The Rough Guide to African Disco

Bursting out of 70s America, with a white-suited Travolta at the helm, disco called the world to dance. Its funk, soul and Latin rhythms circuitously returned to Africa, where they were boldly reappropriated. Inventively mixed with soukous, Afro-beat and highlife, disco took on a new, rich and distinctly African texture. This album of old and new artists, of catchy riffs and incorrigible beats, is highly danceable and displays serious musical prowess. The Lijadu Sisters combine soulful vocals with funky piano (‘Come on Home’), whilst Teaspoon Ndelu’s saxophone blissfully weaves around meaty bass-lines (‘Oh Yeh Soweto’). Ghanaian Pat Thomas delivers the rare disco-highlife track ‘Yesu San Bra, his tender vocals supported by cool bends of electric guitar and keyboard shimmers. The standout track is Mango Groove’s ‘Tsa-Oo, a pulsating machine of South African funk.

At its best, this album showcases tight instrumental units underpinned by strong basslines, embroidered with soulful vocals and energetic rhythms. But the sometimes formulaic riffs can become irritating and some of the electro-beats can sound cheesy, with some tracks bleeding repetitively into one another. That said, there is a charisma and infectious energy to all these tracks, and arguably disco benefits from an African accent, adding depth and texture to an occasionally fluffy genre. Osibisa sing that ‘dancing makes you happy’ and perhaps this is the crux of it: amidst the atrocities of apartheid and postcolonial civil unrest, disco was a ray of sunlight, a simple promise of a good time and a better future. This, then, is how to approach the tracks on The Rough Guide to African Disco – give in to its joy, dig out those flares, find your platform shoes and get dancing.