Burundi Black

"Burundi Black" is a 1971 recording credited to Burundi Steiphenson Black. Released as a single, it made #31 on the UK Singles Chart.[2][3]

"Burundi Black"
Single by Burundi Steiphenson Black
Released1971[1]
RecordedSample taken from Musique du Burundi, recorded in 1967
GenreTribal, experimental[1]
LabelBarclay Records[1]
Songwriter(s)Mike Steiphenson[1]
Producer(s)Mike Steiphenson[1]

The single was arranged and produced by French pianist, arranger and record producer Michel Bernholc (1941 – June 5, 2002). He was a classically trained pianist who had previously worked with pop musicians such as Michel Berger, France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Claude François.[4][5] For the "Burundi Black" single, he used the pseudonym Mike Steïphenson.

The record sampled a recording of drumming by 25 members of the Ingoma people in Burundi. The recording was made in 1967 by anthropologists Michel Vuylsteke and Charles Duvelle, and was released on the album Musique du Burundi on the French Ocora label in 1968[6], which was re-published as Burundi. Musiques traditionnelles in 2015, including additional recordings.[7] Steiphenson overdubbed his own piano and guitar rock arrangement onto the recording.[3]

In 1981, a new arrangement of "Burundi Black" was recorded by drummer Rusty Egan and French record producer Jean-Philippe Iliesco, and released in the UK and US where it became a dancefloor hit, described by music critic Robert Palmer as "glitzy pop-schlock, a throwaway with a beat". Palmer noted that, although Steiphenson had retained copyright over "Burundi Black", the Burundian musicians made no money from any of the recordings.[3]

The recording of Burundi drummers was also sampled by Joni Mitchell on her song "The Jungle Line" (1975),[8] and the Beastie Boys' "59 Chrystie Street" (1989)[9], and inspired the Def Leppard single "Rocket" (1987)[10].

References
  1. "Burundi Steïphenson Black - Burundi Black". Discogs. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  2. "BURUNDI STEIPHENSON BLACK". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  3. Palmer, Robert (25 November 1981). "The Pop Life; Latest British Invasion: 'The New Tribalism'". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  4. Michel Bernholc at IMDb. Retrieved 10 June 2013
  5. Michel Bernholc at EncyclopéDisque. Retrieved 10 June 2013
  6. Rip It Up And Start Again: The Footnotes . Retrieved 10 June 2013
  7. "Burundi. Musiques traditionnelles". Les éditions radiofrance (in French). Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  8. "Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  9. "59 Chrystie Street". Paulsboutique.info (Note: this source attributes the drums to Joni Mitchell's The Jungle Line, which in turn samples Burundi Black). Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  10. "Rocket by Def Leppard". Songfacts. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
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