The Groove
Saturday February 24th, 2024 with ELORIOUS CAIN
BLACKS IN EUROPE! part 4 ---- ( a BLACK HISTORY MONTH FOCUS)
We are fully aware of the fact that dozens of African American Jazz, Blues and Rock artists took up residence in Europe in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. We are not including most of them in this show. As THE GROOVE is a DISCO show, we are concentrating on and celebrating SOME of those Black artists that contributed directly to the growth and diversity of the European discotheque industry along with the development and enrichment of EURODISCO music in all of it's various forms and categories like ITALODISCO, NEWFORM, SPACE, the FRENCH SOUND etc.
As EURODISCO became the most influential of DISCO genres. the contribution of Black artists coming from various parts of the world helped make it all the more desirable and powerful. We are focusing on solo artists and groups. Some EURODISCO groups like SILVER CONVENTION, NEW PARADISE, BELLE EPOQUE and TANTRA had black members. We are not including those groups. Also major EURODISCO artists like CERRONE and ALEC R. COSTANDINOS featured black vocalists in some of their productions. We are not featuring them either. We celebrate some of those amazing talents that contributed to the scene in a somewhat chronological order in these 4 shows:
| TARA SCHAFT (1978 - 1980)
TARA SCHAFT was the Black engaging vocalist for LUIGI OJIVAL's ambitious BLACK DIAMOND project in 1978. Another particularly outstanding example of EURODISCO acts using ELECTRONIC DISCO, OJIVAL's absorbing BLACK DIAMOND freely mixed the Electronics with conventional instruments and TARA'S vocal performance. This was the finest effort on the part of a EURODISCO producer who had provided the world with acts like 1ER DISCOPERA, PETER BRAIN, and the SPACE group FINAL OFFSPRING! The most popular track on the album was "What Now My Love" which was a cover-version of "Et Maintenant" by the late French singer GILBERT BECAUD, TARA had a SKA single released in 1980 called "Ska Man". And apart from providing backup vocals for some LAMBADA and ZOUK records in the late 1980's and 1990's, she has disappeared! |
| NEW YORK CITY DREAM TARA SCHAFT AND BLACK DIAMOND - BLACK DIAMOND (LP) - CARRERE |
| WHAT NOW MY LOVE TARA SCHAFT AND BLACK DIAMOND - BLACK DIAMOND (LP) - CARRERE |
| SKA MAN TARA - 7" - PATHÉ MARCONI EMI |
| QUEEN SAMANTHA (1979)
QUEEN SAMANTHA is actually an alias of the African American singer GLORIA BROOKS. Hailing from Chicago, she had various EURODISCO hits with producer HARRY CHALKITIS like a cover-version of "The Letter", originally done by THE BOX TOPS. Her biggest hits were "Take A Chance" and "Mama Rue (C'est Moi)", both from 1979. This artist is also called QUEEN SAMANTHA II. |
| TAKE A CHANCE QUEEN SAMANTHA - QUEEN SAMANTHA II (LP) - JONATHAN |
| MAMA RUE (C'EST MOI) QUEEN SAMANTHA - 12" - JONATHAN |
| ROD (1980)
ROD is ROCH NIANGANDOUMOU. The son of Senegalese parents in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, ROD rose to international fame as a DISCO and FUNK singer in the early 1980's in France and The Netherlands with songs like "Shake It Up (Do The Boogaloo)" in 1980. This was one record that was extremely popular in the New York City area. |
| SHAKE IT UP (DO THE BOOGALOO) ROD - SHAKE IT UP (LP) - JONATHAN |
| PAM N' PAT (1981)
After his success with OTTAWAN, PATRICK JEAN-BAPTISTE would appear in another group called PAN N' PAT. This music was more tropical and it ended up being popular in the conservative portions of the EURODISCO industry. |
| TO BE SUPERMAN PAM N' PAT - 12" - RCA VICTOR |
| MIKE ANTHONY (1982)
MIKE ANTHONY was a Black Singer and DJ who was closely associated with discos like 'Funk You' in Antwerp, Belgium. Although he enjoyed several hit singles in Belgium and The Netherlands over the years, his 1982 cover-version of the TIMMY THOMAS classic "Why Can't We Live Together" was his most successful venture! |
