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We take our final trip of 2021 to Sao Tome & Principe with Lizz Kalo, and generally celebrate the sounds of Lusophone or Portuguese Africa.
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Dec 22, 2020
The Drop with Danno
Paulo Flores – Herois da Foto
Abel Lima – Steba Cu Anabela
Cabo Verde Show – Nova Coladeira
Quinto do Canto – Mino di Mama
Mendes & Mendes – Mitamiyo
Teta Lando – Muato Wa N’ Ginjila
Tanga – Eme n’gongo iami
Tony Gaetano – Pangui Yami Uafua
Luiz Visconde – Chofer de Praca
Bana – Pontin Pontin
Bembeya Jazz National – Petit Sekou
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight on warm beautiful sunny winter day here in Gwangju, and however warm it feels to you we once again head to much warmer climes this evening, flipped onto a rock way out in the African Atlantic as December 22, 2021. This is Danno as always as ever from studio 2, GFN HQ in Downtown Gwangju, how do you do? It is our Round Trip Wednesday evening and Lizz Kalo once again is aboard for the flight, delineated as flight TD056 and our final of the calendar year. Tonight our flight takes us to a brilliant few islands out way off the coast of West Africa in Sao Tome & Principe. This would complete our exploration for the year of Lusophone or Portuguese Africa for the year, although we still gotta hit up Guinea Bissau sometime as well. So, for the first hour before we get on the flight we’ll be celebrating the music of other parts of Portuguese Africa and further afield generally just for a good playlist, then we’ll get on the plane with Lizz to take us to a small island with big history and penchant for defiance of authority in Sao Tome & Principe. Thus, to start this evening we’ll head to Angola and celebrate independence for all these places, and This is The Drop.
Paulo Flores – Herois da Foto
The Drop continues to let both the KTX bound for Incheon International Airport and the music breeze us where we gotta go as the sunny countryside flashes by in its icy repose. What’s happening tonight, Drop Gangsters (Korean)? Danno on the mic here in studio 2, GFN HQ, downtown Gwangju, and of course thankful to you for flying with us tonight.
That was a little trip to Angola to start, as we celebrate Portuguese Africa and its wonderful music before we head for our destination in Sao Tome & Principe with Lizz Kalo on flight TD 056. That tune was called Herois da Foto by Paulo Flores from his album Independencia, or Independence, which dropped earlier this year. A celebration of the fight against colonialism, which was a war that raged for many years during the 1960’s and 1970’s as Portugal tried to hold onto power there. For those keeping score, that song title Herois da Foto means Heroes of the Photo, talking about looking at old pictures of seemingly average men & women nowadays, who were heroes of the struggle.
Sao Tome & Principe, our destination tonight, was originally a prisoner and slave colony for the Portuguese empire, so just like Guinea Bissau, Cabo Verde, Angola , and Mozambique the rebellious spirit lives on forever. We’ll talk a bit more in hour 2 tonight once at our destination.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
Next block, we’ll continue with some of our favorites from Cabo Verde. Up next is Abel Lima to be followed by Cabo Verde Show and Quinto do Canto, all of which we’ll discuss further in English of course, after the tunes wave & float. This is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to Sao Tome.
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The Drop returns tonight after the first block on our Round Trip Wednesday. Lizz Kalo joins us after 9pm on flight TD 056 heading for a couple small islands way out in the Atlantic called Sao Tome & Principe, and before we head we have a celebration of the music from other areas of Lusophone or Portuguese Africa we have visited this year, and we just got some more Cape Verde fare to start right there then some good psyche biz from Angola as well, so let’s break ‘er downNova…
Abel Lima – Steba Cu Anabela (…this is part of a great compilation celebrating literally one of the weirdest and most fruitful events in human history. In the early 70’s in the middle of the struggle against the Portuguese in Cabo Verde (which was part of Guinea-Bissau at the time), a huge ghost ship full of the latest synthesizers and studio equipment just washed ashore on the island. Rebel leader Amilcar Cabral decided to distribute them throughout the country, and one of the most notable psychedelic funk sounds anywhere was born.)
Cabo Verde Show – Nova Coladeira (…another great example of Cabo Verde psyche & soul rock. The song title is new blue, and was put out on a 2006 compilation called synthesize the soul, and this was originally released back in the 1970s as you could probably tell.)
Quinto do Canto – Mino di Mama (…another legend of Cabo Verde to feature tonight, the moniker meaning Quirino on the corner. This is a previously unpublished gem that was made in the 1970’s in Cabo Verde and released on a brilliant compilation from 2016 called Space Echo: The Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed!.)
Moving along to the end of the first fourth tonight, we’ll bop another killer bit of funky stuff from a pair of brothers out of Cape Verde called Mendes & Mendes, but they actually made a name for themselves while living in Dakar, Senegal. This final cut for part 1 is called Mitamiyo, and THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip to warm Lusophone Africa and Sao Tome.
