Peter Culshaw’s occasional global radio music show comes blinking into the light after lockdown, as MusicBox radio’s studio In London’s Clerkenwell has tentatively, antiseptically, opened. In the months since March, we have lost numerous kings of rhythm, including, as mentioned in the show, Florian Schneider and Little Richard.
This edition focuses on the legacy of the great drum legend Tony Allen, who pioneered Afro-beat with Fela Kuti. We talk to Stephen Budd, Tony Allen's friend, as well as an obsessive Afro-beat collector and DJ. He has had an illustrious career in music, from being a roadie for X-Ray Spex, to managing Heaven 17 and a leading light of Africa Express and other notable events, recently the extraordinary DMZ Peace Train Festival in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea. We once met in Ramallah at the PMX Festival which encourages Palestinian artists. Usually, Stephen would have come into the studio, but our chat took place remotely with occasional but not drastic technical blips.
Tracklist
V2 Sneider - David Bowie
Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
Tour De France - Kraftwerk
Moanin’ - Tony Allen
Secret Agent - Tony Allen
Water No Get Enemy - Fela Kuti
Zombie - Fela Kuti
Vel Undu - Susheela Raman
Moyege - Tony Allen
Night In Tunisia - Tony Allen
Let’s Start - Fela Kuti
Shakara - Fela Kuti
Luis Bordon - La Galopera
We Are the Robots - Kraftwerk
Misri Jogi - Malhar
