Depending on where in the world you grew up and the year you were born, the 1970s immediately evokes different emotions, images and memories for all of us – for London-born 90s babies like myself, the 70s was a decade of extreme highs and extreme lows, as taught to us by school textbooks, film and, of course, music.
A period of détente between East and West, the 1970s was a decade of recession, of decolonisation, of military coups, of corruption, and of changing horizons, which saw the deaths of Mao Zadong, the ousting of Emperor Hailie Selassie, and the resignation of Richard Nixon. It was a decade of political consciousness, of radicalism, of domination and of resistance. Most of all, it was a decade of youth culture, of flares, of Soul Train and the foundations of modern dance music.
In America, a radical and diverse counter-culture of resistance united by their commitment to the principals of anti-war emerged victorious in 1973 when the US military withdrew from involvement in Vietnam – sound-tracked by the undeniably funky African-American stylings of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Hot Chocolate and The O’Jays, who all scored #1 records on the Billboard Hot 100 list that year. Funk and Disco musics were no doubt the dominant sound and everlasting look of the 1970s, and across dancefloors in packed clubs across American cities, its influence, infectiousness and infamy spread far and wide in the pre-internet era, from London to Milan, and from Barcelona to Istanbul. Despite the cult popularity of Italo-Disco and other forms of European disco sounds produced in the 1970s and beyond, and the huge popularity enjoyed by Fela Kuti and his brand of afro-beats, very little music from the thriving dance music scenes in cities like Algiers, Beirut, Tunis and Casablanca has yet to be digitised and explored by fans and DJ’s alike. However, Berlin-based re-issue label Habibi Funk have risen to the challenge, with a string of solid re-releases, backed with excellent original artwork, well-researched back stories and a series of mix’s which continue to expose Western audiences to the incredibly diverse and experimental sounds of the late 20th century Middle East.
Habibi Funk, the sister-label of the also Berlin and sometimes Cologne-based Jakarta Records (Akau Naru, Mura Masa, Anderson .Paak), founded by Jakarta’s very own Jannis Stürtz, is a label rooted in exploring funky sounds from the Middle East and North Africa, and has thus far seen vinyl re-releases from Ahmed Malek (Algeria), Fadoul (Morocco) and Dalton (Tunisia). This week marked the release of Habibi Funk’s 4th re-issue, this time returning to Tunis to explore the music of Carthago, a band formed out of a collaborative alliance by members of the aforementioned Dalton and another Tunis-based funk band, Marhaba Band. Sharing the same musical influences of US funk and soul rhythms, the two bands naturally moved to incorporate a more disco-orientated sound that was blowing up across Europe and North America, and frequently played packed night-clubs to sometimes thousands of fans, and sound-tracked many nights in on local radio.
As told by Jannis on the Habibi Funk Bandcamp page*, Carthago travelled to Paris in the late 70s to record their debut album, of which the 2 tracks in the re-release were picked. The first, ‘Alech’, is a disco version of the Dalton song of the same name (previously featured on HABIBI001: ‘Dalton – Soul Brother / Alech’) which completely re-imagines the original in a disco context, making it a much tighter and more danceable four to the floor number, complete with futuristic synths and a bassline straight out of Nathan Watts song book. The second, ‘Hanen’, pays homage to Carthago’s funk influences, and is driven by an infectious synth-line and the cleanest guitar riffs and solos you’ll hear this side of Tunis. ‘Hanen’ really feels like it could have been the bands closing song, complete with the most memorable chorus on the LP – really makes you wish you could speak (or sing) Arabic. The LP is rounded off by the two tracks respective instrumentals, released for the first time.
By Art Badivuku (Hammam Blues/ Reform Radio)