Echoes – Wally Badarou, 1984

What started out as a few demos of the then burgeoning possibilities of MIDI, eventually became the iconic album by the brilliant Wally Badarou. Echoes, released in 1984, is a mythical record, which the Franco-Beninese keyboardist – and arranger, producer, musical activist, etc. – recorded almost without thinking. Several tracks have gone on to great success, such as Mambo, sampled by Massive Attack (Daydreaming), or the unstoppable Afro-Caribbean Chief Inspector, which has been delighting dancefloors for over thirty years. In Africa, the synthetic Hi-Life more naturally won the vote. Need I remind you of Wally Badarou’s career? Over the years, he has been part of Level 42, recorded for Grace Jones (Nighclubbing), Herbie Hancock, Manu Dibango (Electric Africa), worked with Marianne Faithfull, Talking Heads, produced albums by Fela or Salif Keita, and the list goes on!