for THC the […]
Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Segla
https://amf.didiermary.fr/poly-rythmo-cotonou-segla/
“Segla” was originally released in 1978 and was reissued in 2020.
“Segla” – hens-teeth rare Poly-Rythmo album from 1978 that was originally released without a sleeve as ALS059. Or at least, if it came with a sleeve, nobody outside of Benin seems to have seen one. Recorded at EMI Lagos, Nigeria, as per most of […]
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Ecoute ma Melodie
https://amf.didiermary.fr/orchestre-poly-rythmo-cotonou-ecoute-melodie/
“Ecoute ma mélodie” and “Houzou Houzou Wa” by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo are available on the compilation “The Skeletal Essences Of Afro Funk 1969-1980.”
Take Funk, Soul, Psychedelia and Rumba, mix it up with a thick dose of heavy local rhythms and throw everything in a Benin grinder. The brew is then mixed up with hypnotic [...]
African Brothers International Band
https://amf.didiermary.fr/african-brothers-international-band/
The debut album by Nana Kwame Ampadu’s legendary African Brothers International Band, originally released in Ghana in 1970. The band is an evolution of “African Brothers Dance Band (International)” that was famous in the ’60s.
Nana Ampadu of Ghana formed his African Brothers Band in 1963. During the ’70s, they became one of the more […]
Marijata – No Condition Is Permanent
https://amf.didiermary.fr/marijata-no-condition-permanent/
Marijata was a group made up of three members – Kofi ‘Electric’ Addison on drums, Bob Fischian on organ and Nat Osmansu on guitar, hailing from Ghana. ‘This Is Marijata’ is the groups first LP; released originally on the Gapophone label – it is pure, rootsy, raw, driving African funk music of the highest order, […]
Sahara All Stars of Jos
https://amf.didiermary.fr/sahara-all-stars-band-jos/
The Sahara All Stars of Jos were based in the Havana Nightclub, in the central plateau town of Jos, a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria, far from Lagos. Dan Satch Ayo who led the band, had played with Dr Sir Warrior, a Nigerian Igbo highlife musical prodigy, guitarist, one of the pioneers of […]
Nigeria Disco Funk Special
https://amf.didiermary.fr/nigeria-disco-funk-special/
“Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79” is a compilation released in 2008.
Pierre Didy Tchakounté
https://amf.didiermary.fr/pierre-didy-tchakounte-lui-moi/
Pierre Didy Tchakounté “Ou c’est lui, ou c’est moi”, from album “Magabe Man”.
Pierre Didy Tchakounté is considered the father of modern mangambeu, a traditional Bamiléké music and dance from Cameroon. He harmoniously merged traditional African instruments (sanza, balafon, drums, etc.) and Western instruments (drums, bass, guitar, synth, violin, brass, etc.). [...]
Sidiba – Super Boiro Band
https://amf.didiermary.fr/sidiba-super-boiro-band/
After Independence (1958), the first state Orchestra was created as Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine and was instructed to drop “European march tunes in favor of music benefiting the new nation”. Later the orchestra split into 2 bands: 1st (1er) and 2nd. “Orchestre 1er” changed its name to Super Boiro Band.
Orchestre Les Noirs – Sikiya Sauce
https://amf.didiermary.fr/orchestre-les-noirs-sikiya-sauce/
This 45 RPM single captures Orchestre Les Noirs at the height of their East African phase, enduring as a classic of the Congolese diaspora sound of the early 1970s.
Orchestre Les Noirs emerged from the late-1960s Congolese touring circuit connected to Negro Succès. In 1969, several musicians associated with the scene, [...]
New Tutenkhamen – Forever together
https://amf.didiermary.fr/new-tutenkhamen-forever-together/
New Tutenkhamen, a 1970’s band from Harare, Zimbabwe, played an eclectic brand of Zimbabwean township music combining traditional rhythms and western influences.
The album “I wish you were mine” was originally published in 1979, during the liberation war.
The band’s most famous release, “Itai Cent Cent” was a sad lament of the poverty afflicting [...]
