Can’t wait for this one, French label and radio station – Hot Secousse – always bring the goods, bringing unheard music from parts of the world that others neglect to reach. This compilation will provide some of the best soukouss music ever created – produced by a group formed by President Bongo of Gabon and performed throughout the 1980s. The Bongo family reigned continuously over the Gabonese Repubic until a coup d’état in August last year.
Gabon is an Equatorial country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa bordered by Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and Equatorial Guinea to the northwest. The band incorporated some of the best singers and musicians from all over the region.
President Omar Bongo was in power from 1967 until 2023. “Together with his wife, the infamous singer Patience Dabany…” the label explains.
“…he invented one of the ultimate political propaganda machines: ‘animation groups’, massive female choirs and dancers, up to 60 women deep, singing the praise of his regime over some of the best soukous rhythms ever, broadcast live on TV.”
“Between 1982 and 1989, mainly thanks to the flourishing oil economy, a record-label was created, a state-of-the-art recording studio was set up, and the best Gabonese and Congolese musicians were recruited. Dozens of vinyls were pressed and sold with huge success all over the country.”
WORLD TREASURES MUSIC 