Mongo Santamaria, "Watermelon Man"

This set of “world music” pop numbers somehow managed to slip into mainstream culture, and no doubt, the world is a better place for it.  Listening to them back to back in hindsight makes for a pleasing—even exciting—trip down memory lane.  No surprise to Afropoppers, Reggae, African, Brazilian, and Cuban artists figure into 10 of the 11 tracks—the exception being the Gipsy Kings “Bamboleo,” which still sounds a breathless and overblown to this reviewer, but you can’t argue with the choice.  A hit is a hit!

Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger’s reggae-tilted, 1978 cover of The Temptations’ “Don’t Look Back” kicks things off—not the most memorable song by either singer, but what fun to hear these two iconic voices mixing it up, and in top form.  The reggae theme extends into Toure Kunda’s “Emma.”  Not surprisingly, with the African artists, “hits” sometimes involve a surrender of local rhythm in favor of something more generic.  “Emma” holds up pretty well and delivers the seminal Senegalese crossover band’s excellent, layered vocal sounds.  The next track, Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry’s brooding R&B dirge “Seven Seconds” wears less well.  The song’s success remains an impressive achievement, even if it gave the great unwashed little clue as to what N’Dour’s music is all about.  Manu Dibango’s funky “Soul Makossa” can also be heard as Afropop in drag, but like N’Dour, Dibango has always been a shape-shifter, and the number does deliver a strong shot of the Cameroonean icon’s distinctive persona.

By contrast, two songs here genuinely awakened the world to the pleasures of a new sound, in this case, Latin music:  Mongo Santamaria’s  1963 “Watermelon Man”—who remembers that this world-changing track is only two-and-a-half minutes long?—and Santana’s “Oye Como Va.”  Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come” also opened doors big time, and the song is an evergreen, sounding a fresh and feisty today as it did in 1975.  Kaoma’s “Lambada,” by contrast, is a fleeting bit of ephemera—all the rage in 1989, all washed up in 1990.  Just the same, once you get past its canned treacle ambiance, you may still find yourself moving to it. 

Two South African numbers fill out the set.  Miriam Makeba’s 1967 recording of “Pata Pata” is the real thing.  Few Americans analyzed it at the time, but the song is a township refraction of old jazz and soul, easy to absorb even at a time when African music was complete terra incognita.  Johnny’s Clegg’s Zulu rock anthem “Scatterlings” sold particularly well in France—odd, since most of the lyrics are in English.  The song launched Clegg’s remarkable international career that at its height saw substantial record sales, and opened many ears—including mine—to the joys of African guitar picking.

Three conspicuous absences:  Hugh Masekela’s “Grazin’ in the Grass,” Desmond Decker’s “The Israelites,” and Mory Kante’s “Yeke Yeke.”  But of course, it’s easy to nitpick.  A concept this wide open can be spun so many ways.  In all, the selections here are solid, and the end result is a great listen and an instructive lesson in world pop history to boot.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org