Thread: George Wassouf...but what song title?

I´m 99.99% sure this is George(in later years)-but I got this one titled "Kidda",and it can´t be the real name:S

Are there any more George fans out there?

I LOVE George Wassouf... but dont know the name of this song sorry! lol

But hearing that from you makes me a little relieved-to know it can´t be such an easy song to find!:)

Almost started to plough through my George El Rassi(the poor mans Wassouf substitute)but it can only be G.W.

I just can´t find the title and album of this song:S

I think my favorite song with him is Al Habaib,because he sounded as an angel when young..after that comel Al Ghali(well the whole Shei Gharib album is divine!)and El Kilmah El Taibah(whole Lail El Ashkin-album is also melty chocolate yummy...

It's Wassouf, "Oul Al Kelmetain" from the album "Itakhart kteer." Not a fan of him myself, though. Occasionally I'll hear something by him that I like, but the rest of the time, that reedy, gravelly voice of his drives me nuts.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

It's Wassouf, "Oul Al Kelmetain" from the album "Itakhart kteer." Not a fan of him myself, though. Occasionally I'll hear something by him that I like, but the rest of the time, that reedy, gravelly voice of his drives me nuts.

well done for finding the song name.. does he want to make you cough?

Originally Posted by caroline_afifi

well done for finding the song name.. does he want to make you cough?

No, more like "hit the Mute button." I think the folks over at arabicmusictranslation.com summed it up best when they said Wassouf was a "lovable, yet haggard-sounding troll." Look, I know I have zero high ground to stand on when it comes to deciding what's good music if I admit that I'm looking forward to the next time I go to Michigan so I can trawl around Warren Avenue in Dearborn looking for old 4M cassettes, but Wassouf just doesn't do it for me. I can see why others like him--he has a lovely sense of musical interpretation and phrasing, and he does have his moments (I loved his recording of "Farhet Rgouaak Ya Lebnan" the first time I heard it, even though his voice sounds pretty troll-y on that one), but...sorry, no. I'm just not digging his scene.

(Speaking of...I'll stay out of your Kazem thread. He's another one I have tried and tried to like, but he just doesn't grab me. Give me Riyadh Ahmad instead.)

Originally Posted by caroline_afifi

well done for finding the song name.. does he want to make you cough?

Yes,I am amazed!THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Love the songs he recorded as younger;as he had a clear angelic voice back then.
But I totally understand what you mean.

OT:The time before last time he was here in Sweden he was arrested with a lot of cocaine on him-he seems to have lived a hard life...just like many child stars

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Give me Riyadh Ahmad instead.)

*swede on a wild goose hunt after Riyadh Ahmad*

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

*swede on a wild goose hunt after Riyadh Ahmad*

Here's "Mujarad Kalam." There are multiple spellings of his name, so it may be faster to search in Arabic (رياض أحمد). Rahma Mezher, Riyadh Ahmad's daughter, is also a singer, and she performed this song when she was on "Superstar." I think Kazem has a version of this floating around somewhere, too.

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

(Speaking of...I'll stay out of your Kazem thread. He's another one I have tried and tried to like, but he just doesn't grab me. Give me Riyadh Ahmad instead.

I love the styling of the music more than the actual voice.

It was actually my husband who got me into these artists by playing them many times over the years. I like Wael Kafoury but he is not so keen..we both adore Fadl Shaker.. it comes down to taste for sure and we experience and seek different things from the music.

For Arabs, there is something about 'tasting the language and poetry' with these artists. It is what we might know as the 'Um Kulthoum affect'.
There is pop and then there is the real lyricists and composers.

I am not a massive fan of Um Kulthoum (real recordings) wide-eyed.: but I do love to watch the effect she has on people around me and this in turn affects me and gives me a fondness and memory when I hear it.

Quite often we have memory associated with music and that too has an impact on how we experience it. Fairouz reminds me of the radio channel playing in the kitchen every day at my mum in laws house etc. etc.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Here's "Mujarad Kalam." There are multiple spellings of his name, so it may be faster to search in Arabic (رياض أحمد). Rahma Mezher, Riyadh Ahmad's daughter, is also a singer, and she performed this song when she was on "Superstar." I think Kazem has a version of this floating around somewhere, too.

