Manu Dibango – “Soul Makossa” / “Lily” German and Belgian single covers
German release on Decca, May 1973.
Manu Dibango was a Cameroonian saxophonist possibly best known for side-A of this single. “Soul Makossa” was an unlikely international hit as it was written in Duala, a native dialect continuum from Cameroon and has been heavily sampled. The song is most famous for its vocal refrain “ma-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-ko-sa”. Dibango died of COVID-19 on 24 March 2020.
The German single shown above uses Poell, a rather obscure display face designed by Erwin Poell for Berthold Fototypes in 1972. Tuba (Canada Type, 2010) is a loose revival. Poell also provided the inspiration for Crack (Out of the Dark, 2011).
The Belgian version depicted below pairs Marvin (Face) with bold italic caps from Times New Roman.
Belgian release on GIP, 1979.
