Ousmane Diop et Mama Gaye · «Wandama» Vol. 4 · Senegal · Studio 2000

Who the musicians are

Ousmane Diop (Ousmane Hamady Diop):

Singer, guitarist, and composer from Kaédi, a city in southern Mauritania located in the historic Fouta Toro region (on the border with Senegal). He is one of the leading performers of traditional and modern Peul (Pulaar/Fulani) music. He began his musical career in the 1970s, standing out for his expressive voice and lyrics focused on social and cultural themes related to the Haalpulaar community.

Mama Gaye

(Mamadou Gaye, passed away on January 29, 2020): Also a native of Kaédi and cousin of Ousmane Hamady Diop. He was one of the most influential lead guitarists in the Pulaar music scene. In 1977, he founded his first instrumental ensemble together with Ousmane Diop. Over a career spanning five decades, he became best known as a longtime guitarist for Baaba Maal and his band Daande Leñol, in addition to collaborating as an arranger and session musician with numerous Senegalese and Mauritanian artists (including Ousmane Touré).

What this album is

The Project and the Album:

This cassette documents the acoustic and electric repertoire of the Fouta Toro region recorded in Dakar in the 1980s (around 1982–1985). The title « Wandama » refers to the historic musical group associated with Peul diaspora musicians between Mauritania and Senegal (with whom a young Baaba Maal also recorded several cassette volumes in the early 1980s). The opening track on Side A, Democratie (also known in archival recordings as Demokaraasii Nder Maayo), is one of the best-known songs from Ousmane Hamady Diop's early period. Studio 2000: Owned and directed by El Hadj N'Diaye in Dakar-Yoff, Studio 2000 was one of the most important recording studios and cassette duplication centers in West Africa during the 1980s and 1990s (later renamed PCS Studio 2000 Origines SA). Artists such as Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Ismaël Lô, Super Diamono, and Cesária Évora recorded or produced work there.

Label / Production: Studio 2000 présente Technical Specifications: STEREO, DOLBY SYSTEM (with Dolby logo) Shop Sticker: Discostar – 59 Av. Pompidou (a historic record and electronics shop located at 59 Avenue Georges Pompidou, in the Plateau district of Dakar, Senegal) Spine:Production Credits: Réalisation : Studio 2000 – DAKAR – BP 8308 / Enregistrement – Mixage – Duplication 2 – 4 – 8 – 16 et 24 pistes Artists: Ousmane Diop et Mama Gaye Symbols and Codes: Circled SE logo, Dolby logo, STEREO

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. DEMOCRATIE
2. DIOULE MOWOURY
3. JAGUAR

Side B

1. SEKOUBALY
2. GAYE THIOREL LAROU BETEL

Internet Archive listing

Tchico Tchicaya · La Voix d’Or · Congo · 1990 · CBS

Who is Tchico Tchicaya

His real name is Denis Pambou Tchicaya, born near Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). He is a singer, guitarist, composer and arranger of Congolese rumba and soukous, singing in Lingala.

His career, according to the biographies I found:

1970: begins as a singer in Brazzaville with the band Manta Lokoka. From 1972: joins Les Bantous de la Capitale, one of Brazzaville’s most important orchestras, as one of the solo singers. Sources disagree on when he left: 1974 or 1976. Late 1970s: lives in Nigeria (around 1976/77–1979) and records four albums there, with afrobeat influences. This is where the nickname “la voix d’or” takes hold, along with “le rossignol de Pointe-Noire”, which is in fact the title of track 3 on side 1. With Mavoungou Lolo Lolita he forms a duo (one source says from 1981) and records one of his big hits, Jeannot, considered a classic. 1983: moves to Paris, before many other Congolese musicians, and records for various labels. His band changes names often: Afro Festival, Les Evadés de Ponton la Belle, Les Officiers de la Musique Africaine. The album Soukous Machine came out in 1987. Early 1990s: according to one source, his star begins to fade. In 1990 he tours Australia with Passi Jo. From 1999 to 2005 he lives in Australia and founds Warako Musica with Passi Jo, then returns to France. More recently he is reported to lead Maya-Maya Musica.

