On the Playlist 2JAN2019….

Happy New Year to everyone! Decided to start the new year with Fela Kuti and his album/track "Beasts of No Nation". This track which took up the whole side of an LP at 28 minutes is a classic Fela Kuti track. I only wish that I had a chance to see him in concert as that would have been an amazing experience. If you have not heard of Fela Kuti he is one very interesting character as well as being a great musician. He was born in Nigeria, was the founder of the Afrobeat style of music, was a human rights activist and a major pain in the Nigerian government's side as he lived in a commune that declared itself independent from Nigeria. There have been several documentaries of his life that go into all the details of his life but enough to say he was a character. 

This album/track is a classic of the style with a great rhythm with a great saxophone solo on it and then an amazing vocals track with a choral back-up that goes on for 28 minutes. The recording I have has a bit of digital brightness to it but is still amazing to listen to. 

The cover of this album is quite a trip too famously showing Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Pieter Botha with devil horns and fangs. It was based on a quote by Botha regarding the anti-apartheid movement that "this uprising will bring out the beast in us!"

Fela Kuti - Beasts of No Nation

On the Playlist 13AUG2018…

One of my favorite songs of all time "Biko" from the album Wakafrika by Manu Dibango. This is definitely a crank it loud kind of song that my kids hate when I play. I also love the cover of this album as it totally makes sense based on the album name. This album is a bunch of cover songs by artists that are African or in the case of Biko are African themed. The song Biko is originally by Peter Gabriel from his third album (the one with his face melting on it) but I like this version better than the original. The song is about Stephen Biko who was an anti-apartheid activist who died at the hands of the South African police under suspicious circumstances while in custody. His story was the subject of the book and subsequent movie, Cry Freedom. Manu Dibango is a Cameroonian musician who pioneered an African funk style of music and came to popularity with his song Soul Makossa in 1972. At age 84 he is still an active musician. 

Manu Dibango - Wakafrica

Manu passed away from Covid-19 on 24MAR2020.