Top 25 African songs of the Seventies

Belles époques and revolution rock

It’s unlikely that any one person could make this list definitively, and if such a person did exist, they wouldn’t be someone who has never set foot in Africa and who wasn’t alive in the 1970s. Nevertheless, I’ve been listening to this stuff for the majority of a life that didn’t begin that long after the Seventies ended, so I’ll take my shot. There were more than 25 African countries with recording studios at the time, so there’s no way this list can be entirely representative—Ghana in particular got hard done by, and I don’t know how to start sorting through hour-long Umm Kulthum songs to find the best one. Most of my choices are highly canonical, but because Africa is big, I daresay even most experts will discover something new. (If not, make a better list and send me a link.) Still, the main target audience here is beginners—if you’ve heard zero or one songs from 1970s Africa before, this is where to start.

A YouTube playlist is the only feasible quasi-legal delivery method: streaming services are missing too much and except in a few well-lawyered cases, it’s not like the original artists would be getting their fractional cents anyway. What follows: descriptions of the songs in playlist order (the years are often guesses), then, because I’m not a wuss, a ranked list, plus some nearly-made-its, and finally a couple of bonuses for the hardcore sickos. Most of all, remember this is pop music: it’s (usually) meant to be fun, so get up and do the makgona already.

LINK TO THE PLAYLIST (WHICH IS THREE HOURS, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THE WHOLE THING AT ONCE)

The list, in playlist order:

Manu Dibango: “Soul Makossa” (Cameroon, 1972)

We might as well start on friendly turf with Afropop’s first crossover hit. Dibango sued Michael Jackson and got 100,000 francs; he sued Rihanna and didn’t get anything, thanks to the French judicial system. 

Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens: “Uyavutha Umlilo” (South Africa, 1971)

This is from near the end of the partnership’s original run, with all the key players doing what they do best. Mahlathini groans, the Makgona Tsohle Band (including Joseph Makwela, 44th on Rolling Stone’s list of greatest bassists and about 40 spots too low) grooves along jerkily, and some assortment of harmony singers that includes queen of Queens Hilda Tloubatla tell you about that international dance craze, the Jive Makgona.

Mahotella Queens: “Umculo Kawupheli” (South Africa, 1973)

Mahlathini having departed for a label that would actually pay him, Tloubatla gets a chance to sing lead unencumbered by groaners. She responds with one of the great “up” vocal performances, and Marks Mankwane’s guitar is almost as life-affirming. Malcolm McLaren’s plagiarism of it still had so much life in it, it accidentally revived the whole mbaqanga genre.

Indoda Mahlathini: “Baba-Ye” (South Africa, 1974)

Meanwhile Mahlathini had assembled his rival girl group, named none too subtly the Queens, and even managed to get one of them, Joyce “Koekie” Makhanya, to write a song about his greatness. Putting together a band to rival Makgona Tsohle might be a more telling testament to that.

Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath: “Nick Tete” (South Africa/UK, 1972)

A plethora of horn players are invited to party, with Dudu Pukwana’s alto in the driver’s seat, never letting off the accelerator, and trumpets and trombones providing just the right responses.

Thomas Mapfumo & the Acid Band: “Hokoyo!” (Zimbabwe, 1978)

Musically, this is nowhere near as sophisticated as Mapfumo’s chimurenga would get with the Blacks Unlimited; it’s a catchy riff over a basic R&B beat (albeit with some neat sax) that lets him get his message across as straightforwardly as possible: the government had better watch out. It got him a few months in jail, but Rhodesia wouldn’t last long after that. It wouldn’t be the last regime Mapfumo got in trouble with.

Franco & Le T.P. O.K Jazz: “AZDA” (Congo, 1973)

“The name of DFCO has been buried! Today we choose AZDA!” YouTube videos with translations were one of the most useful innovations of the 2000s. YouTube videos with translations and flashing Volkswagen logos are one of the most useful innovations of the 2020s.

Tabu Ley Rochereau & l’Afrisa International: “Karibou Ya Bintou” (Congo, 1975?)