What the object tells us:

“Spécial 1990” places the release in 1990, during his Paris period, shortly before the decline some sources mention. The title La Voix d’Or is his historic nickname, so it looks like a compilation or “celebratory” release rather than a concept title. “Le Rossignol de Pointe-Noire” likewise evokes his city and his legend. The track “Congo-Zaïre Show” names both banks of the river together, which makes sense for a musician from Brazzaville who grew up in the scene shared with Kinshasa (Zaire reverted to the name Congo in 1997).

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. Africa Vcarnaval (sic)
2. Congo-Zaïre Show
3. Le Rossignol de Pointe-Noire

Side B

1. Escale aux Antilles
2. Pamela
3. Fleur des Tropiques
4. Loango

Internet Archive listing

Ahmet Kaya · Acılara Tutunmak · Turkey · Taç Plak

Ahmet Kaya · Acılara Tutunmak · Turkey · Taç Plak

Format: Cassette, Süper Stereo Label: Taç Plak, İMÇ 6. Blok 6409, Unkapanı, İstanbul Year: Not printed on the cover. Probably mid-1980s (unverified)

Some covers make you stop digging through the crate, and this is one of them. A harsh, high-contrast black-and-white photo of Ahmet Kaya, looking like it was photocopied one too many times, with the title in hot magenta. Taç Plak's crown logo sits in yellow on the spine and in pink in the corner. It is cheap Unkapanı cassette printing at its best, when the cheapness became the style.

The man

Ahmet Kaya (1957–2000) was born in Malatya and became one of the most loved, and most hounded, voices in Turkish music. He came up through folk and özgün müzik, then mixed in arabesk and protest song. His songs deal with poverty, injustice and longing, and they made him a hero to many listeners and a problem for the authorities.

His story ends badly. In 1999, at a televised ceremony, he said he wanted to record a Kurdish-language video. The backlash was brutal, prosecution followed, and he left for France. He died in Paris in November 2000, aged 43. Thousands attended his funeral at Père Lachaise, and his reputation in Turkey has largely recovered since.

The record

This is early Kaya, and it's basically a poetry album set to music. Hasan Hüseyin (Korkmazgil), the great leftist poet, supplies five of the ten songs. Enver Gökçe, Orhan Veli and Ataol Behramoğlu are heavyweights of Turkish verse too. Kaya wrote all the music and only one set of lyrics (“Neden”).

The title track became one of his signature songs. The tape closes with “Sivastopol Marşı”, a march about the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. It's probably traditional, which would explain the missing credits.

All the music is credited to Ahmet Kaya, except the closing march, which has no credit at all.

There is an unidentified track on both sides of the cassette. Furthermore, the order of the songs printed on the cover does not match the order in which they were recorded on the tape.

Credits Producer: Cihan Sütşurup Arrangement director: Sezer Bağcan Sound engineer: Yılmaz Karayalım Recorded at Stüdyo Değişim

The J-card also carries the line saying Taç Plak is a member of the S.S. Müzik Prodüktörleri cooperative, the printed sign of legitimacy that gives the Turkish cassette scene its charm.

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. Amenna (words: Hasan Hüseyin)
2. Öyle Bir Yerdeyim Ki (Hasan Hüseyin)
3. Acılara Tutunmak (Hasan Hüseyin)
4. Yusuf Yusuf (Enver Gökçe)
5. Ghost track

Side B

1. Kadınlar (Hasan Hüseyin)
2. Macera (Orhan Veli)
3. Neden (Ahmet Kaya)
4. Bu Dert Beni Adam Eder (A. Behramoğlu)
5. Güzel Günler (Hasan Hüseyin)
6. Sivastopol Marşı (no credits printed)
7. Ghost track

Listen

Internet Archive listing

Abdessadeq Cheqara · Ya Bent Bladi · Morocco

Abdessadeq Cheqara – Ya Bent Bladi (Ouhmane Cassette, Casablanca)

Some tapes announce themselves loudly. This one doesn't even give itself a title. The cover carries the artist's name in Arabic, four song titles, a man in a red fez, and the “OUHMANE” logo. Everything else you have to work out yourself, which is half the fun of collecting Moroccan cassettes.

