flyThe popular music of Angola is heavily influenced by Latin American music, particularly the music of Cuba and fellow Lusophones Brazil. Afro-Latin music is not a specialty of mine, though I have heard enough Congolese rumba and related music to become very selective about what I’ll buy. So when I was told by the seller of this single that it is “a bit of a different sound for Angola”, I was intrigued and decided to take a chance on it. I’m glad I did, because this is pretty great. A nice soulful ballad with the guitars mixed up front and a nice organ solo. What’s not to like?

It is possible that the label is not Telectra but in fact whatever the large white letters on the sleeve say (Baluave? I can’t read it), because that same logo appears prominently on the center label. Telectra is an apparently still existent electronics import-export company based in Luanda, and were the Angolan imprint of RCA in the 1970s according to an ad in the January 27, 1973 issue of Billboard magazine. Other than that, I could find no information outside of some advertisements for a possibly-related electronics company based in India and a few E-bay auctions for other records on the label.

Fly- Noivinha (Telectra, 1972)