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TDATS 47: Turn On The Sun [African Psych, Hard Rock, Prog and Zam-Rock] by Rich Aftersabbath on Mixcloud
Volume 47 is a motley crew of tracks from various locations in The Great Continent of Africa. This was sparked by a LastFM comment I got from someone who gave me a couple of suggestions. We have a wide range of great sounds, varying between white-african bands' typically western rock leanings like Rabbitt, to the tribal percussion of the Zam-rockers like Amanaz. One of the stand-out aspects of this comp is the rhythm and funk running through most of it!
01. Invaders (Cape Town) - Turn on the Sun (1971)
02. Ofo The Black Company (Lagos) - Allah Wakbarr (1972)
03. The Funkees (Nigeria) - Break Through (1973)
04. Amanaz (Zambia) - History of Man (1975)
05. Otis Waygood Blues Band (Zimbabwe) - Devil Bones / Straight Ahead (1971)
06. Ngozi Family (Zambia) - House of Fear (1977)
07. Suck (Johannesburg) - The Whip / Into The Fire (1971)
08. The Psychedelic Aliens (Ghana) - Okponmo Ni Tsitsi Emo Le (1971)
09. Freedom's Children (Johannesburg) - Sea Horse (1972)
10. Mack Sigis Porter (Ghana) - Sunday In Neon Lights (1972)
11. The Peace (Zambia) - Black Power (1975)
12. Witch (Zambia) - Havoc (1975)
13. The Attraction (South Africa) - Go Away (1969)
14. Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family (Zambia) - Fisherman (1976)
15. Rabbitt (Johannesburg) - Savage (1976)
Cape Town's Invaders open up with some groovy psych and we go straight into Ofo The Black Company. They were formed in Lagos, Nigeria and were quickly picked up by London Records, so their debut album was actually recorded in the UK. Their standout track here 'Allah Wakbarr' is an irresistibly catchy slice of funky rock. Nigeria's 'The Funkees' main reason for being on here is their intriguing cover of an Atomic Rooster track that works well and sounds unique. Amanaz, Witch, Ngozi Family, The Peace and Chissy Zebby all share the fuzzy, hazy sound that has become known as Zam-rock, coming from various regions of Zambia in West Africa. There is an interview with Witch vocalist Emmanuel "Jagari" Chanda, which also mentions The Peace, here at Pshychedelic Baby webzine. Of the three Johannesburg bands here, Suck demonstrate their love of downer rock and hard rock with their Sabbathy original 'The Whip' and a Deep Purple cover, Freedom's Children play a very accomplished brand of progressive heavy psych and Rabbitt go for the big stadium sound. There is a great Freedom's children-related interview here at Psychedelic Baby webzine. Rabbit includes Trevor Rabin, who soon moved to Europe and went on to further acclaim with solo works and vocal duties in the 80's incarnation of Yes.
Otis Waygood has a couple of great tunes here, varying from blues rock to reggae. We also have a couple of Ghanaian rarities; a compilation of The Psychedelic Aliens was put out recently. It took Frank Gossner (of Voodoofunk.com) 4 years, 9 visits to Ghana, and dozens of newspaper ads and radio announcements to track down the band for a hand in creating it! A final mention goes to Ghana's enigmatic Mack Sigis Porter, who recorded his great amusingly-titled album 'Peace on You' with an Italian backing group, and the immersive doomy atmosphere of 'Sunday In Neon Lights' really is something to behold.
Cheers, Rich
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