The tape at a glance

Artist: عبد الصادق اشقارة, Abdessadeq Cheqara (also spelled Chekara, Chqara, Shkara and many other ways)

Label: Ouhmane Cassette (أوحمان كاسيط), which Discogs describes as a Moroccan label based in Casablanca

Format: stereo cassette, tan shell with green print, fold-out cover with a blue-tinted inner flap

Not printed: album title, year, catalogue number, barcode, and any composer, lyricist or musician credits

Collector listings for this tape give the same A1–B2 tracklist and title it Ya Bent Bladi, after the closing song. The title is a later convention, since nothing on the tape says so.

The artist

Cheqara (1931–1998) was a Moroccan singer of Andalusian classical music and Moroccan folk music, born in Tetuan, and also a violin and oud virtuoso. He came from a musical family: his father was a singer and musician in Tetuan, and his mother descended from a family of poets, musicians and philosophers.

Some milestones from his biography:

In 1961 he recorded eight nawbas of Andalusian music for a UNESCO-linked association, to preserve Morocco's Andalusian heritage.

In 1978 he became Supervisor General of the National Conservatory.

In 1991 he worked with Michael Nyman on “The Upside-Down Violin”, recorded live at the Seville World's Fair.

Wikipedia also credits him with taking Andalusian music beyond an elite audience, and claims he learned songs from Tetuani women musicians who weren't allowed to record. That last claim is flagged there as needing better sourcing, so read it as reported, not settled.

The songs

This isn't a classical nawba record. It's a set of his popular songs, mostly northern-Moroccan in flavour.

Ya Bent Bladi is the one everybody knows. A Moroccan newspaper piece says the lyrics were written by the poet Abderrahmane El Alami, and that Cheqara blended northern folk music with Spanish flamenco and Andalusian music. Wikipedia tells it a bit differently: in 1982 he met Professor José Heredia in Granada and they produced the song, a fusion of Tetuani music and flamenco. The two accounts disagree on who wrote the words, so I'd treat authorship as open. The same newspaper piece also lists the other three songs on this tape among his known repertoire.

The label

Ouhmane was one of the big Casablanca cassette houses. It also issued material by other major Moroccan acts: the NTS page for Nass El Ghiwane lists tracks credited to Ouhmane Cassette. That makes this a mainstream popular release, not an obscure private pressing.

When is it from?

I can't tell you, and I'd rather say so than guess. One streaming service tags “Allah yhdik ya ghzali” with 1982, but that's platform metadata, not a cassette date. If the 1982 Granada story is right, the tape can't be much older than the early 1980s. That's inference, not evidence. The stereo marking and the six-digit Casablanca phone numbers fit the period without proving it.

Do you have another copy, or know Ouhmane's catalogue numbering? Drop it in the comments. A catalogue number or a year on another pressing would settle this.

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. الله يهديك يا غزالي Allah yhdik ya ghzali “May God guide you, my gazelle”
2. أنا في عارك Ana f 'arek An appeal to someone's honour or protection

Side B

1. يا وليدي يا حبيبي Ya oulidi ya habibi “My boy, my beloved”
2. يا بنت بلادي Ya bent bladi “Girl of my country”

Listen

Internet Archive listing

Al-Haj Al-Hussein Al-Toulali

Al-Haj Al-Hussein Al-Toulali

On the green cover featuring a photo of the artist playing the oud, the following information is provided: Artist (in Latin characters): L'HAJ L'HOUCINE TOULALI

Artist (in Arabic characters, center and top left): الحاج الحسين التولالي (Al-Haj Al-Hussein Al-Toulali)

L'Haj L'Houcine Toulali (1924 – 1998) was a legendary Moroccan musician and singer, universally recognized as one of the greatest masters (in Arabic Cheikh) of Malhun (or Melhoun). Born in Toulal, a village near the imperial city of Meknes, Toulali dedicated his life to preserving this ancient musical genre. Malhun is a form of sung poetry typical of Morocco, historically linked to the guilds of Andalusian-Moroccan artisans. Toulali is credited with “democratizing” this art form: with his powerful voice, his oud, and his orchestra, he brought Malhun out of exclusive circles, introducing it to the general public through radio, television, and theaters worldwide. He also founded a school in Meknes to pass on this complex vocal and poetic art to new generations.

