LIFE

When world music was opening our ears

Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/05/2018

» The 1980s was a period when non-Anglophonic mainstream bands started to make waves at festivals and music stores in Europe. Pioneering festivals like Angouleme in France exposed bands from Africa, Asia, Middle East and the Caribbean to international audiences. This is how the first wave of the boom in so-called "world music" started; these bands then began to release albums, which were often marketed from indie record stores. This is how we found out about Salif Keita, Mory Kante, Cheb Khaled and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens.