Le Comptoir Marocain de Distribution de Disques (Part Two)

As I reported in the previous blog, the “Le Comptoir Marocain de Distribution de Disques” (CMDD) is a real treasure trove of old vinyl records and a place where you can really savour some 1970s Moroccan musical history. But there is more to this shop in downtown Casablanca than meets the eye. It is also the base of the famous Tichkaphone label which was responsible for releasing a lot of really crucial Moroccan music, especially that of the Berber variety. Tichkaphone released a ridiculous amount of albums by the legendary artist Mohammed Rouicha and I think I saw close to one hundred of them while I was there!

While I was chatting to the proprietor Said, I found out that the recording studio was in the basement of the shop. I asked if I could possibly visit it and take some photos but he politely refused, saying that some renovations were taking place below. After I took some pictures of the vinyl in the shop however, I was then pleasantly surprised when he changed his mind and invited me into the basement.

Venturing into the small studio was a fascinating experience and I am probably the only non-Moroccan ever to have set foot inside. This studio (and label) was one of the most successful in the whole of Morocco back in the days and this was a rare chance to witness where it all happened.

The live recording room was being completely overhauled so there was nothing to see in there. But the control room appeared almost unchanged to how it must have looked over the previous two decades. Naturally, there is a computer in there now and this is being used (as in all studios). But it was good to see at least three big, fat reel to reel machines – a 2-track, a 4-track and an 8-track. The mixing desk was quite modest and everything was very well-maintained.

I met a key character in there. His name is Ahmed Omari and he is the studio engineer as well as being a musician and an arranger. He is a humble man who likes to remain anonymous and hadn’t released any of his own music at all so unfortunately I couldn’t hear any of it. But he let me take some photographs and happily answered any questions that I had.

Back upstairs I enquired which of the numerous Rouicha albums was the best-ever that they had produced and released. The scan you see at the top of this article is the one that was chosen for me and it is a cracker. It is an intimate recording with no overdubs – just Rouicha singing and playing his lotar, accompanied by female backing vocalists. My relatives in Casablanca heartily approved of it as well so it seems it was indeed a good choice. An excellent article on Rouicha with some music samples can be found here.

I would like to heartily thank the staff at CMDD for being so helpful and welcoming and giving me the opportunity to see the famous studio. I am already eagerly looking forward to visiting them again next time I am in Casablanca.