Day 285: Cerrone & Kongas – Kongas

It’s Friday night, and you know what that means: it’s time to get mildly impaired and listen to some disco music. I’ve loved the Cerrone albums I’ve listened to so far, so today I thought I’d tackle the group he was in in the ‘70s. I covered Cerrone on day 244 and again on day 250 but I’ve never listened to Kongas before.

Album cover courtesy of Barclay Records

The slightly elusive group was formed in France in the 1970s, and consisted of André Allet, Marc Cerrone, Norbert Journo, Patrick Sesti, Raymond Donnez, Serge Tonini and Sylvain Claude. They were formed when Cerrone was playing in the streets of Saint-Tropez when he was given a gig to go play at a local band, and he invited some musicians he’d met a few weeks before. The group launched Cerrone’s career, but they separated shortly after due to musical differences.

I thought Kongas would also be pretty clear-cut disco, considering that the group has Cerrone and Don Ray, but it’s more disco/funk-flavoured experimental rock with afrobeat influences. There’s ample drum solos and guitar solos and moments where it veers more into psychedelic rock, rather than the expected danceable disco.

The group’s 1974 release Kongas is definitely an interesting one. It’s very high-energy disco-fusion that’s heavy on the rhythms, but also an album of progressive rock that manages to surprise you at every turn. I don’t think it would be impressive casual listening, it’s definitely a record that’s best enjoyed laying down with your eyes closed, which I wasn’t expecting at all – I thought I’d just get some fun disco tracks, but I got way more than I bargained for.

I think I may have accidentally stumbled upon a bit of an underrated gem. It’s a fun album from beginning to end, and there’s some organ on it too, which I always love. I had such a good time with this one that I think it’s a high ranker. I’m giving it a 9/10. Cerrone apparently doesn’t miss.