
Walid Rouissi – Yammi El Ayoun Essoud
(1988, Tunisia)

Walid Rouissi – Yammi El Ayoun Essoud
(1988, Tunisia)

Fene Ouel Amal & Galia Club Mascara – Fight Song
While we are on the subject of second division football clubs, Galia Club Mascara was founded in 1925 and was one of the first Muslim teams in French Algeria. They are currently in 14th place in Western Division of Ligue 2, but they won the division 1 championship in 1984 with Lakhdar Belloumi, the greatest Algerian soccer player of all-time. There is no date on this record but it easily could have been the championship year. I was unable to uncover anything about Fene Ouel Amal but I think it’s fair to assume that he and the team gathered in the locker room to sing this fight song prior to every game. Music and lyrics by Meghdir ben Ali.

Compaoré Issouf – Ouedraogo
A joyful ditty from the Burkinabe carpenter-turned-musician who grew up listening to his mother hum the traditional songs of Burkina Faso.

Fotso Haïata – French Girl (1978)

Mohamed Mazouni – Ecoute-Moi Camarade (1974)

Peter King – Mr. and Mrs. Untrue (A Soulfull Peter King, 1977)
We conclude our annual We Three Kings series with this soothing, soulful ballad from Peter King, a multi-instrumentalist from Nigeria’s Western State. In closing, there is general agreement among modern scholars that if Peter, Rosa, and Ben E. King had been alive during Jesus’ time, they would have kicked some serious biblical butt.


Cora Funk – Sabuma (1978)
Featuring Fode Drame and Lamine Konte. The latter transformed the playing of the 21-string kora thanks to his ceaseless experimentation on the complex instrument. He also contributed to film scores including a collaboration with Stevie Wonder on The Secret Life of Plants soundtrack.

Pat Thomas – Yesu San Bra (1980)
A track reminiscent of of K. Frimpong’s “Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu”, the greatest Ghanian song EVER. Pat was a native of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He learned the guitar and drums from his uncle Onyina who had played with Nat King Cole, Miriam Makeba, Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald. In the early 70s he was a member of The Blue Monks, the resident band of Accra’s Tip Toe Nite Club (which still exists). He later formed the Sweat Beans Band, an extremely popular group during the Kutu Acheampong Era of government (1972-78). Pat was crowned Mr. Golden Voice of Africa in 1978.