Hello, how are you, I know you, I knew you...
Yes, hello how are you all, who were wondering what happened with Mangue Music. Well I was very, very busy with many, many other things. Always keeping in the back of my mind to return here and post some good music, if I had the time and a good oportunity.
Well that oportunity happened at a flea markwet where I found a very strange CD, with very little info about it's contents. So I asked the seller, and he didn't have a clue. Therefore I asked if I could listen to it, he said he didn't have a player there, but I could just take it and have it for free.
I liked his generousness, as the text on the disc "Franco Op Slag van Maandag, KRO 1988"; had given me the idea that it might be an interesting andpotentially special CD.
Well IT IS!!!! It's a radioshow broadcasted sometime in 1988 on Dutch KRO radio, and it has two parts:
- An almost half hour Congo Special
- A more than half hour recording of FRANCO live 1984.Jan.24 in Amsterdam
- CONGO Special 1988
- 1.Pablo Porthos - Madeleina [1981]
- 2.Bibi Den's Tshibayi - The "Best" Ambience [1982/84]
- 3.Joseph Kabasselle - El Que Siembra Su Maïz [1950s]
- 4.Rochereau Et Franco - Kabassele In Memoriam [1983]
- FRANCO live 1984.Jan.24 in the Melkweg in Amsterdam
During my absence blogger/google has changed a lot concerning inserting images, I tried several ways, without success, so instead of my own images, a pictures from getty embedded in the post [but don't worry, my own are all in the download...]
Some links for those of you who like add.info about Franco:
- a lot of audio by one of his biggest fans at worldservice
- an old blog with a lot of info at Franco et TPOK Jazz Restored
- an interesting article about Franco in The Journal of Music
- an article* from a Dutch newspaper
"Bandleider Franco was machtiger dan Mobutu"
*I made translations of quotes by Stefan Werdekker [wrldsrv!] from the above linked Dutch article:
"He gave post-colonial Africa its own identity from the sixties onwards. With his pursuit of authenticity, of its own identity through music, he influenced the entire continent. Franco demonstrated how you could combine elements from your own folk music with electric guitar music. He was also a great bandleader. A kind of training institute, because everyone performed best with him. He understood the art of - well, he often took them away from competitors - constantly attracting new talent. Until his death in 1989, he had about fifty people on his payroll, spread over orchestras in Kinshasa, Paris and Brussels."
Franco's songs last about ten minutes. They start with the heating, the warm-up, in which the singers play a leading role. Then it's the turn of the guitars, which slowly slide their repetitive motifs into each other. Werdekker: "Franco called that the 'mipanza', the 'knitting style'. You could call him the Rivaldo of Congolese rumba. He sent the band to a certain point and then waited for his moment like a libero."
"He was essentially a rebel, a provocateur who denounced everything in his songs. Even though he supported the political campaigns of President Mobutu, he always remained critical. For example, the song 'Camp Luka' is about a slum in Kinshasa, which borders on a lavish residential area. 'Can you explain to me why?' Franco sings in every chorus. He also attacked ministers such as Kengo Wadondo of Justice. In the satirical 'Tailleur' (the tailor), he gets a dig at him because he cuts up freedom of expression and cuts it to his size."
"Franco was popular in all layers of the population. Mobutu was powerful thanks to Franco, his politics gained a certain legitimacy. Franco was the only one who could take his president to task. After his death, that critical note disappeared and the flaws in Mobutu's politics came to light. Only then did Mobutu make his first concessions to democracy."
The 1984.Jan.24 concert by Franco in The Melkweg is listed as one of THE 4 live-concert-sensations of the last century. Together with: Lionel Hampton [1953, Amsterdam], The Beatles [1964, Blokker] and The Rolling Stones [1964, Kurhaus]. Well that's SOMETHING to be in such a list!
And last a quote from Franco himself, shortly before he passed away in 1989: "I've just walked to Lourdes, that's why now I can't stand on my own legs."