I don’t want to say “here’s one of the great African voices” for every entry, but here’s maybe the tenderest performance from one of the great African voices. Written after the death of one of his dancers and addressed to her brother Bintou from Brazzaville, it’s one of Afropop’s most touching expressions of empathy.

Orchestre Zaiko Langa-Langa: “Zaiko Wawawa” (Congo, 1976)

Recorded in Ghana after the first of many band splits, this is a key record in the development of what due to record company accidents the English-speaking world would know as soukous: fast, with a sebene that could go on forever, the Cuban influence mostly residual.

Papa Wemba & L’Orchestre Viva la Musica: “Mère Supérieure” (Congo, 1977)

“Somewhat forced” according to Rumba on the River, this has all manner of voices competing for attention. It’s flashy guitarist Rigo Star who ends up getting the most notes in, without sacrificing prettiness of tone.

Mpongo Love/Orchestre Les Ya Tupa’s: “Ndaya” (Congo, 1977)

She’d eventually become one of the few explicitly feminist African singers of her time, but this early hit was an ode to marital fidelity. And it suits her: her slightly nasal voice has the integrity of the great girl group leaders, and the barroom piano is appropriately homespun.

Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestroes: “Ekassa 24 (Kirikisi)” (Nigeria, 1973)

The first track on Vertigo’s 1983 African Music, still the greatest compilation of Nigerian highlife. The lead riff here is just so inviting, the top note a mini-climax every time, hinting at a whole world of music where that came from, or at least a whole country (and that’s not even including Ghana.)

Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National: “Igede” (Nigeria, 1970)

This is the only record on both editions of The Rough Guide to Highlife, as well as African Music. One of the most listenable songs ever, vocal exortations and all, with Ukwu’s xylophone sharpening the easy-going groove.

Oriental Brothers International: “Uwamesi Special” (Nigeria, 1975)

The classic lineup at its peak: Dr. Sir Warrior declaiming charismatically, Dan Satch providing harmonically sophisticated leads, Kabaka Opara allegedly directing the show.

Fela & Afrika 70: “Sorrow Tears and Blood” (Nigeria, 1977)

While other Fela songs groove harder (and longer, though there’s a 17-minute extended edition if you’re into that), this is his best political songwriting, written as a response to the 1976 Soweto uprising but impossible to listen to without reference to the military raid on Fela’s compound that killed his mom.

Sunny Adé & His African Beats: “Afai Bawon Ja” (Nigeria, 1972)

Like many of Adé’s early ’70s records, this is a side-long medley that mushes several songs together, unified by the talking drums and the one stubborn guitar that’s out of tune relative to the others which turns out to be one of the great personalities in juju. (It’s also eighteen minutes, so novices should feel free to hit skip once they get the gist.)

Balla et Ses Balladins: “Sara 70” (Guinea, 1970)

The guitar soloist here shows he’s one of the first to master the innovations of Docteur Nico and build on them… but who is he? Muzikifan says it’s Sekou “Le Docteur” Diabaté (not to be confused with sometime bandmate, sometime rival Sékou “Bembeya” Diabaté), while some rando in the YouTube comments says it’s Kémo Kouyaté; all everyone agrees on is it isn’t Famoro Kouyaté, who was originally credited on the reissue. A hint may be that the version of “Sara” by Kouyate and Kouyate on their 1990 album contains almost the same solo, except I don’t know which Kouyatés those are. Anyway, this is the sort of thing you have to put up with if you’re an Afropop discography nerd; otherwise, you can sit and wait for the 6:40 mark, when the band takes the heck off.

Baobab: “El Son Te Llama” (Senegal, 1978)

In future decades, they’d slow things down and become Afropop’s great statesmen; here, they’re an uncannily good Cuban knock-off band with a red hot rhythm section, over which Medoune Diallo singing a mash-up of “Amor Verdadero” and “Oriente” in Spanish.

