Antoine Dougbé Et L'orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou

2LP. Who was Antoine Dougbé? Even the most dedicated crate-digger might go their whole life without stumbling across any of the three LPs he released in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Yet all the musicians who happened to cross paths with him remember him with a mixture of admiration and fear; for Antoine Dougbé was not merely one of the most inventive songwriters to emerge from the fertile music scene of Cotonou, but also a powerful Vodún initiate whose close connection to the spirit world allowed him to refer to himself as “the Devil’s prime minister.”

Whether driven by the thrill of the music or by fear of crossing the Devil’s prime minister, Dougbé’s records all feature Orchestre Poly-Rythmo playing at the absolute height of their considerable powers.

Dougbé released three LPs and a handful of singles under his own name, the first, which appeared in 1977 on Disques Tropiques. And although Dougbé achieved moderate success with the early single “Nounignon Ma Kpon Midji”, his other records never quite found the audience they deserved, and by the early eighties he had vanished from the music scene.

A1 We Tayi Sin Assi Tche 6:20
A2 Ze Nou Mi 6:05
A3 Djomido Ma Dougbe Tche 8:00
B1 Gnin We A Na Mon 6:20
B2 Ye Ko Gni Me Towe Dea 5:55
B3 Adin Gban Non Chouwe 6:00

C1 Gbe Nan Tche 4:50
C2 Vile De Nan Gni Noude 6:15
C3 Mon Non Doto Nagbe Leo 6:10
D1 Towe Nin 4:40
D2 Vio Se Gan 6:10
D3 Ma Won Min Towe Leo 6:35