ETHIOPIAN HIT PARADE - vol 1

Description

The CD collection comprises 29 volumes and consists of thematic compilations mixing several albums and other 45s. Following the albums by Mulatu or Mahmud Ahmed, Heavenly Sweetness continues its series of "identical" reissues of original Ethiopian LPs. For information, only about thirty LPs were released in Ethiopia in the 1970s, the rest of the production being 45s. Among these extremely rare LPs are the 5 volumes of ETHIOPIAN HIT PARADE released by AMHA records, which bring together the most popular tracks of this musically blessed era. This first volume, initially released in 1972, brings together a wide variety of artists. The first track serves as a symbol. "Addis Ababa bété," or "Addis Ababa is my home," is an anthem as exuberant as it is futile ("It was a dream to stumble upon you, but where can one actually meet you?...") and still retains all its affirmative fervor for the inhabitants of the Ethiopian capital today. The other tracks in this first release honor the pioneers of modern Ethiopian groove such as Girma Bèyènè, Seyfu Yohannes, Tèshomè Meteku, Menelik Wèsnatchèw, Mulatu Astatqé, and Muluqèn Mèllèssè, as well as "tradi-modern" singers who illustrate the culture of the Amhara (Essatu Tèssèmma) as well as that of the Oromo, which is so rich and yet so long underestimated (Abbèbè Tèssèmma and Gèmètchu Itana).