It is time for another of our geographically themed playlists - and this time we focus on the large, mysterious continent of Africa.
There is no particular rhyme or reason for choosing it for this edition, but I did have to try and find ten songs without resorting to Toto (or indeed Walk Like An Egyptian), to maintain some sense of integrity. You will be pleased (or sad) to know that I was successful in my mission!
1. Madness: Night Boat To Cairo
This song was part of the band's Work Rest and Play EP that hit number six in the UK in 1980 (and also features on debut album One Step Beyond). It was originally conceived as an instrumental by main songsmith, Mike Barson, but singer and lyricist Suggs (Graham McPherson) ultimately added lyrics to it. There is lots of atmosphere on the track (which is also a popular set closer) and has the slightly odd structure of one fairly long verse, no real chorus and then a long instrumental section. Night Boat has apparently since joined the world of Cockney rhyming slang - as a rhyme for a giro (an unemployment cheque).
Madness: Night Boat To Cairo (Official music video)
2. Bob Dylan: Mozambique
This melodic, upbeat tune was written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy for his 1976 album Desire. About a month before the song was recorded in 1975, Mozambique had emerged from a ten year struggle with Portugal to gain its independence. The song however, is not about that struggle, but instead focuses on the country as a place for romance - except for the one reference to 'people living free'.
Bob Dylan: Mozambique (Great live version from 1976)
3. The Nina Hagen Band: African Reggae
Nina Hagen is a German punk and new wave singer / songwriter, as well as an actress. She is originally from East Berlin, but after her stepdad moved, she ended up in Hamburg in 1977, where she would later form the Nina Hagen Band, by co-opting existing the wonderfully named band Spliff to be her own. They would make a bit of a name for themselves, mixing up electronica, punk and reggae. This song comes from The Spliff Radio Show in 1980, which was their first, and only album sung in English. Hagen would also go on to release more than ten albums as a solo artist.
Nina Hagen Band: African Reggae (TV version from 1980 - interesting...)
4. Crosby, Stills & Nash: Marrakesh Express
This was written by Graham Nash while he was still with English group the Hollies, but they declined to record it, thinking it was not commercial enough. However, once he had worked on it with Messrs Stills and Crosby, it would make US number 28, while also giving them their only UK Top40 hit (#17). It was inspired by a train ride Nash made from Casablanca to Marrakesh whilst he was on holiday in 1966. He started the journey in first class, but found his travelling companions to be so boring, that he wandered around the train to see what else was going on. It was not to everyone's taste though, with Iggy Pop later remarking that it was a "f-in dreadful" sing and was one of the factors in The Stooges forming, as a way to counteract songs like that.
Crosby, Stills & Nash: Marrakesh Express (Audio only - I might side with Iggy)
5. Kanye West: Diamonds From Sierra Leone
This was co-written by Kanye West with collaborator, Devo Springsteen, while English musicians John Barry and Don Black also got a co-credit, as they wrote Diamonds Are Forever, which is sampled in the song. The record was originally just going to be called Diamonds, and was to be about the fall of Roc-A-Fella Records - but was changed when West learned about the issue of blood diamonds coming from West Africa. He retained many of the original lyrics, but was also keen to use his music to educate people on the subject, juxtaposing the concept of his own wealth, with this unethical source of diamonds. Interestingly, West chose Jon Brion to help produce the album (Late Registration), because he had recently started getting into songwriter Fiona Apple, who Brion had produced, as well as the soundtrack of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Kanye West: Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Official music video)
6. Songhoy Blues: Bamako
The men who make up Songhoy Blues originally hail from Timbuktu, but were forced to move to Bamako because of civil strife in the north of Mali. They formed the band as a way to "to recreate that lost ambience of the north and make all the refugees relive those northern songs." All three of the founders are called Touré (Oumar, Aliou and Garba), but are unrelated, and they come from the Songhoy people (primarily from Mali and Niger). They were first discovered in open auditions by Africa Express, an American / British musical collective that was led by Blur's Damon Albarn. This led to them getting to work and record with Nick Zinner of New York's Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Bamako is a great piece of afro blues-funk from their second album Resistance, released in 2017.
Songhoy Blues: Bamako (Live for WFUV Public Radio)
7. Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia
We are trying to sneak this one in the lower middle order of the playlist. Radio Ethiopia is the title track of the second album by the Patti Smith Group in 1976, which was a follow up to critically acclaimed debut Horses. The album has been seen by many as lacking the direction of that first record, and also of being somewhat self-indulgent. Sadly for us, the title track has been the particular focus of much controversy over the years, being as it consists of around ten minutes of noise, with live versions of it often considered the low point of the band's concerts. Despite this, Smith herself has always thought it to be a good song and her way of honouring the dying wishes of French poet Arthur Rimbaud. If you can face it after that description, you can be the judge....
Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia (Audio only - challenge yourself!)
(I'm going to be honest here, the first 4 minutes are just about listenable, but after that...)
8. Paul Simon: Under African Skies
Under African Skies is yet another truly glorious track which became the fifth and final single from Paul Simon's seventh studio solo album, the hugely iconic and successful Graceland. This track includes guest vocals from Linda Ronstadt and comes from recordings made during later sessions for the album. In fact, Simon had to fly several musicians in to New York City, from Johannesburg, to help him complete the album (this late session also gave us You Can Call Me Al).
Paul Simon: Under African Skies (Live at the African Concert, 1987 - fittingly with 'Mama Africa', Miriam Makeba taking the Ronstadt part)
9. Artists United Against Apartheid: Sun City
The Sun City in question in this protest song, was a resort location in the Bantustan (which are territory's set aside for black people to be moved to, often forcibly, under the old apartheid system of South Africa) of Bophuthatswana. It became the symbol for many anti-apartheid activists, as it was a place where Western musicians often went to perform, despite its links to the systemic racism of the South African government. Steven Van Zandt (Little Steven, most famous for being part of the E Street Band) wrote the song, which he also as a parallel to what had happened to Native Americans in the US - as a means to drive change and shame musicians who had played there despite apartheid. The recording includes possibly the most incredibly diverse range of legendary musicians of all the charity singles ever made - including the boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Miles Davis, George Clinton, Lou Reed, Run DMC, Peter Gabriel, Jackson Browne, Afrika Bambaataa, Bobby Womack, Kurtis Blow and Jimmy Cliff. Proceeds from the song and subsequent album raised around $1m for anti-apartheid causes.
Artists United Against Apartheid: Sun City (Official music video)
10. Peter Gabriel: Biko
It is not ostensibly about a specific place, but it does name check Port Elizabeth - and it is one of the most powerful and poignant protest songs of the last fifty years, hence its inclusion. It is effectively a beautiful eulogy to anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, who died in police custody on 12 September 1977. There is a sparse beat tapped out on a Brazilian drum, some fuzzy guitar and a synthesised bagpipe. It also includes phrases in Xhosa - "Yehla Moya" (Come spirit). On the album it is placed between parts of two folk songs that had been played at Biko's funeral - Ngomhla Sibuyayo and Senzeni Na? (the latter being described a bit like a Xhosa We Shall Overcome). Biko had helped form the South African Students Organisation in the late 60s and was banned from leaving his home town in 1973. He was arrested in Port Elizabeth in 1977 and beaten in custody, dying a few days later from his injuries. Proceeds from the single, totalling around £50k (at the time), went to the Black Consciousness Movement.
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