Étoile de Dakar: “Thiely” (Senegal, 1978)

Youssou Ndour’s third shot at this song—the first was with the Star Band, the second was spelled “Cely” on Étoile’s debut—and the one that stuck. It’s pitched higher and more intense, and there’s more confidence invested in the band, who get to stretch out.

Rail Band: “Mansa” (Mali, 1975)

That’s Guinea’s own Mory Kanté singing lead, not Salif Keita as claimed on some highly searchable websites. It can sometimes be hard to hear why the Rail Band ruled Bamako for so long, but here Kanté keeps up the intensity for eight and a half minutes before the band shifts up a gear.

Idrissa Soumaoro, L’Eclipse de L’I.J.A.: “Fama Allah” (Mali, 1978)

In 1978, music teacher Idrissa Soumaoro realized he had a heck of a band at Bamako’s Institute of Young Blind People, including hotshot guitarist Amadou Bagayoko, who had already sat in with Soumaoro in Les Ambassadeurs, and teenaged-or-so singer Mariem Doumbia. He ushered them into the studio to record an album, led by “Fama Allah”, that was mostly given away and remained all but unheard outside Mali and, for Cold War reasons, East Germany, until this decade-of-impact. In an era when seemingly anything with a pre-MIDI organ gets marketed as “psychedelic” (can Bach be next), it’s nice to hear something that for its first five minutes does feel like it’s in a more intense state of consciousness, achieved in no small part through probably-Mariem’s introductory ahs, which seem to intuit a whole new tonal system while sounding unquestionably right. When the spell breaks, they rock out, which is where it helps to have a heck of a band.

— from my Top 100 Songs of the 2010s list, we’re not too consistent with regard to periodization around here

Afro 70 Band: “Week End” (Tanzania/Kenya, 1972)

One of the great end-of-week celebration songs, up there with De La Soul and Rebecca Black. The rumba flows with the same ease as the singer has when greets listeners with “We welcome all patrons to have fun and enjoy dancing away”.

T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou: “Cherie Coco” (Benin, 1977)

Of all the ’70s Afropop sides that, whether because of age-old performance traditions or because it was easier than learning another head, went loooong, this 17-minuter holds my attention the best. After a minute and a half of the A-section, guitarist Zoundegnon Bernard “Papillon” hits overdrive and the band is off to the races for nine minutes, with solo and group vocals providing variation. Then we get to the triplets section, which gives the horns a little shine while Papillon draws some elegant figures. Maybe the first time a foreign band had out-Congoed the Congolese.

Hirut Bekele: “Almorkerkum Nebere” (Ethiopia, 1972)

It’s just funk, sure, but Bekele’s singing makes it uncanny. A star since the late ’50s (now happily retired in Addis), she uses her high warble to put some distance between herself and the band. The title translates as “I have never tried”, and whatever it is, I don’t think she has.

Fadela et Belemou: “Mahlali Noum” (Algeria, 1979)

Often cited as the first pop-raï song (though Ted Swedenburg makes a convincing case that it was part of a continuous process of modernization led by bandleader Belemou and others), it was more certainly Chaba-next-door Fadela’s breakout hit as lead artist. It’s not as polished or as transcendent as super-duper classic “N’sel Fik”, but if you can live with the rubbish sound quality (someone clean it up for reissue please), you can hear how striking the driving accordion and response vocals must’ve been at the time—not to mention the long-banned sound of a woman singing.

And now (drum roll), the list in rank order:

1. Franco & Le T.P. O.K Jazz: “AZDA”

2. Mahotella Queens: “Umculo Kawupheli”

3. Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National: “Igede”

4. Balla et Ses Balladins: “Sara 70”

5. Afro 70 Band: “Week End”

6. Orchestre Zaiko Langa-Langa: “Zaiko Wawawa”

7. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou: “Cherie Coco”

8. Idrissa Soumaoro, L’Eclipse de L’I.J.A.: “Fama Allah”

9. Fela & Afrika 70: “Sorrow Tears and Blood”

10. Tabu Ley Rochereau & l’Afrisa International: “Karibou Ya Bintou”

11. Indoda Mahlathini: “Baba-Ye”

12. Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath: “Nick Tete”

