Rachid Taha, the iconoclastic and rebellious singer from Algeria, died last week in a Paris suburb. He was 59 years old. He had emigrated to France at the age of 10 with his family and emerged in the early 1980s with his band Carte de Sejour, which he founded in 1980 in Lyon. In 1986, he made waves with a cynical, mocking cover of chanson icon Charles Trenet's song, Douce France (Sweet France). Adding Arabic oud and drums and jumping into the song with a punkish snarl and biting (new) lyrics, this song set the tone for his entire career.
Photo: John Clewley
Taha was born in 1958 in a small village just outside the port city of Oran on Algeria's sea coast. Oran as many readers know is the home of rai music, a potent popular genre based on local Mahgrebi music and Western rock. By the mid-1980s rai music had taken off in North Africa and Taha would play rai music, along with salsa and funk, when he found work as a DJ in his late teens. Like many immigrants, he also worked many jobs, from selling encyclopaedias to washing dishes. These experiences ended up in his music.
He was, he later noted, inspired by punk bands like The Clash ad roots poets like Linton Kwesi Johnson. In many ways, his focus and approach to music, mirrored that of his contemporary Manu Chao, whose first band, Mano Negra was also inspired by The Clash and the band's lead singer Joe Strummer.
Paris called in the late 1980s, so Taha moved to the big city to launch a solo career. His first album, Barbes (1991), did not sell well, despite being produced by US veteran Don Was. And then something magical happened. He met rock guitarist and producer Steve Hillage (formerly of the psychedelic band Gong). The musical alchemy that the two created would propel Taha to international stardom and Hillage would produce most of Taha's albums.
The duo's first collaboration was Rachid Taha (1993). It is an interesting, though embryonic, first solo effort and it produced the first of his hits, the anthemic anti-racism gem Voila Voila. He released further albums, Ole Ole in 1995 and Diwan in 1999, the latter of which featured covers of North African and Egyptian songs and tunes. One song, Ya Rayah, became wildly popular with European DJs.
From the late 1970s, Algerian rai music had been bubbling away in North Africa and by the mid-1980s had become part of the "world music" boom that swept the globe (Taha himself would have no truck with the term "world music", arguing that Mexicans don't view their music "world music" in Mexico when they play it. Quite right, too).
Rai singers like Cheb Khaled and Cheba Fadela were already international stars when Taha joined Khaled and Faudel Belloua for a mega-concert at Bercy Stadium in Paris in 1998. The concert, named "1, 2, 3 Soleils", brought media attention to rai music but it was readily apparent that Taha's take on North African music was different to the approach of Khaled and his rai contemporaries. As Taha explained later, his music was rooted not so much in rai rhythms but those of chaabi, a street music more influenced by blues, rock'n'roll and rock music. In this sense, Taha's musical approach was more akin to that of the eclectic Manu Chao, who also sings about the experiences of immigrants and minorities in France.
Taha's creative partnership with producer Hillage led to the first North African tracks to be mixed with dub and reggae (to great effect). And as he got further into his recording career, he seemed to get better and better. Made In Medina (2001) was very good (and is highly recommended) but it was Tekitoi in 2004 that really cemented his reputation as a creative musician and singer with real political bite. The album contained a wonderful cover of The Clash's hit Rock The Casbah, which perfectly mixes Arabic rhythms and instrumentation with the punk rock of the original.
Taha later joined Africa Express, a collaborative project between African and Western musicians, set up by Damon Albarn, which led to a famous long set at the 2007 Glastonbury festival in the UK.
Not many people remember Rachid Taha's concert at the Thailand Cultural Center and that's because there weren't many people there, certainly not the "suits" in the corporate seats who didn't show up. No worries, I certainly enjoyed the show and am glad I was able to see the fiery performer in action.
Go online and sample some of this fine musician's work, because in his all-too brief life he lit up the stage with his music. Taha certainly rocked the casbah.
I'll be playing a selection of Taha's music and some select North African hits at my next DJ night, World Beat, at Studio Lam on Thursday, Sept 27.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com
