Burundi Black by Mike Steiphenson & Iliesco

Ascultata in Viena prin 2000, intamplator, intr-un record shop obscur. M-a marcat, mai ales dupa ce i-am aflat mult mai tarziu povestea, odata cu inventia Wikipedia. Oh, fericite vremuri pentru urechile care puteau sa asculte muzica fara sa dea atentie zgomotului de fond creat de hype, comunicate de presa si bloguri! Citez desigur de pe Wikipedia:

"The original source of this tribal rhythm is a recording of 25 drummers, made in a village in the east African nation of Burundi by a team of French anthropologists. The recording was included in an album, Musique du Burundi, issued by the French Ocora label in 1968. It is impressively kinetic, but the rhythm patterns are not as complex as most African drumming; they are a relatively easy mark for pop pirates in search of plunder. During the early 1970s, a British pop musician named Mike Steiphenson grafted an arrangement for guitars and keyboards onto the original recording from Burundi, and the result was Burundi Black, an album that sold more than 125,000 copies and made the British best-seller charts... Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, and several other bands have notched up an impressive string of British hits using the Burundi beat as a rhythmic foundation. But the Burundian drummers who made the original recording are not sharing in the profits. Nobody told them to copyright their traditional music, and trying to obtain copyright for a rhythm would be a difficult proposition in any case." (New York Times, Robert Palmer, 1981)

Deci, poliritmie din Burundi, live cu 25 de tobari, prelucrata de producatorul de pop Mike; conteaza mai putin ca a vandut 125.000 de copii si a ajuns pe locul 30 in charturile UK, ca a fost reeditata in 1981 si prin '90. Sau ca a marcat popul perioadei '80 (cum am aflat tot de pe WKPD), mai ales pe Adam & The Ants si trupa Bow Wow Wow a lui Malcolm McLarren, impresarul Sex Pistols. Combinatia de pian, bass electric, percutie si vocile de pe final ma ating acum, ca si atunci, indiferent de toata povestea din spate. Mi-am adus aminte de piesa zilele astea, tot vorbind de sharing si illegal shit. E foarte bine.