November 03, 2008

Vote for me!

In the run-up to the US elections I keep having think about this EP from the early 1960s, in which G.G. Vikey urges us to elect him as president. He promises us change, plenty of jobs, good economic conditions, paradise on earth...

From the few records I have of this relatively unknown artist from Benin, he comes to me as the archetypal 'évolué'. Maybe he is just trying to please producer Gilles Sala (I would like to link to some info about this influential producer, but can only find info about his work as a singer).

The other tracks on the EP are worthwhile too, especially the track about Faceli Kanté, one of the founders of Les Ballets Africains, and influential as an artist who introduced the spanish guitar into African music.

EDIT December 30, 2015: The sleeve has been retrieved (see below), so I have added this to the file and have upgraded the audio to a higher bitrate.

Rivièrafrique 231.335 (new link December 30, 2015)

3 comments:

aduna said...

Hello,
You're so right for Kante Faceli tune. It's a beautiful song.
I definitely vote for G.G. Vikey!
Thank you

Unknown said...

This is a very nice EP!
I love the relaxed vibe on Je Vous Remercie!
Thanks for posting this!
Bye,
Thijs

Feq'wah said...

Thanks for the new link!

By this, i'm letting you know that i've posted another release by G.G.Vikey at my blog, right here
I've also linked to your post. Feel free to have a look.

Dank je wel :)