| WHY CAN'T WE LIVE TOGETHER MIKE ANTHONY - 12" - CA$H |
| KASSAV' (1979 - 1992)
In the last episode we looked at cool newly organized groups of mostly Black artists in France that were influential before they broke up like SWEET BANANAS in 1976 and OZILA in 1977, JACOB DESVARIEUX, who was in both of the previously mentioned bands would contribute to forming new group in 1979 that would end up becoming one of the most influential and popular Black groups in the world. The band was called KASSAV'. Their beginnings in Martinique and in Paris, France in 1979 included releasing an album called 'Love And K Dance'. As with the case of the SWEET BANANAS material in 1976, many sources claim 'Love And K Dance' is the beginning of what is new genre of DISCO called 'ZOUK'. We can't satisfactorily give you information about when and how ZOUK exactly started. Most sources seem to suggest it was some time in the 1970's or early 1980's. There are also two entirely different prevailing explanations as to who invented ZOUK. One claims that ZOUK was created by the Haitian super-group TABOU COMBO. Then two French Caribbean groups took it and improved upon it. One was the groups was MALAVOI, who made it lush and orchestral like a tropical version of EURODISCO. The other group was KASSAV' who used more electronic guitars. Ultimately KASSAV' prevailed as the major force in ZOUK. The other prevailing explanation is that KASSAV' invented ZOUK, period. When the first KASSAV' album appeared in 1979 it was not widely noticed in the general discotheque industry in France and the rest of Europe as it was distributed through Music Control. Like Sonodisc, Music Control really just supplied records for stores that specialized in African and Francophone Caribbean records, Early copies of 'Love And K Dance' were not easily found in stores that sold Eurodisco and British and American Disco. Eventually in 1985, the fashionable Celluloid label released 'Love And K Dance' and dj's from a variety of different origins had access to KASSAV' music for the first time! Like ABETI, KASSAV' had broken out of the specialised African Music market and had a direct connection to the commercial European music industry. The strength of KASSAV' is the group's personnel. KASSAV' includes some of ZOUK's visionaries along with that incredible singer we mentioned earlier - JOCELYNE BEROARD. Along with BEROARD, there is also CHRISTOPHE ZADIRE, CLAUDE VAMUR, DOUGLAS MBIDA, the same JACOB DESVARIEUX that was part of SWEET BANANAS and OZILA, GEORGERS DECIMUS, JEAN-CLAUDE NAIMRO, JEAN-PHILIPPE MARTHELY and PIERRE-EDOUARD DECIMUS. KASSAV' would have 3 highly successful albums between 1987 and 1992 all released on major labels with tracks available to any dj in Europe. Ironically many of the discotheques that played the African sound already had older KASSAV' records that were very popular like the JOCELYNE BEROARD quasi-solo album 'Siwo'. It doesn't even begin to sound like the SHANE GOULD material! KASSAV' has effectively celebrated the depth of JOCELYNE BEROARD's incredible talents. Examples like "Siwo" from 1985, along with "Lévé Tèt Ou" and "Mwen Alé" from 1992 are just the tip of the iceberg. "Mwen Alé" was played in a large cross-section of discotheques in France. Some sources claim it to be the most popular of the KASSAV' songs. |
| LOVE AND K DANCE KASSAV' - LOVE AND K DANCE (LP) - CELLULOID |
| SIWO JOCELYNE BEROARD / KASSAV' - SIWO (LP) - GD PRODUCTIONS |
| LÉVÉ TET OU KASSAV' - TÉKIT IZI (LP) - COLUMBIA |
| MWEN ALE KASSAV' - TÉKIT IZI (LP) - COLUMBIA |
| SERGE DELISLE (1985 - 1991)
