ONE SONG ON THE HARD DRIVE (4)

The one song I have from Rachid Taha is courtesy of its inclusion on this free CD given away with Mojo magazine in November 2008.

It is a piece of nonsense that his name wasn’t included on the cover of the CD sleeve, given that Rachid Taha is every bit as important and influential as those who are listed.

He was born on 18 September 1958 in Algeria, and he died in a Parisian suburb on 12 September 2018, just a few days short of his 60th birthday.   He had moved with his parents to France when he was ten years old, settling in Lyon.  By the age of 17, he was holding down a menial job in a factory but working as a DJ at night, playing Arabic music, rap, salsa, funk and, as he put it in a later interview “anything else that took his fancy.

In 1981, along with Mohammed Amini, Mokhtar Amini, Djamel Dif and Eric Vaquer, he formed the Arab-language rock group Carte de Séjour whose music combined Algerian raï with funk and punk rock.  Rachid was a big fan of The Clash, and prior to one of their gigs in Paris, he met the band and handed them a copy of a demo tape by Carte de Séjour.  He later, in 2013, told The Guardian newspaper:-

“They looked interested,but when they didn’t get in touch, I thought nothing of it. Then, a few months later, I heard Rock the Casbah. Maybe they did hear it after all.”

The group didn’t enjoy much success, and in due course Rachid moved to Paris to launch a solo career in the early 90s.  It took time, but he became an increasing success in France and further afield, always looking to being new ideas to his music.  He was revered by many musicians across the world, and was able to play shows in front of 20,000 fans in his adopted country.

In the mid-2000s, he decided to record a cover version of Rock The Casbah, one which was later used in The Future Is Unwritten, the 2007 award-winning documentary film about Joe Strummer that was directed by Julien Temple.  His take on things was then included on that Mojo compilation a year later:-

mp3: Rachid Taha – Rock El Casbah

It’s really to my eternal shame that I’ve never since got out to discover more about his music.   If anyone out there has more knowledge and wants to offer a guest posting, then I’d be honoured and thrilled to have it appear on the blog.

JC