{"id":2900,"date":"2012-06-24T14:10:38","date_gmt":"2012-06-24T19:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2900"},"modified":"2012-07-20T14:12:21","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T19:12:21","slug":"olatuniji-soul-makossa-lp-edit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2900","title":{"rendered":"Olatuniji – Soul Makossa (LP Edit)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong>
\nBabatunde Olatunji (bottom center) and friends<\/strong> <\/strong>
\n <\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download Olatunji – Soul Makossa (LP Edit)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/del><\/p>\n

Greetings all.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome back to the blog-o-riffic polygon with the sixteen funky corners.<\/em><\/p>\n

I must first and foremost offer my hearty and sincere thanks to all of you that made the 2012 Pledge Drive\/Allnighter<\/strong> a big success.<\/p>\n

Props to all the selectors who dipped into their crates to whip up some new, tasty mixes for you all, and then double super props<\/em> to all of you that dipped into your wallets and dropped some cash into the virtual tip cup.<\/p>\n

As has been the case over the past six Pledge Drives, all were generous, and some of you exceptionally<\/em> so.<\/p>\n

I am always humbled when my yearly request for funding yields such an enthusiastic response from those of you that read\/participate in the discussion at Funky16Corners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of you sent along notes of praise and encouragement and I am here to say that those mean a great deal to me.<\/p>\n

Funky16Corners has always been a labor of love, and when some of that comes back my way, it provides the fuel that keeps things going.<\/p>\n

So, once again, major, MAJOR thanks to you all!<\/strong><\/p>\n

_______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

The tune I bring to you this fine day, is yet another iteration in what might be termed the great Soul Makossa wars of 1973.<\/p>\n

As has been mentioned in this space before, when imported records of Manu Dibango\u2019s<\/strong> mighty \u2018Soul Makossa\u2019 began to set fires to the dance floors of America (first in NYC where David Mancuso<\/strong> first spun it at Loft parties after finding a copy in a Jamaican record shop in Brooklyn), the OG by the Lion of Cameroon was only available on a French pressing on Fiesta.<\/p>\n

The song was so popular, that a wave of imitation Soul Makossas began to build, with countless versions recorded and pressed for the US market to take advantage of the consumer demand that Dibango and Atlantic records had yet to address.<\/p>\n

There were recordings by Afrique<\/strong> (released at the same time as Dibango\u2019s and chasing it on the R&B and Pop charts), Simon Kenyatta Troupe, Mighty Tom Cats, Grupo Guerra 78, Lafayette Afro Rock Band, Johnny Zamot<\/strong> and many others. Even Doc Severinson<\/strong> recorded a version!<\/p>\n

The song was a huge worldwide hit with more than half a dozen versions charting simultaneously through 1973.<\/p>\n

One of the many \u2018copycat\u2019 recordings \u2013 in my opinion the best by far<\/em> \u2013 was by the mighty Babatunde Olatunji.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Recorded for his 1973 Paramount LP of the same name, Olatunji\u2019s \u2018Soul Makossa\u2019 clocks in at a dance-floor-friendly 6:51. Loaded \u2013 as might be expected \u2013 with lots of African percussion as well as his own vocalizations, the Olatunji version is a killer.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019d go as far to say that none of the cover versions have the sharp kick of Manu Dibango\u2019s OG, Olatunji acquits himself very nicely indeed.<\/p>\n

Where many of the other versions were relatively quick, single-length rip-offs of the OG, Olatunji takes the time to dig deep and stretch out, accenting the percussion (natch…) and meeting Manu Dibango toe to toe.<\/p>\n

The rest of the album is quite good as well (the track is also available as a two-part 45).<\/p>\n

I hope you dig the tune, and I\u2019ll see you all later in the week.<\/p>\n

Keep the faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to go to the ordering page.<\/strong><\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>
\nAlso, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Babatunde Olatunji (bottom center) and friends Listen\/Download Olatunji – Soul Makossa (LP Edit) Greetings all. Welcome back to the blog-o-riffic polygon with the sixteen funky corners. I must first and foremost offer my hearty and sincere thanks to all of you that made the 2012 Pledge Drive\/Allnighter a big success. Props to all the selectors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[91,78,58,11,14,30,12],"tags":[179,163,166,164],"class_list":["post-2900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-african","category-afro-funk","category-cover-songs","category-funk","category-funky16corners","category-lp-tracks","category-soul","tag-afro-funk","tag-funk","tag-funky16corners","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-KM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2900"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2964,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900\/revisions\/2964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}