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Is it gospel or highlife or reggae or jazz?  Even on a single song, Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy, produced by Max Weissenfeldt at Joy Sound Studios in Kumasi, Ghana, can be all of the above and then some.  Hear for yourself when I play three songs from Oho's new album O Yinne! (O Creator!), maybe my favorite album of 2023 so far, on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go.

 

Also this week (Sunday July 30, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): Saramaccan Sound is Suriname's answer to the Louvin Brothers, Mokoomba makes Zimbabwean Afropop, Indian-American singer Kavita Shah takes on Cesária Evora, Jacobo Vélez pays homage to his grandmother and her radio, and Etienne Tron revives a forgotten Senegalese reggae classic by Max Adioa.

Charts July 17-23, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MOKOOMBA | Tusona: Tracings In The Sand | Out Here

2 IMMY OWUSU | Lo-Life! | Hopestreet

3 GUTS | Straight From The Decks Vol. 3 | Heavenly Sweetness

4 EBO TAYLOR | Twer Nyame | Comet

5 PACHYMAN | "Trago Coqueto" [Single] | ATO

6 PICONEMA: EAST AFRICAN HITS ON THE COLOMBIAN COAST | various artists | Rocafort

7 AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE | A Trip To Bolgatanga | On-U Sound

8 BANTU | What Is Your Breaking Point? | Soledad

9 FRANKLIN BOUKAKA | L'Immortel: The 60s Rumba Revolution In Congo | Fremeaux & Associes

10 EAST AFRICA HIGHWAY | various artists | No Wahala Sounds

One million

Global A Go-Go's blog globalagogo.com has been around for 13 years now and it just hit a milestone: It has now had over one million page views.  So a big thank you goes out to everyone who supports this program by listening to the broadcasts and podcasts, and by reading the blog and also my posts at wrir.org.  One hundred billion views, here we come!

I have another all-African show for you this week (Sunday July 23, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site), inspired by an excellent and varied group of new releases of music from and inspired by that continent.

They include an unexpected trip to northern Ghana by Adrian Sherwood's dub-inspired African Head Charge project; Immy Owusu's new Afrodelik sound; another great reissue of highlife master Ebo Taylor; current Nigerian Afrobeat from Lagos Thugs and BANTU; the third Straight From The Decks compilation from one of my favorite global selectors, the French DJ named Guts; and an awesome compilation of Kenyan music that's been adopted by the DJs of Colombia's picó sound systems.

Charts July 10-16, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 CONJUNTO MEDIA LUNA | Noches De Media Luna | Little Beat More

2 MOKOOMBA | Tusona: Tracings In The Sand | Out Here

3 GUAPOS, THE | Hey! | One Little Blue

4 PICONEMA: EAST AFRICAN HITS ON THE COLOMBIAN COAST | various artists | Rocafort

5 CUMBIA CUMBIA CUMBIA!!! VOL. 1 | various artists | Vampisoul

6 AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE | A Trip To Bolgatanga | On-U Sound

7 YAMAYA | Senegal | Funkiwala

8 FELIX MANUEL | Mi Historia, Vol. 1 | La Oreja

9 LALALAR | "Hem Evimsin Hem Cehennemim" [Single] | Bongo Joe

10 LUAMBO MAKIADI FRANCO |  OK Jazz 66 Ans | Air Monde Culture

Crossover dreams

Rubén Blades, the Panamanian singer, songwriter, actor, lawyer and politician who is one of the central figures in the development of salsa music, turns 75 years old on Sunday and fortunately for us he's still very much active today.  Global A Go-Go marks the occasion with a set of Blades tunes and also celebrates the Jamaican hitmaker Desmond Dekker, who would have been 82 on Sunday.

 

Also this week (Sunday July 16, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): cumbia from classic to post-modern, gently psychedelic Brazilian sounds, Global A Go-Go's occasional feature Get In The Garage returns with new music from The Guapos, and the Anatolian darkwave of Istanbul's Lalalar.

Charts Jun 26 - Jul 9, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 YEBO! RARE MZANSI PARTY BEATS FROM APARTHEID'S DYING YEARS | various artists | BBE

2 NANA BENZ DU TOGO | Ago | Komos

3 LES SYMPATHICS DE PORTO NOVO BENIN | Vol. 2 | Albarika Store

4 ROGER BEKONO | Roger Bekono | Awesome Tapes From Africa

5 PLENA LIBRE | Cuatro Esquinas | GN Musica

6 KUMBIA QUEERS/NACHO VEGAS | "Cuando Hablas Asi" [Single] | Faro Latino

7 Y LA BAMBA | Lucha | Tender Loving Empire

8 ETRAN DE L'AIR | Live In Seattle [EP] | Sahel Sounds

9 MOKOOMBA | Tusona: Tracings In The Sand | Out Here

10 LUAMBO MAKIADI FRANCO | OK Jazz 66 Ans | Air Monde Culture

Flash a flashlight

I will confess that I'm not the biggest disco fan.  Now, I do like me some house music, especially in the right room on the right sound system, and David Mancuso is certainly one of my DJing heroes.  But the stuff that was on the radio in the 70s, and the thousands of reissues over the last few years?  That's a big "No" from me, dawg.

 

Here's what does do it for me in the world of disco: Bubblegum, the South African version of the genre that's a predecessor to all that country's subsequent electronic dance styles: kwaito, gqom and now amapiano.  It's immediately recognizable as South African with direct links to earlier styles like mbaqanga, marabi and kwela, but it has disco's relentless four-on-the-floor rhythm and devil-may-care ethos.

 

Inspired by a terrific new bubblegum compilation called Yebo! Rare Mzansi Beats From Apartheid's Dying Years, the whole second hour this week is ten or so of my favorite bubblegum tracks in a more platter, less chatter dance mix that you might want to crank up and share with your neighbors.  Just sayin' ....

Also this week (Sunday July 9, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): it's an all-African episode this time featuring a trip to Mali, two of today's best desert blues bands in brand new live recordings, and the irresistible dance sounds of Congolese soukous.