This cassette is a classic release of traditional Moroccan music. It is not a pop album with short songs, but a collection of Qasidat (singular Qasida), which are long sung narrative poems that form the backbone of Malhun. Track structure: The Qasidat are very long poems that tell stories of daily life, love, historical anecdotes, or morals. Because of their considerable length, it was common practice on audio cassettes to have to “split” a track. As can be seen from the cover, the Qasidat Zine Es-Soura (which praises beauty) begins at the end of Side 1 and continues (“continued”) at the beginning of Side 2.

The Style: Musically, Toulali's recordings are characterized by the use of traditional Andalusian-Maghrebi instruments (oud, vertically played violin, percussion such as the darbouka and tar) and male choirs that respond to the lead singer, creating a hypnotic atmosphere deeply rooted in Moroccan culture.

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. * قصيدة حمان (Qasidat Hamman – The poem of Hamman)
2. * قصيدة زين الصورة (Qasidat Zine Es-Soura – The poem of the beautiful face)

Side B

1. * قصيدة زين الصورة (تابع) (Qasidat Zine Es-Soura (Tabi') – The poem of the beautiful face, continued)
2. * قصيدة ليتام (Qasidat L'ytam – The poem of the orphan)

Internet Archive listing

Amal Eddine El Arfaoui · Ma Tjib Ammara (ماتجيب أمّارة) · Tunisia · Phonie

This tape takes us to Tunisia, into the world of popular, festive music built around a wooden reed pipe with a metal bell — an instrument close to what's known regionally as zokra, mizwad or ghaita — rather than the more “classical” Tunisian malouf tradition.

About this release

Honestly, I couldn't find any independent information about the artist Jamal Eddine El Arfaoui: no discography, no biography, nothing in the usual music databases or archives. The name is fairly common in Tunisia, but I found no trace connecting any public figure with that name to music.

What can be said with more confidence comes from the cassette itself. It was released on Phonie, a real Tunisian commercial cassette label based in Tunis, active in the pre-digital era — the same label format (Phonie, “PH” + catalogue number) also turns up on a cassette by the Algerian raï singer Cheb Khaled, which confirms the label existed and operated this way, even though this specific catalogue number couldn't be independently verified.

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. ماتجيب أمّارة
2. غزالي شرد وجلاني حامل الرجا...ش

Side B

1. اروّح عالرملة هاوي جيت
2. مادام عيني حية يا فاطمة

Listen

Internet Archive listing

Fallou Dieng & le DLC · Beusseum-Bi (Vol. 5) · Senegal

This tape takes us to Dakar, into the world of mbalax, the popular music genre born in Senegal in the 1970s and 80s, driven by percussion and by singers who work in a tradition close to that of griots, the region's hereditary praise-singers and oral historians.

Who is Fallou Dieng

Fallou Dieng was born in Dakar in 1960, at the start of Senegal's independence, and grew into one of the leading voices of the generation that followed Youssou N'Dour, the country's most famous singer. His music sits within mbalax, and at a time when many Senegalese bands were replacing horns with keyboards, Dieng went the other way and added a second trumpet to his line-up, giving his sound a distinctive brass-driven character. His song “Barsane” was a hit that earned him the nickname “Le Prince de la Médina” (“The Prince of Medina,” after the Dakar neighbourhood), and his singing is described as rich and expressive, moving easily between deep emotion and brighter, upbeat colours.

Beusseum-Bi, the album on this cassette, belongs to that run of releases — alongside Barsane, Biri-Biri and Weex Bet — that built his reputation through the 1990s, before an international compilation called Medina introduced his music to listeners outside West Africa. It was recorded, like most Senegalese mbalax of the period, straight to cassette, with the singer backed by his own band, “le DLC.”