Very nice! I am not particularly familiar with his music.

Me neither!Thank you Tourbeau:)

I put on this morning and my iraqi friend were very happy&started to sing along:)

Nazem al-Ghazali (ناظم الغزالي) is another Iraqi singer who is almost totally off the dance scene's radar, but he's considered a major figure in Arabic music.



And Afifa Iskander (عفيفه اسكندر) totally blows my mind. She was known as "The Umm Kalthoum of Iraq," and she looks like she would have been a blast to see live--so much charisma when she sings!



I don't know much about Fouad Salem (فؤاد سالم), other than that there were some issues with his political leanings that affected his popularity on multiple sides (communist and anti-Saddam or something), but he is still considered a pillar of Iraqi music.



There's so much good, older music out there that most dancers haven't heard about. They're familiar with Umm Kalthoum and Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez and Farid al Atrash and...and...then the crickets start chirping.... I feel that after years of listening, I'm just starting to scratch the surface myself. LOL, I hope George doesn't mind that I jacked his thread to talk about Iraqi Tarab singers. Maybe I should have derailed the Kazem thread instead?

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

LOL, I hope George doesn't mind that I jacked his thread to talk about Iraqi Tarab singers. Maybe I should have derailed the Kazem thread instead?

Please do!
And well..tarab is tarab;the iraqis being as good at it as the egyptians,lebanese&syrians,but sadly not always acknowledged for their contributions.
http://www.arabicmusictranslation.co...end-above.html

Since the 90:s we have a very large community of iraqis in Sweden-
they are now 1.3% of the total population here.
They are wonderful audiences/clients.
(I love Seta Hagopian,and to use her songs when dancing for iraqis)

But please Tourbeau...click this and listen to George when he was at his best!
I promise he didn´t have the troll thing going on then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwzlCxX9Cok

I will definitely agree that youthful George's voice is much sweeter in timbre than contemporary George's. His "Kalthoumiat" album has some beautiful stuff on it--her songs are a tough challenge for any singer to take on, but he does a good job with them. And despite the deterioration of his voice over the years, this is still a really lovely, soulful recording (below). Much like Frank Sinatra later in his career, he may not be the technically clean singer he was in his early days, but he's kept that inimitable lyrical flair that separates the good from the great:



As Woody Allen said, "The heart wants what it wants." I can't explain why Wassouf's voice doesn't sit well with me, but I like Ehab Tawfiq. Tawfiq's voice is not as gravely, but he's certainly as bleating and nasal-y as Wassouf, and I'm just talking about vocal quality here, not the fact that Wassouf tends to record more traditional music, as opposed to the Eurodisco fusion that Tawfiq has been known to churn out. If it makes a difference, I appreciate Wassouf more now than I did ten years ago, but I still don't rush to buy his CDs as soon as they come out. To each his (or her) own...

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

As Woody Allen said, "The heart wants what it wants." I can't explain why Wassouf's voice doesn't sit well with me, but I like Ehab Tawfiq.

Oh my-the one singer I can´t stand is Ehab!

One choreo by Aida Nour(lovely choreo)to Ehab´s"Khalas"is like torture to me...loved the steps but had to wear ear plugs

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

Oh my-the one singer I can´t stand is Ehab!

I will concede that I prefer Ehab's early stuff to some of his later work. Right after he got his doctorate, he released a couple of albums that were...shall we say?...not worth getting a Ph.D. for. He seems to be heading back in the right direction, though. I thought his last album was better than some of the preceding ones. Khaled Agag seems to be drifting back toward a more baladi sound himself, so I am hoping that is a larger trend in the Egyptian music industry. Now, if only someone could steer Amro Diab away from so much of the Latin-infused fluff, and back into songs with some substance...

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

I´m 99.99% sure this is George(in later years)-but I got this one titled "Kidda",and it can´t be the real name:S

Are there any more George fans out there?

George 100% love this song used to listen to it alot :)