1976 Sookie Featuring Jeannine Otis “Sookie” on Disques Espérance

Go ahead and tell me you’re not a massive fan of mid-70s afrobeat disco from Camaroon, and I will tell you that your life is way less fabulous than it could be. Jo Bisso is the mastermind behind the dance-groove wizardry and deep weirdness that is Sookie, as well as a number of other soul-funk iterations of the French/African variety. To be fair, the man does require you to very closely discern the difference between Afrobeat, Afrofunk, Dancefunk, AfroDisco, and Proto-Afro. Which he does with style and elán, which for listening purposes really just means KILLER production, with heavy heavy drums and ultra-tight sax breaks. Yes, there is a fair amount of cheese on this one that only Paris in the 70s could produce, but if you’re not currently smuggling bricks to Bogota in your sphincter and can relax and just enjoy something you don’t hear every day, or virtually any day, there’s a lot of rewards in this groovy package. THE BEAT CANNOT BE STOPPED. I mean, what else do you want? Better cover art? No way! The cover rules!

​There was a time in my life when we might have had to square up if you accused me of liking this record, but I was stupid then, or at least I’m less stupid now, because there is a genuine freedom in letting your body choose your music and laying all the trappings of posture aside. Facts, baby.