Track Listing

1. Saré Tete Wa
2. What's Your Number, Mama?
3. Love Drum Talk
4. Bebí Alolo
5. Spell Mónisola
6. Don't Know Why My Love
7. Mother, Give Me Love
8. Long Distance Lover

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46063 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
The 1998 edition of Babatunde Olatunji's "Drums of Passion" series focuses on themes of "love." He mixes the traditional drums of west Africa with an easygoing blend of highlife, pop and jazz. Don't expect any lyrical revelations though, with words as philosophical as any thing you've heard from The Spice Girls or The Beach Boys. But that is probably not the point here, as the album rolls through its lightweight themes with a luscious tropi-pop attitude. This is certainly not one for fans of rootsy African drumming, but if you like highlife and Afro-pop with a romantic twist, Love Drum Talk will speak to you. --Louis Gibson

Customer Reviews

Babatunde lives in my heart
Anyone remotely interested in percussions and rhythm with vocals will be floored by this album just like i was. I have owned this cd for over two years and there isnt a day that goes by that i dont listen to it. Babatunde is a idol for myself and anyone that i know who has ever laid a hand on an african drum, he inspires me and this album makes my heart sing. The best parts of most song on this album are deep into them when they pick up and twist different rhythms which are complimented by vocals. Long live babatunde and the path of rhythm he has shown me.

A Cure for Road Rage
After renewing Love Drum Talk from the library four times in three months, I broke down and ordered it today. Two songs -- Spell Monisola and Long Distance Lover -- sustained me on a five-hour car trip and put me into a dance-trance. The four-year-old grandchild was singing along in her car seat. Our gluteal muscles, lungs, and vocal cords got a terrific workout. While stopped in traffic, I mastered several drumming patterns on the steering wheel. Fortunately it was snowing and we had to keep going, or I would have pulled the car over and danced on the highway. Babatunde Olatunji contributes to the possibility for joy in life, and brother, do we need him.

Stunning in both performance and recorded quality!
This is just a really fun recording! The first time through, be mindful of the volume knob on your stereo. Some of the drum beats might shoot you clean out of the house! What I mean is, it's dynamic as can be, with a very real sense of the performance taking place right in your room. I guess my review is just as much about the musical presence that Babatundi visits upon us as the care and effort with which Chesky Records used in the recording of this great musician.
I can't help but feel uplifted when I play this CD!