1974-78

Orchestre Macchi

Orchestre Etumba na Nguaka  

Théodore Dindo Yogo was born on 30 December 1955 in Lokutu in the Equateur region of the Congo. His early musical years were spent singing with the group Orchestre Macchi where, in 1974, he recorded the first version of his anthem “Lola Muana”, a song celebrating the birth of his first son Lola Dindo.  This tune, with its memorable vocal hook, also carries one of the finest guitar licks from soloist Nseka Huit Kilos – a crisp and metallic loop that I guarantee will never be forgotten once heard.  It is one of those tunes that brings a smile to the face everytime it is played.  A memorable song with a text of prose in which Dindo announced to the Congolese people his great compositional and lyrical talent.  In the song he tells his new son that he will one day have to carry the responsibility of the Dindo family, a responsibility that will require great courage and fortitude.  And that moral strength that Dindo gave to young Lola was in the form of the battle cry “Etumba na Nguaka” (“etumba” means battle or war), the encouraging rally-call that would stay with Dindo throughout his career.  Orchestre Macchi was an early seventies band, one of the many rivals to Zaïko Langa Langa.  Dindo has said that he was dismissed from Macchi, and at the tender age of 20 he became leader of his own group, which he named Etumba na Nguaka, along with singers Lofanga, Mukolo, Gaby Yau-Yau and, from Macchi, guitarist Huit Kilos.

Orch. Macchi                       

Ditto