Fifty up, only five Togo after to go.
Apologies, that should read "only five to go after Togo". But we are in no hurry, so let's linger longer in Lomé and take in the scene.
And there is no better place to start than with one of the hottest bands around, one that I have raved about in these pages previously - Nana Benz do Togo. I was completely blown away by their debut album "Ago" when I discovered it while visiting Paris last year, and then again when I saw them live in London back in the summer. That evening they closed their set with this track and sent us all off smiling.
Next we go back in time to meet Bella Bellow, a sweet-voiced songbird whose surname is the opposite of onomatopoeia (I don't know whether there is a word for that but Rol probably does). You will find absolutely no bellowing on this single from the late 1960s.
Bella's light shone briefly but brightly, becoming a household name all across West Africa and playing at venues like the Paris Olympia and the Maracana Stadium in Rio before tragically dying in a car crash in 1973 aged just 28.
Much less celebrated at the time were Orchestre Abass, who released a couple of blistering singles in 1972 and then promptly disappeared from view. They remained hidden until a few years ago when the good folks at Analog Africa did some high quality crate-digging and put out all their known recordings on "De Bassari Togo". There is plenty of bellowing on this one.
Even in their prime the Abass boys were not exactly Togo's go to guys, but there were plenty of contenders for that title. You can find many of them duking it out on Hot Casa's excellent "Togo Soul 70" compilation, including Aimé Orchis Mathey. I haven't been able to find out anything about Mr Mathey so can't back up the statement that he was a go to guy, but listening to that guitar you have to think he must have been.
Edging forward to the 1980s we find Itadi K. Bonney, another Hot Casa rediscovery. This track comes from his self-titled 1983 album but going by the cover it is his 1977 album you really want to get. Hard to believe that by 1990 this Togolese Leo Sayer lookalike would be forced to flee the country after his lyrics upset the ruling Gnassingbé dynasty (founded 1967 and still in charge today).
We will leap ahead to the present day to meet up with Brussels based Togolese trumpeter and composer Daniel Dzidzonu and his funky band. This is the opening track from his 2019 "Walls Of Wonder" album which also includes his tribute to Hugh Masekela, a video of which you can find tucked away in the bottom corner of his website.
Finally the coveted MAR slot, which this time out is claimed by Sol X-Ray (real name the less catchy Eklu-Natey Tétévi Salomon). While he is not quite the man of mystery that Mr Mathey is the details of his past career and present whereabouts are sketchy. There has been no sign of him on social media or YouTube since 2019 and we can only hope that he is still with us and chilling out somewhere. This track can be found on the 2017 Pan-African MAR compilation "Rise Up Afreeka".
"Amina" - Nana Benz do Togo
"Bouyélélé" - Bella Bellow
"Haka Dunia" - Orchestre Abass
"Senye Ye Na" - Aimé Orchis Mathey
"Inye" - Itadi K. Bonney
"Va MiDzo" - Daniel Dzidzonu
"Gbede" - Sol X-Ray
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