Credits Lead vocal and chorus: Fallou Dieng Vocal: Iba Kane Rhythm guitar: Cheikh A. T. Dieng Lead guitar: Papis Diouf Bass guitar: Nguido Bâ Keyboards: Abdourahmane Cissé Keyboards: Elou Fall Percussion: Aziz Faye Tama: Sam Thiam Drums: Jules Diop Sax: Cheikh D. Barry Guest musicians: Thierno Koïté (sax), Ali Penda Ndoye (trumpet), Baba Gueye (trumpet), Fallou Niang (drums), Titi Tine (chorus) Artistic direction: Pape O. Ngom, Kabou Gueye Lyrics: Mangoné Touré, Cheikh Talli Bouya Ndiaye Recording and mixing: Ndiaga Ndour, Serge Deverves Arrangements: Groupe DLC Production: KSF Management: Babacar Diallo, Mbar Cissé Demo tape: Ousmane Ndiaye Dago Distributors: Ousmane Cessay “Kerewan Sounds” (Banjul); Talla Diagne (Dakar)

Covers

Tracklist

Side A

1. Neéw-ji Doolé
2. Beusseum Bi
3. Soo-Bëggee Sey
4. Jog Léén

Side B

1. Du-Wess
2. Ñatti Dëgg
3. Mbokk-Gi
4. Yërmande
5. Lisa

Listen

Internet Archive listing

Ihab Tawfik إيهاب توفيق · Ekmenny – (إكمنى) · Egypt · 1990 · Slam!

This tape brings us to Cairo, with the debut album of a singer who would go on to become one of Egypt's most enduring pop voices.

Who is Ihab Tawfik

Ihab Tawfik (also transliterated Ehab Tawfik, إيهاب توفيق) is an Egyptian singer and actor, born on 7 January 1966 in Cairo, and one of the leading names of the shababi genre of Egyptian pop music.

He started young: he learned the oud as a child, from a private tutor who was a friend of his father, and sang as a soloist in his school choir. His musical education continued at Egypt's Faculty of Music Education and then at the Institute of Arabic Music, where he graduated with distinction and stayed on as a teaching assistant. He later went on to earn a doctorate in music and Arabic singing, with a thesis on the Egyptian song of the second half of the twentieth century, so the “doctor” title fans sometimes give him is not a joke.

His recording career opened in 1989 with the single “Dany”, written and arranged by Hamid El Shaeri, on the various-artists compilation Lqaa Al-Nujoum. The song did well, and set the tone for what came next: a full-length debut built largely around El Shaeri's production.

The album: Ekmeny

Ekmeny (إكمني), released in 1990 on the Slam! label, is that debut. Most of the album's music was again composed and arranged by Hamid El Shaeri, already a central figure of the Egyptian al-jil sound, whose influence would shape Tawfik's warm, romantic vocal style for years. The track “Awel Marra”, with lyrics by Adel Omar, is often singled out as an early showcase of Tawfik's vocal range.

It was a modest but effective start. Tawfik would follow it with Maraseel the next year and Rasamtek in 1993, before the run of hits in the late 1990s and 2000s — “Sahrany”, “Habibi”, “Allah Aleik Ya Seedy” — that made him a fixture of Arabic radio and, eventually, a singer with well over a million albums sold.

The Tape

This copy is a Slam! cassette, catalogue number FS 1-90, produced in Egypt and distributed by Al-Sorour Company (شركة السرور), 11 Kamal El-Din Salah St., Garden City, Cairo. The cover carries the credits below, transcribed from the J-card; a couple of names were hard to read on the print and are marked accordingly.

Tracce

Lato A

1. Ya Helw El-Malamih (يا حلو الملامح) — lyrics: Abdel Rahman Abu Sinna · music: Hamid El Shaeri
2. Haza El-Qamar (هذي القمر) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Hamid El Shaeri
3. Masakeen (مساكين) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Ibrahim Fahmy, Hamid El Shaeri
4. Ekmeny (إكمني) — lyrics: Mohamed El-Assas · music: Ahmed Mounib