Mendes & Mendes – Mitamiyo
II.
The Drop is back after the first quarter jump departing at 9pm sharp on flight TD056 bound for the West African Atlantic in Sao Tome & Principe, and the unmatched Lizz Kalo will be joining us after 9pm for our final show of this calendar year. Danno here waiting in line to check in for the flight, which is a bummer almost without exception, but we did try to mitigate it with…
Teta Lando – Muato Wa N’ Ginjila (…lovely tune, a haunting bit of psyche from Angola to start the 2nd quarter. Teta Lando was a long-time presence in Angolan popular music and an outspoken opponent of colonialism. He unfortunately passed in 2008 but after a long & thriving career. May he rest in power.)
Tanga – Eme n’gongo iami (…another bit of lovely 70’s Angolan psyche rock. This is featured on a lovely compilation of Angolan psyche & funk called Soul of Angola, which documents the rise of popular music of 1965 to 1975 amidst the war for independence.)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
Next block we’ll continue with more loveliness from old school Lusophone Africa. Up next is Tony Gaetano to be followed by Luiz Visconde and Bana, all of which we’ll discuss further after they return to earth. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday to Sao Tome.
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The Drop has arrived at the gate for the flight in a tizzy as it took us extra long to get through security tonight. Danno here keeping it brief as possible before we board, so let’s get to it before the flight takes off for Sao Tome...
Tony Gaetano – Pangui Yami Uafua (…another lovely bit of 1970’s psyche from Angola right here. It appears the artist was a rather short-lived phenomenon in Angolan popular music, just putting out a smattering of singles.)
Luiz Visconde – Chofer de Praca (…this tune translates as Taxi Driver, and tells a rather sad story. In Portuguese Angola, taxi drivers would not take black Africans wherever they wanted to go, and young Antonio in the song wants to surprise his girlfriend, but is eventually kicked out before reaching his destination and has to ruin his suit in the heavy rain. This original came out in 1974.)
Bana – Pontin & Pontin (…another tune from Cabo Verde here, this one never put out until 2016 on the fantastic Space Echo compilation. Bana is Adriano Goncalves, known as the “King of Morna,” a traditional music from Cabo Verde, may he rest in power, also no longer with us.)
Okay, so final call to board just blurted out so we gotta head to the gate and our seats ASAP. We’ll finish with something from Guinea by the Bembeya Jazz National called Petit Sekou, or Little Sekou, a tribute to their griot guitarist. THIS is not to be confused with Guinea-Bissau next door, by the way, and THIS is also The Drop bound for Sao Tome & Principe on your Round Trip finale, and we’re at the half.
Bembeya Jazz National – Petit Sekou
III & IV Round Trip
Sangazuza – IZAURA
Sangazuza – Sun Male
João Seria – Pedlêlo
Os Untues – Chi bo sa migu di vede
Africa Negra – Cimoda
Africa Negra – Cumamo Bivalemo
Felipe Santo – Budo
Camilo Domingos – Porque e Que e Assim
Calema - Te Amo
EDSONG – Corpo Com Corpo
Kingston Rudieska - Reggae Bam Bam
Kingston Rudieska – White Winter
Sangazuza - IZAURA
• They are a group specializing in Soukous, Congolese Rumba and Angolan Semba called Somba, with lead singer Helder Camble.
• They were very popular in the 1980’s and separated in 1996 before reuniting again.
• They have a long list of countless hits including this song and Soukous 1992.
João Seria - Pedlêlo
• He is considered an absolute legend and is also a singer and member of Africa Negra which we’ll talk about in a bit.
• Pedlêlo was released in the early 1990’s and is part of a long list of successful songs and videos that represent the people of the island.
Africa Negra - Cimoda
• Africa Negra introduced a blend of African and Caribbean music, also with a blend of soukouss, makossa, highlife, afrobeat, semba, soca and kompa.
• They released this song in
• They describe their music as a reflection of people that come from different areas, which is also represented in their dancing.
Felipe Santo - Budo
• He is a Santomean singer who is currently one of the country's greatest singers.
• His songs are about different kinds of love, the daily lives of Santomeans, corruption and society in general.
• The highlight of his career was his participation in the band Tropic-Som in 1985 where he was a guitarist, composer and interpreter.
Calema - Te Amo
• Calema is a music duo of Portuguese descent formed by two brothers, António Mendes Ferreira and Fradique Mendes Ferreira.
• The duo's name refers to the extraordinary ups and downs of the African coast.
• There is so much to say about these remarkable brothers but this song happens to be one of my favorites, which was released as part of their album yellow in 2020.
Kingston Rudieska - Reggae Bam Bam
• Kingston Rudieska is a 9-member band that was formed in Seoul in 2004.
• The name of the band was created by combining the words Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, Rudy, meaning bad boy in Jamaican, and Scar, one of the genres of music.
• They released this song in 2018.