Folks,



I honestly did not want to contribute on this topic, but it is really
getting out of hand now. I am particularly spurred by Yus Jow's response to
Habib's pieces on Pap Touray to set the records straight. In one of his
pieces Habib wrote: "History has a way of bringing out facts". This in
itself is a fact, but when people like Habib tries to bring out that fact
from history we get a "porous" version of it, thus creating discrepancies,
inaccuracies and distortion of a vital topic. I must admonish all young
Gambians on these lists to regard Habib's contributions on the death of Pa
Touray as pure "Cow-kaka". I wish Habib had confined his comments to the
death of Pap Touray, but his attempt to paint a picture of how bands evolved
in the Gambia is totally devoid of truth,

Habib said, "Those were the days of Chamsu Coker and the famous song that
was heard so many times most of the young doos like myself memorized this
song " makambo”. Azziz Coker ( inna kottaway) helped Chamsu promote Laba
Sosseh of the etoiles. There was the competition from the Geulewarrs then."
The truth is, when Chamsu Coker was involved in promoting the bands the
group known as Bantous de la Capitale, that released the song "Makambo
Mibale", was not even formed and the oldest boys in "Guelewarr" were mere
schoolboys. There was a period of four to five years between Chamsu's time
and the release of Makambo. The involvement of "Cut-away" in assisting
Chamsu during this period is totally new to me and many who were present at
that time.

In another piece of his, Habib wrote that: "If I remember right the original
members were Senamie Jones, Babou Jobe, Ebou Hefner, Ousou Njie, Malang
Gassama and Dawda Sage ,who died suddenly in a car accident and a song was
dedicated to his memory " halali gambia joylen dawda sage , dawda mu bahgi
etc etc"  If Habib cannot "remember right", what the hell is he doing trying
to bend the past? From the names he listed only Oussou Njie and Malang
Gassama are right. The rest shows that Habib cannot even say their names
correctly. According to Habib Modou Cham, Charlie Valentine and even Abbess
were not in the original group. The inclusion of Dawda Sarge as an original
member of the band confirms nothing but his "Cow-kaka" story. It has a;ways
been the practice of the group to sing a song for anyone considered a loyal
fan. This practice when back to the days of late Jarvis Turner, who also
died in a "mobike" accident. Dawda Sarge was a dresser/dispenser at the RVH
and was loved by all who knew him.
Habib went on to write "I forgot to mention one of my favourite pieces he
( Abyess) wa instrumental in composing called " halleli Fiesta Vous" - if
you remember the famous /infamous womanizers  opps !!/ of Mc Donnald street
, Banjul". This further shows Habib's non-existent knowledge of the Super
Eagles. Abbess neither composed nor involved in the arrangement of "Haleli
Fiesta Vous". Listening to the original recording, I cannot even make out
Abbess's distinct voice in the chorus. For all I know Oussou Njie asked me
for a list of the names of the members of Fiesta Vous. This was at an
Afternoon Jump at the Q-Club. On that very day Badou Jobe asked me whether
we have given Oussou the list of names and I jokingly said to Badou that my
name should be first. When the song was first played in public, I heard that
my name was first mentioned. By that I assumed that Badou Jobe was
definitely involved in the arrangement, but the composition was undoubtedly
Oussou Njie's.

Habib further tried to jog peoples memory that the Fiesta Vous were "famous
/infamous womanizers". The exclamation opps!!" suggest that it is something
written in jest, well, if it is so, I do not find it funny. I consider it a
defamation of my character and that of the rest of the Fiesta Vous.
Something I do not deserve from Habib, simply because not even my enemies
would give me that epithet.

One major thing that Habib failed to realise is his insensibility in trying
to pay homage to Pap Touray. Sainey Faye's honest attempt to deviate Habib
from the bullshit he is spreading on this forum was ignored with words like
"I did not get into that as we were concentrating on the music aspect of his
life". Pap was a good musician and a good sportsman too as Sainey Faye tried
to remind Habib. When trying to eulogise some body, one has to make sure
that it covers ALL aspects of his or her life. Habib even went further in
his distorting way to remind us of "Fassi Bena Tanka" and all that
mumbo-jumbo used to scare children.

I read where Habib said, "Pa Taurey was my age group if not younger..."
well, if age-group is defined by a time span of a generation, then I have no
problem with that. One thing I know, Pap Touray's first child is a year or
two younger than Habib and that not even Ghanim Ali Ghanim would make that
assertion.

I am 100% sure that Habib did not realise that he is the sole cause of the
sad exchanges on the internet between Oko and Badou Jobe. Something that
some us find very regrettable and hope that for all respect to "Pata Hooken"
these exchanges will come to an end.

The history of Gambian Music and how bands evolved in the Gambia should be
left entirely in hands of the musicians and those who were involved with the
bands. Any attempt by " an outsiders" to document the progress or decline of
Gambian Music will result in the unforgivable sin that Habib has committed
here.

Let us all remember Pata Hooken the way we knew him and leave all tributes
of him to those who were closer to him and as Habib said, "History has a way
of bringing out facts".





Prince

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~