theartsdesk Radio Show 28 - Tony Allen tribute with guest Stephen Budd

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.

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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