The Motherland Influence presents:

The Motherland Influence: December 8, 2024 5:00-7:00 PM

WELCOME!

We live in age of digitized African music streamed impersonally and with little profit for the artists.

This is not always the case, though. Stores like Plan 9 and others here in Richmond still stock African records and CDs where the browsing and listening and purchasing experience is still available.

Back in the day, this was the rule rather than the exception. From African record boutiques in USA lIke the African Music Gallery and the African Record Center that specialized in all genres or specific genres of music to mega stores like Tower Records and independent music stores like Sterns, African LPs were readily available for browsing and making choice purchases. The choices in cities like Paris were far greater.

The variety of great music was astounding -with the vast majority of LPs in most stores being Congolese recordings  -and choices for purchase were often difficult.

Today I’m starting a two part series, to be continued in two weeks, of LPs selected and purchased in stores in DC, Richmond, Paris, San Francisco and New York, mostly during the 1980s, the heyday of great pan-African music.

This episode, I’ll play songs from Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana, the Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Benin. You’ll hear some songs you may know and many that you may hear only on WRIR, including from rare LP by well known artists.

Next time we’ll sample records from Mali, Guinea, Congo, Senegal, South Africa and more.

Enjoy!

What are your favorites?

David Noyes    The Motherland Influence    December 8th, 2024

Posted In: Music Shows

Tags: African music

Leave a Comment