The long time Parisienne dj and promoter SERGE DELISLE delighted fans in 1986 with the song "Germaine". He followed in 1987 with the single "Destination Africa" which had a b side slow "Si Tu Voulais" which is still being programmed by some LOUNGE dj's. DELISLE also released the Funky "Coeur Soleil" under the name BONESPRIT in 1991. He is still active in the business! |
| GERMAINE (REMIX) SERGE DELISLE - 12" - RCA VICTOR |
| SI TU VOULAIS SERGE EDOUARD DELISLES - 12" - DISTRIBUTION MUSIDISC |
| COEUR SOLEIL BONESPRIT - 12" - B'TOV MUSIC |
| MORY KANTE (1987 - 1990)
The late MORY KANTE was a kora harp player and singer that was born into one of Guinea's most respected families of Griot musicians. MORY KANTE would eventually end up in Mali recording with the legendary RAIL BAND until 1973. By the early 1980's, MORY KANTE would start recording a series of solo albums in Europe that would propel him to become one of the most popular African artists in the world. His 1986 album 'Ten Cola Nuts' contained the soothing politically charged "Nonsense (Apartheid)" which was also available as a single. It was very much a harp track that was very desirable to many listeners as in the case of "Soumba" from his 'À Paris' album, and the title track of his 1987 album 'Akwaba Beach'. Many of MORY KANTE's most heavily programmed tracks prior to 1987 were classified by many sources as WORLD BEAT. That was a confusing new term that came out of the emerging WORLD MUSIC scene. Many dj's in various discotheques in Europe and the U.K. adopted such new terminology. Tracks from KANTE from that period which were programmed include "Marriage" from his first self-titled album in 1982, "Gnaga Lemba", "Ça Va Là Bas" and "M'Balou" from his 'À Paris' album in 1984, and also the title track of his previously mentioned 1986 album 'Ten Cola Nuts' , MORY KANTE's 1984 album 'À Paris' featured his first version of the song "Yé ké yé ké". Many dj's in African discotheques both in Paris and Antwerp, Belgium in Europe and also in various discotheques in Africa regularly programmed that original version with considerable success. MORY KANTE was determined to expand the song's appeal. He envisioned it being heard throughout the whole world. When his fourth and most successful album 'Akwaba Beach' was being produced by the legendary producer NICK PATRICK the decision to revisit "Yé ké yé ké" was made. NICK PATRICK had produced some great BRITISH DISCO like GINA LAMOUR's cover-version of "Move Over Darling", and many HEAVEN 17 and BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION recordings including the amazing ELECTRONIC cover-version of "Ball Of Confusion" featuring TINA TURNER. His total production of the 'Akwaba Beach' album was clean, funky and crisp! The truth of the matter is that MORY KANTE had not really sounded as good before that album. What NICK PATRICK did to the infectious "Yé ké yé ké" song was to make it stronger, cleaner and more ELECTRONIC. And it was subtle ELECTRONIC patterns like those of competing gems of JEAN-MICHEL JARRE that took absolutely nothing away from the energy and magnetism of the romantic African Muslim patterns. The end result was one of the most exiting recordings of the 1980's. The labels Barclay and London would release 12" mixes like "Mory's House Version", the "Afro Acid Mix", the 'Extended Mix'. the "French Mix" and "Martyn Young Remix". Dj's throughout Europe and North and South America couldn't play the song enough. All that was just the beginning! In 1994 the "HARDFLOOR Mix" came out. That TECHNO group brought the song to a whole new generation. "Yé ké yé ké" has been remixed dozens of times and found it's way into HOUSE MUSIC and TECHNO sets, even today! Energetic ELECTRONIC tracks like "Yé ké yé ké" and "Tama" on the 'Akwaba Beach' album and "Krougnegne" from his 1990 album 'Touma' were being programmed by dj's throughout the Middle East and various markets in Asia during the early 1990's. There is no really accurate estimate how popular MORY KANTE and his music