In 1977, Les Léopards de la Martinique – or de Saint-Pierre, as the case may be – were with the people! Alex Martine’s group, founded in 1968, has been riding a wave of success since D’leau Coco. D’leau Coco won them one of the first gold discs in the French West Indies! The pillars of the original group are still there (Max Ransay, Alain Joséphine (not the same one!), etc.). On vocals, Michel Thimon has already taken over from Albert Nadeau, and on drums we find Jean-Michel Cabrimol, not yet at the head of his Maafia. “Jojo pas fait ça là“, “Père du Pas Lourd” and “Désabillé Ou” (hence the cover?) take us into the rhythm, between compas and Latin brass. Hot stuff! We’ll skip the questionable Bécaud cover, but we’ll keep Zangai’s roots/Tibwa fusion on repeat (note that the order of the tracks on side 2 is wrong).
Jojo Pas Fait ça Là – Les Léopards de la Martinique, 1977
