Mohamed Sow
Mohamed [also spelled Muhamed] Kaba Sow moved from Guinea to Yugoslavia in 1964, when he was in his early 20s and enrolled at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Zagreb. Although he did not come from a family in the field of music, he already sang and played guitar in Guinea. In 1966, he recorded a four-part program about Guinean music for Radio Zagreb, in which he was host as well as performer of some pieces.
He became famous in 1970, when “Beli most”, a song that he composed on the verses of a renowned poet from the Croatian region of Zagorje, won second place at the Festival of Kajkavian Songs in Krapina through the performance of Vice Vukov. The news that the composer of the song was black surprised audiences and the jury, especially because the lyrics were in the local Kajkavian dialect.
In 1980, another of his pieces, “Noć tajanstva” also known as “Marina”, became popular after the band Grupa “777” performed it at the pop festival Zagreb. The same year, following the death of Tito, he composed the song “We Love You, Tito,” which won an award in 1980 at the Zadar Children’s Music Festival. In 1983, he performed at the Zagreb festival with Neda singing the song “Diana”, which he composed and was released the same year in the album Super Žena.
Besides songs in the Croatian language, he also composed instrumental pieces and instrumental versions of some of his songs, as well as songs in French.
Records
As a Composer:
Song “Beli most” released in a single by Vice Vukov: Dobro Mi Došel Prijatel / Beli Most (1970):
Song "Noć tajanstva" performed by Grupa “777”, released on the album 26. Festival Zagreb: Večer Zabavne Glazbe (1980):
Song "Noć tajanstva" performed by Grupa “777” in the album Ti Si Moj Hit (1982)
As Composer and Singer:
Album: Super Žena (1983)
Archived Recordings
Database HDS ZAMP (Služba zaštite autorskih muzičkih prava Hrvatskog društva skladatelja – the professional Music Copyright Protection Service of the Croatian Composers' Association)
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list of authored pieces: https://www.zamp.hr/baza-autora/autor/pregled/133005468
Archive HRT (Croatian Radiotelevision):
The audio archive of HRT hosts several recordings of Mohamed Sow’s instrumental and vocal-instrumental pieces as a composer and, in some cases, also as a singer. The HRT music archive also preserves some of his scores.
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“Mamaya” (1966)
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“Nđarabih” (1966)
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“Suvišne su moje riječi” instr (1969)
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“Beli most” (1970)
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“Moja djevojka” (1971) [also score]
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“Noć tajanstva” (1980)
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„Nisi rekla zbogom“ (1982)
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“Diana” (1983)
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“Diana” (1983) [instr. version, also score]
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“Noć tajanstva” (1984) [instr. version, also score]
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“Superžena” (1984) [instr. version]
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“Čempresi rastu pored mora” (1984) [also score]
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“C’est toi la Croatie” (1992)
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“Da li češ znati” (1992)
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“Gdje si sad” (1992)
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“Izgubljena nisi” (n.y. 1992?) [two versions]
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“Question d’amour” (1992)
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“Sais-tu pourquoi?” (1992)
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“Volimo te Tito” (1982[?]) [also score]
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“Znaš li zašto” (1992)
The audio archive of HRT also preserves the recording of two radio programs featuring Mohamed Sow, in 1966 as a host and in 1991 as a guest:
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radio program Folklor Gvineje (host: Muhamed Sow) Broadcast on Radio Zagreb on 18.11.1966
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episode “Muhamed Sow” of the cycle Portreti i profili (editor: Ljiljana Gajski). Broadcast on Croatian Radio on 31.01.1991
Written Sources and References
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Rapaić, Sanja. 2015. “Afro-Hrvat kojem je Tito dao državljanstvo: ‘Kolinda bi mu se trebala klanjati na grobu’". Index.hr, 23.06.2015. https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/INTERVJU-Afro-Hrvat-kojem-je-Tito-dao-drzavljanstvo-Kolinda-bi-mu-se-trebala-klanjati-na-grobu/826909.aspx