Stern's

(Sterns Music continues today as a record label, with back catalogue still distributed to UK shops^[1] and also available via digital retailers, "dedicated to bringing to the world the sublime music of Africa and its diaspora".)[1]

In spring 1983 an ‘outdooring’ ceremony was held in a quiet back street off London’s Tottenham Court Road. The occasion, at which drums were played and libations were offered to the ancestors, was the opening of Stern’s African Record Centre, a retail outlet, which grew into the largest distributor of African records outside Paris, with a catalogue of 3,000 titles, including 100 on their own labels (Stern’s and Earthworks), and customers across the globe.

By 1983 the name of Stern’s was already synonymous with African music in London. For 30 years, a small electrical shop of that name had given over its back room to a modest display of African discs.

(Read more at Official site (archived).)

Links To Peel[]

"John and Andy's enthusiasms were mutually nourishing. They would go record shopping together for African music at Stern's on Whitfield Street, and head back to the office with armfuls of discs. It was in that room that their jaws would hit the floor as they clapped their ears on the Bhundu Boys, or the Four Brothers, for the first time."
(Sheila Ravenscroft, Margrave Of The Marshes, hardback pg 330.)

In his 2004 tribute show for Peel, friend and fellow DJ Andy Kershaw recalled learning that Diblo Dibala was making an appearance at Stern's African Records and racing to the nearby shop from the BBC with Peel to get the Zairian guitarist’s autograph.[2]

Stern’s record shop and label were at the center of the African music scene in London for many years, providing a regular source of material for both Peel and Kershaw to play on their Radio One shows as World Music grew in popularity in the UK. On 19 April 2001, Peel recalled buying his first record (by King Sunny Adé) from the rack of African imports at the original Stern's hardware store in 1973.

From the mid-1980s, Peel gave airtime to numerous releases on the Stern’s Africa label, including early offerings such as the Hi-Life International LP ‘Travel & See’ (STERNS 1002)^[2] and the Segun Adewale album ‘Play For Me’ (STERNS 1003)^[3]. One huge favourite on the label, played numerous times by the DJ, was the 'Roger Milla' 12” by Pepe Kalle, which celebrated Cameroon's goalscoring sensation of the 1990 World Cup. On 12 December 1992, the records played on each side of the R1 handover from Kershaw to Peel were both on Stern’s.[3]

Other African artists with Stern’s albums played by Peel include Bana OK, Alpha Blondy, Daouda, Lemzo Diamono, Diblo Dibala, Oumou Dioubate, Fallou Dieng, Four Brothers, Les Quatre Étoiles, Les Têtes Brulées, Aminata Kamissoko, Kass Kass, Salif Keita, Pablo Lubadika, Tshala Muana, Nyboma, Koffi Olomide, Omar Pene & Super Diamano, Madilu System, Moussa Poussy, Mansour Seck, Somo Somo, Soukous Stars, Soul Brothers(2), Super Océan, Sidi Touré, Virunga, Papa Wemba, and Zaïko Langa Langa.

The only release on the associated Stern's Brasil label known to have been played by Peel was the ‘Radio S.Amb.A’ album by Nacao Zumbi in mid-2001.

Writing in the Observer in 1986, Peel cited Stern’s with fellow specialist independent labels such as Earthworks, DiscAfrique and GlobeStyle as “smaller operators [who] knew that there had never been any serious possibility that African music would make the pop charts, and that what was needed was the establishment of a catalogue of releases that would sell steadily over the years as people learned of the potency of the music.”[4]

Sessions[]

(Peel session artists with releases on the Stern's label. Please add more information if known.)

Diblo Dibala (2 sessions, 1992-94)
Four Brothers (4 sessions, 1988-2000)
Les Têtes Brulées (1 session, 1990)
Papa Wemba (2 sessions, 1992-95)

Compilations[]

(Plays by Peel of various artist (v/a) compilations on Stern’s Africa, excluding joint releases with Earthworks after their tieup in 1992, listed on the page for the subsidiary label.)