had become. We do know that some Thai dj's had their own homemade mixes of "Yé ké yé ké" and "Tama". In India some BOLLYWOOD producers recorded songs either based on "Tama" or made outright uncredited cover-versions of it! A BOLLYWOOD song based on "Tama" is "Jooma Chumma De De" by SUDESH BHOSLE & KAVITA KRISHNAMURTHY. It can be found on the 'Hum' album through the label His Master's Voice from 1990. A good example of what we mean by an "outright uncredited cover-version" is "Tamma Tamma Loge" by BAPPI LAHIRI, ANURADHA PAUDWAL & CHORUS. It can be found on the 'Thanedaar' soundtrack album through T-Series label from 1990. We have provided a link to the video of that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZa11p9tlv0&list=PLK-zJOS4SBY93KBD_oJpahTOg31wTKRlj&index=126 Some HOUSE mixes of MORY KANTE material like the 'Dub Roots' mix of "Bankiero" in 1990 were widely played by HOUSE MUSIC dj's in the United States, the U.K.. France, Germany and Italy. MORY KANTE and his music has had a profound impact on popular music throughout the world. Not bad for a member of a family of Griot musicians from Guinea! |
| YÉ KÉ YÉ KÉ (EXTENDED REMIX) MORY KANTE - 12" - LONDON |
| KROUGNEGNE MORY KANTE - TOUMA (LP) - BARCLAY |
| TAMA MORY KANTE - AKWABA BEACH (LP) - BARCLAY |
| BANKIERO (DUB ROOTS) MORY KANTE - 12" - BARCLAY |
| ZANGA ZANGA (1980 - 1989)
LARRY ZANGAHANI is a guitarist from Liberia that has enriched the German music industry with his musicianship, singing and production talents, He also appears under the names ZANGA ZANGA, LARRY ZANGA and LARRY ZANGA HANEY. As LARRY ZANGA HANEY in 1980, he was member of the group HAPPY who had a minor AFRO-CUBAN hit in Germany called "Viva America" that was especially popular in South America. As LARRY ZANGA he would release three singles in 1983, 1984 and 1986. They include REGGAE and commercial EURODISCO, like the popular "You Change My Life" from 1986. In 1988, under the name ZANGA ZANGA, he would release his infectious AFRICAN DISCO masterpiece called "Oh Ciolili" which really underlined his Liberian heritage. It might have been an un-bashfully ethnic Liberian song but it was crafted into a cunning cross between HOUSE MUSIC and uptempo EURODISCO that could be very easily mixed into tracks like ""Yé ké yé ké" by MORY KANTE. "Oh Ciolili" spread like wild fire throughout European and North American discos. |
| VIVA AMERICA HAPPY - 12" - COLUMBIA |
| YOU CHANGE MY LIFE LARRY ZANGA - 12" - MERCURY |
| OH CIOLILI ZANGA ZANGA - 12" - JONATHAN |
| ZOUK MACHINE (1989 - 1991)
There are strange parallels in 'mondo disco'. Just as the late JACQUES MORALI created the 'AMERICAN DISCO girls group' RITCHIE FAMILY in Philadelphia, U.S.A. in 1975, the group EXPERIENCE 7 created the Guadeloupean 'ZOUK girls group' ZOUK MACHINE in 1986. Just as RITCHIE FAMILY would suffer a change in personnel in 1978, ZOUK MACHINE would have personnel changes. Yet the comparison ends there. ZOUK MACHINE created their own power. Their 1989 single "Maldòn" ended up selling over a million copies in France! Where RITCHIE FAMILY had difficulty competing with the onslaught of AMERICAN DISCO coming out the 1970's, ZOUK MACHINE dominated the whole ZOUK industry especially in the late 1980's. They outsold KASSAV' and a whole host of amazing artists. They appeared both live in concerts and discos throughout Europe. They had what were practically regular appearances on French television. By the mid 1990's when they eventually broke up, they had become a household word in most of Europe. |
| MALDON (EXTENDED CLUB VERSION) ZOUK MACHINE - 12" - ARIOLA |
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Wowee ! Incredible knowledge. Vast and precise. And you have the records to go with the stories ! Thank you. I can't believe that one person knows all this. Super dooper !
1:52 AM, February 24th, 2024