Zouglou Gnakpa!

Les Côcôs were one of the innumerable groups that popped up during the first wave of Zouglou  in the Ivory Coast during the economic crisis of the early '90s. I wrote about the genre in an earlier post here. Through the travails of recent years, notably two civil wars, Zouglou has remained popular, according to this very informative article:

"...Through its emphasis on social and political criticism, zouglou developed into a form of Ivorian counter-culture. Zouglou musicians represent the perspective of marginalized youth and social underdogs and have been very critical of the devastating behavior of the wealthy and politically powerful in Côte d’Ivoire. Zouglou artists see their role as speaking truth to power, because, according to a famous nouchi (Ivorian street slang) saying, gbê est mieux que drap: “the truth is better than shame”. Zouglou music gave the youth in Abidjan a platform from which to participate in the public debate...."

As is often the case, I've been unable to find out much about Les Côcôs. After their first release, the cassette Zouglou Gnakpa (EMI EO38192-4, 1992), they seemed to disappear without a trace. That one, however, was a good seller and spawned at least one hit, "L'Enfant Yode" (listed as "Les Côcôs" on the inlay card), which has been included on several CD compilations. Enjoy Zouglou Gnakpa now!

Les Côcôs - L'Enfant Yode

Les Côcôs - Nathalie

Les Côcôs - Christina

Les Côcôs - Hommage

Download Zouglou Gnakpa as a zipped file, complete with scans of the inlay card, here.

Conflict!

It's easy to think of Gaby Lita Bembo as the Wild Man of '70s and '80s Zaïre/Congo music - his unrestained stage antics made him the toast of working-class Kinshasa and a star of television. Bembo's backup group, Orchestre Stukas, was founded by Alida Domingo in 1968, one of many "youth bands" that arose in the late '60s in reaction to the more laid-back sounds of orchestras like OK Jazz, Afrisa and Bantous de la Capitale. The new groups mostly dispensed with horn sections and went for a sound more frantic and based on traditional rhythms. Stukas in particular was notable for the lightning-fast work of its guitarists, starting out with Samunga Tediangaye and transitioning to Bongo Wende and others.

1974's "Rumble in the Jungle," the legendary Ali-Foreman fight in Kinshasa, further elevated Bembo's star when Stukas was selected to be one of the featured acts in the accompanying Zaïre '74 concert. It is said that he became a star of Kinshasa's television station Voix du Zaïre in the mid-'70s as the authorities found him useful for keeping kids off the streets during school holidays. Here's a representative show from 1976:

In the 1980s Bembo spent more time in Europe while Alida held down the fort in Kinshasa. His 1983 outing Conflit (EuroMusic 001000), recorded in Belgium with the uncredited "Musiciens Zaïrois de Bruxelles" and a bank of session players on electronics, is relatively restrained but still packs a punch. Check it out:

Lita Bembo - Conflit

Lita Bembo - Deese

Lita Bembo - Bonne Chance

Lita Bembo - Comprehension

Download Conflit as a zipped file, complete with album and label art, here.

And as an extra bonus, here's a scorcher by Lita and Orchestre Stukas Caiman from the 1978 compilation album L'Afrique Danse (African 360.122):

Orchestre Stukas Caiman - Wangata

Biographical information in this post about Lita Bembo and Stukas was taken from the liner notes of the CD Kita Mata ABC (RetroAfric RETRO 18CD, 2005), an excellent career retrospective of the group. You can get it here.