13. Étoile de Dakar: “Thiely”

14. Fadela et Belemou: “Mahlali Noum”

15. Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestroes: “Ekassa 24 (Kirikisi)”

16. Sunny Adé & His African Beats: “Afai Bawon Ja”

17. Papa Wemba & L’Orchestre Viva la Musica: “Mère Supérieure”

18. Hirut Bekele: “Almorkerkum Nebere”

19. Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens: “Uyavutha Umlilo”

20. Thomas Mapfumo & the Acid Band: “Hokoyo!”

21. Rail Band: “Mansa”

22. Mpongo Love/Orchestre Les Ya Tupa’s: “Ndaya”

23. Manu Dibango: “Soul Makossa”

24. Baobab: “El Son Te Llama”

25. Oriental Brothers International: “Uwamesi Special”

Also considered:

SOUTH AFRICA

Mahotella Queens: “Wozani Mahipi” (1974); “Zibuyile Nonyaka” (South Africa, 1977)

Mahlathini & the Queens, “Umkhovu” (1975 or 1976)

Intombi Zephepha: “Ingoina Le Nyathi”

Gibson Kente: “Saduva” (1976)

ZIMBABWE

Hallelujah Chicken Run Band: “Tamba Zimba Navashe” (1974?)

CONGO

Franco & l’Orchestre TP OK Jazz: “Kinsiona” (1974), “Liberté” (1976), “Marie Naboyi” (1971), lots of others

Tabu Ley Rochereau/Orchestre L’International Afrisa: “Aon-Aon” (1973)

Verckys & Orchestre Veve: “Nakomitunaka” (1972)

Franklin Boukaka: “Nakoko” (1970?)

Orchestre Bella Bella: “Sola” (1972)

NIGERIA

Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National: “Okwukwe Na Nchekwube” (Nigeria, 1972)

Popular Cooper & His All Beats Band of Nigeria: “Arraino”

Fela Ransome-Kuti & the Africa 70: “Gentleman” (1973)

Sunny Ade & His African Beats: “Sunny Ti De” (1974)

William Onyeabor: “Better Change Your Mind” (1978)

Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz International: “Sweet Mother” (1976)

GHANA

Powerful Mercury Dance Band: “Kai Wawa” (1973)

Sweet Talks: “Akampanye” (1976)

GUINEA

Bembeya Jazz National: “Ballake” (1974)

Balla et Ses Balladins: “Lumumba” (1975)

SENEGAL

Star Band de Dakar: “Nabolinata” (1975?)

Orchesta Number One de Dakar: “Nongui Nongui” (1978)

Etoile de Dakar: “Xalis” (978)

MALI

Melodias Rail Band Du Mali: “Soyomba” (1976)

Les Ambassadeurs du Motel: “Wara” (1976)

Salif Keita, Ambasadeur International: “Mandjou” (1978)

KENYA/TANZANIA

Orch. Super Volcano: “Mngeni Mali Yake Yoke” (1976)

Orchestra D.O.7 Shirati Jazz: “Giko Piny” (1975)

ETHIOPIA

Tlahoun Gessesse: “Sema” (1975)

Mulatu Astatke: “Tezeta” (1972)

ALGERIA

Boutaiba Sghir, “El Fermlia” (might be 1969?)

Belemou & Benfissa: “Li Maandouche l’Auto” (early ’70s)

MOROCCO

Nass El Ghiwane: “Yamina” (1973)

Dessert:

Here are a couple of oddballs I learned about during months of working on this list that are not close to the top African songs of the 1970s but are nevertheless diverting. Here’s a recording of Youssou Ndour from before his voice broke that shows he managed to transition from scarily good child singer to all-timer adult singer like no one else besides Michael Jackson. (Youssou handled other aspects of adulthood better than Jackson, obviously.)

Finally, some of us have long conceptualized Tabu Ley Rochereau as the McCartney to Franco’s Lennon, but this is a little too on the nose.

Dedicated once again to Richard Cobeen, who I’m sure would’ve told me about something obvious I missed.