Stand by for some of the squelchiest synth sounds this side of 'Son Of My Father'.
Charly Kingson was a musician from Cameroon (and supposedly a cousin of Manu Dibango) who found himself living in Munich in 1978. While he was there he recruited a motley crew of fellow Cameroonian ex-pats like the great Celia Stella on backing vocals, a few random European jazz dudes and some local session musicians to create the album "Born In Africa".
The album is a bit of a mixed bag. There are a couple of unexciting slow numbers and one on which the arrangements sound like Boney M. But when it cooks - as on the title track and the two I have selected today - it really cooks.
The comparisons to Chicory Tip and Boney M are not coincidental. The local session musicians I referred to included the likes of Geoff Bastow and Gary Unwin who collaborated regularly with Giorgio Moroder and backed the likes of Boney M and Silver Convention - Geoff played on "I Feel Love" and that is Gary on bass on "Rasputin" and many others.
"Nimele Bolo" - Charly Kingson
"Nanga 'Boko" - Charly Kingson
For our video selection we have the three songs mentioned above plus a guest spot from Charly's cousin so that the sublime vs ridiculous match ends in a score draw.
That first track is a belter.
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