VARIOUS – Ethiopian Hit Parade Vol 1 (Repress) – LP – Vinyl

LP – Black Vinyl. “The Hottest Tracks of 1972”. Original LP Repress.

Reissue on the thiopiques series. Featuring the hit singles of the Ethiopian musical scene of 1972. Reissue of the impossible to find original LP. Includes one unreleased track, never released on the thiopiqes CD series.

After releasing around fifty 45 rpm singles and his first 33 rpm album Amha Estht set about compiling his best 45s on a series of now legendary albums (the originals are impossible to find) in 1972. The first four volumes of Ethiopian Hit Parade were released in September and October 1972, with the fifth volume appearing in January 1973.

An audacious, funky outlaw, a music lover and an entrepreneur in tune with the baby- boomer generation, young Amha Estht (he was only twenty-four when he launched his label) will be remembered as the instigator of a peaceful revolution thick with soul and rocknroll.

The opening track of the first compilation is highly symbolic. Addis Abeba bt (Addis Abeba is My Home) is an exuberant and light-hearted hymn (Running into you was a dream, but where can I meet you properly?) whose life-affirming message is still relevant today for people living in the Ethiopian capital.

The other tracks on this first volume celebrate such pioneers of modern Ethiopian groove as Girma Byn, Seyfu Yohannes, Tshom Meteku, Menelik Wsnatchw, Mulatu Astatq and Muluken Melesse, alongside tradi-modern singers representing Amhara (Essatu Tssmma) and Oromo culture, so rich and so long marginalised (Abbb Tssmma and Gmtchu Itana).

Tracklist:

A1. Alemayehu Eshete – Addis Abeba Bete
A2. Girma Beyene – Set Alameneme
A3. Gemechu Itana – Shemermare Tiya
A4. Seifu Yohannes – Tezeta
A5. Abayneh Degene – Yebereha Lomie

B1. Teshome Meteku – Gara Ser Naw Betesh
B2. Menelik Wossenachew – Asha Gedawo
B3. Muluken Melesse – Hedech Alu
B4. Mulatu Astatke – Yekermo Saw (Instrumental)
B5. Essatu Tessema – Ayamaru Eshete
B6. Abebe Tessema – Ashasha Beyew