Tunis Hotel Stereo

Description

Compilation of Tunisian rock, funk, disco, and reggae, 1977-1984 Compilation by Cheb Mimo · Shakshouka Records In the years following independence, Tunisia made a bold bet: tourism. Beach resorts flourished along the coast, each competing for originality and needing a band to entertain their guests. A whole generation of musicians grew up on the stages of these hotels, sharing the bill with James Brown, Claude François, and the Mingus Dynasty. From this effervescence was born a small revolution. Funk played on Tunisian instruments. Disco with a touch of oud. Reggae imported from the island of Kerkennah. A "third language" that the press didn't really know how to grasp. "Tunis Hotel Stereo" brings together nine of these records. Most were pressed in tiny quantities, sold to tourists as souvenirs, censored before radio broadcast, or discreetly recorded on a 45 RPM between two concerts in hotels. Some of these artists filled the amphitheater of Carthage. Some dominated the charts of the Maghreb. Most have been waiting for forty years for their music to be played again. This compilation is the result of years of work: gathering memories, hunting down records, meeting the artists who created them and those who danced to their rhythms. This is the third release from Shakshouka Records and the first compilation of Tunisian music ever made by Tunisians, in Tunisia. SIDE A The mysterious Les 4 Dés, who transformed the national anthem into psychedelic pop on "Ya Tounes" - before almost disappearing. Peace Band, a hard rock group turned hotelier, recording under the name Omnya at the legendary Topkapi club in Hammamet. Ridha Zalila, the eternal chameleon, in a rare instrumental version of "Tiou Tiou Tiou." And "Noujoum" by Sadok Gharbi, taken from his masterpiece "Souar," sabotaged and almost lost. SIDE B Carthago, the impossible big band that fused the elite of Tunisian jazz-rock with the stars of tourist entertainment, with the original Dhikrayet. Khaled Mellef, one of the greatest UFOs of his generation, with "Wait Till the Morning Dew," recorded in the Netherlands. "Baba Bahri" by the Marhaba Band, initially pressed only for hotel guests and since become a cult object. "Dance" by the Corniche Band, recorded in Milan during a technical stop on a cruise ship. And Jomaa Bouzrara, the "Bob Marley of the Maghreb," with "Now That," taken from his flagship album "Sunset," released in 1983. They were not rebels without a cause. They were musicians who understood that modernity and tradition do not oppose each other - that a Tunisian could play funk while remaining deeply, irreparably Tunisian. They drew their inspiration from all directions and built a work that belonged to none of these worlds entirely, and to all at once. This compilation is a modest tribute to their memory. The music does the rest.