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EAP 433-0518 [M1(14.12.5)] Election campaign songs
The sound archives of the CNDRS will eventually be accessible online, but until then here is a sample file.
This file contains two songs from the early 1990 presidential campaign. The first, by Abdallah Alpha, sings the praises of candidate Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim; the second, by Daroueche, praises Abbas Djoussouf. This type of song is characteristic of political campaigns in the Comoros and these two are representative of the genre. In the event neither candidate was elected (Said Mohamed Djohar was the victor in 1990), but Taki did go on to win the presidential election of 1996 following the ousting of Djohar in a coup d’état. He died in office 6th November 1998. Abbas Djoussouf, despite a long political career, never held the office of president but was prime minister under the caretaker government of Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde in late 1998 and early 1999; he died in June 2010.
This is file number EAP 433-0518; the original CNDRS catalogue number is M1 (14.12.5).
Please note that this file is copyright, but under the terms of use of the CNDRS archive access is unrestricted. Any further use of this file must acknowledge the CNDRS, the British LIbrary Endangered Archives Programme and the project funder, Arcadia.
The original stereo recording was made by Radio Comores in February 1990 on quarter-inch audio tape at a speed of 7.5 ips. It was digitised in October 2011 as both wav and mp3 files. We used a Studer A807 for playback and a Fireface 800 digital recording interface. The mp3 file below was created at a sample rate of 44.1KHz and has16 bit resolution. The songs lasts for 13 minutes and 44 seconds. Please note that the file is 13.2 MB and may take some time to download if you are on a low-bandwidth connection. Enjoy!
Comorian Sound Archives
Digitisation of the National Sound Archives of the Union of Comoros
Top, Abbas Djoussouf; bottom, Mohamed Taki Abdulkarim.
Photos © CNDRS