Muziek uit Kameroen • Aflevering 20: makossa-ster Pierre de Moussy
Pierre De Moussy (1953 – January 26, 2018) was a leading Cameroonian Makossa singer and musician in the 80s.
With 8 albums in 11 years on his credit, Pierre de Moussy was one of the most productive and successful Makossa singers of the 80s. Born in 1953 in Yabassi, 50 km North of Douala, he started to make music with school concerts together with his lifetime friend Aladji Touré. They played together on Sundays in the so called ‘Matinees des Jeunes’. When he grew older, he started to play in Cabarets and bars until 1975 when he left for France. He returned several times to Douala on vacation and during those holidays he continued to perform in the cabarets and bars of Douala. In those days he also recorded his first 45 rpm single entitled “Mbengue nye bobe” for which Aladji Touré and Ekambi Brillant took care of the arrangements. Ekambi Brillant was one of the great Makossa singer during the heyday of Makossa in the 70s.
In 1981 his career really took of with the release of his first LP “Ka Lonka” on the Africa Oumba label. But he really hit the top of the charts in 1984 with the title track of the album “Ndolo L’Amour”. The main themes of his songs were, love, sorrow, euphoria, hope and social issues like gossiping such as in the song Radio Trottoir (1982).
During the 90s he disappeared from radar until 1998 when he came back with his first CD Zero Amour on the JPS label. It turned out to be a one-off come back. In one of his last songs on that final album he sings in pidgin that his mother says “you are not married” and the backing choir sings “I need some woman to love me and give me love”. At the end he sings “Mammy I go dy”.
He would live an other 20 years. After he settled in Switzerland, he led an unremarkable existence in his new residence in Geneva. On January 26, 2018 he died in Geneva of the consequences of a traffic accident. He was finally laid to rest at the ‘Bois des singes’ cemetery in Douala on Saturday March 17th. He was made knight in the Order of Value posthumously by the Minister of Arts and Culture during a requiem mass in Douala.
Discography
1977 45 rpm single Ekambi Brillant presente Pierre de Moussy
A: Mbengue nye bobe – B: A Peter Ndje O Nyolom No Na
1981 LP Ka Lonka
1981 LP Jomba Jomba
1982 LP Radio Trottoir
1984 LP Ndolo L’amour
1986 LP Deuxieme Bureau
1987 LP Douala City
1988 LP C’est ma wa, , a no di joss
1991 LP Reviens moi Fatimatou
1998 CD Zero Amours
SPEELLIJST:
1 Pierre de Moussy- Mbengue nye bobe 2’56
45 rpm single (z.j ca 1977)2 Pierre de Moussy- Ka Lonka 6’04
3 Pierre de Moussy -Na Wom Wom 4’30
LP Na Wom-Wom Ka Lonka (Africa Oumba 1981)
4 Pierre de Moussy – Jomba Jomba 5’26
LP Jomba Jomba (1981)
5 Pierre de Moussy Radio trottoir 5’52
6 Pierre De Moussy – Longue ke Miango 4’21
LP Pierre De Moussy – Radio Trottoir (1982)
7 Pierre De Moussy Ndolo l’amour 7’03
8 Pierre De Moussy Lambo Nalamboté 4’11
LP Ndolo L’Amour (Edition Decko 1984)
9 Pierre De Moussy -Deuxième Bureau 7’03
10 Pierre De Moussy- Diba 5’23
LP Deuxième Bureau (1986)
11 Pierre De Moussy Fifi na problème 5’07
CD Zero Amour (1998)