Lato B

1. Sayed El-Helween (سيد الحلوين) — lyrics: Abdel Rahman Abu Sinna · music: Hamid El Shaeri
2. Awel Marra (أول مرة) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Hamid El Shaeri
3. Mahma Gani (مهما جاني) — lyrics: Magdy El-Naggar · music: Hagag Abdel Rahman
4. Allemny (علّمي) — lyrics: Mostafa Zaki · music: Ahmed Mounib
5. Da... (دا.......) — lyrics: Adel Omar · music: Hamid El Shaeri

Ascolta

Scheda su Internet Archive

Moussa Ngom · Banjul · Senegal · 1990 · Music production: Lamine Faye Exclusive distributor: Ibou Toure – Cantine “B-86” – Sandaga

Moussa Ngom (often spelled Musa Ngum; 1953–2015) was a Gambian singer-songwriter and musician, as well as a leading figure in contemporary Senegambian music. Born in Fatoto, The Gambia, he began his musical career between the late 1960s and early 1970s. He achieved widespread recognition as the lead vocalist of the Gambian group Guelewar Band of Banjul, blending traditional rhythms with funk, jazz, and psychedelic influences. In 1985, he moved to Dakar and joined the historic Senegalese ensemble Super Diamono, performing alongside Omar Pène and contributing to the evolution of the mbalax genre.

Toward the end of the 1980s, he pursued a solo career, releasing works such as the album Banjul in collaboration with arranger Lamine Faye. His music incorporated traditional njuup rhythms and the xiin percussion typical of the Baye Fall brotherhood. He died in Dakar on October 11, 2015, at the age of 61, following a sudden illness after a concert commemorating his 40-year career, and was buried in Touba.

Throughout his life, Ngom advocated for cultural and political integration between The Gambia and Senegal (Senegambia). As a symbolic stance, he habitually wore mismatched clothing and shoes of two different colors, stating that he would only wear matching shoes once the two nations were united under a single flag.

This is the cassette of the album Banjul, released in 1990 by Senegambian singer-songwriter Moussa Ngom. The album is one of Moussa Ngom's best-known solo projects outside the group Super Diamono, featuring a blend of traditional rhythms and modern mbalax sounds.

Musical direction: Arrangements and compositions were handled by Lamine Faye, who was also responsible for drum-machine programming, guitar, and backing vocals.

Recording: The tracks were recorded and mixed in Dakar at Studio MIDI-MUSIQUE under the technical direction of Aziz Dieng, Soce Diop, and Lamine Faye.

Executive production: Production is credited to Pape Ndoye.

Distribution network: Commercial distribution was handled exclusively by Ibou Toure through stall “B-86” at Dakar's Sandaga Market, a major hub for audio media sales in the region.

Printing and graphics: Photography is by Sara Boundo, while the layout, photocomposition, and printing of the paper insert were carried out in France (in Feucherolles).

Tracce

Lato A

1. Banjul
2. Sangue
3. Kamalimba

Lato B

1. Saloum
2. Kall
3. Mbek

Ascolta

झरना संगीत – Jharana Sangeet · नेपाली लोक धुन – Nepali Folk Music · Nepal

Jharana Sangeet Recording Pvt. Ltd. is a Nepalese record label and recording studio based in Kathmandu, established in 1990.

The company is led by folk singer and composer Ratna Baniya. Within the Nepalese music scene, the label primarily focuses on the production and distribution of:

• Lok Dohori (traditional folk call-and-response songs).
• Festival songs, particularly tracks associated with the Teej festival.
• Bhajans and devotional music (Hindu kirtans).
• Traditional instrumental tracks featuring typical Nepalese instruments (madal, bansuri flute, sarangi).

In Nepali, the word Jharana (झरना) means “waterfall” and Sangeet (संगीत) means “music”.

Enjoy!

Tracce

Lato A

1. १. रेसम फिरिरि (Ressamphiriri)
2. २. पानको पात (Panko kopat)
3. ३. सिमसिमे पानीमा (Simsime panima)
4. ४. उकालिमा पनि हजुर (Ukalima pani hajur)

Lato B

1. १. संगीनी (Sangini)
2. २. बाँझो खेतमा (Banjho khetama)
3. ३. रेसम फिरिरि (Ressamphiriri)
4. ४. धान नाच (Dhan nach)

Ascolta

Scheda su Internet Archive