Aisha Hassan | Daa W Daa (1969, Sono Cairo)

That is not the official cover of Aisha Hassan's "Daa W Daa." Someone, its previous owner most likely, hand-crafted it using construction paper, a photo downloaded and printed from the internet and then glued to the cover, what looks to be computer-generated Arabic, and crayon highlighting. (The verso features a magazine-y image of a young beautiful couple hugging on the beach at sunset. You don't need to see it.)

Many Arabic 7"s feature a single song carried across both tracks, and that is what is going on here. Given that, instead of posting Side A and Side B, I've combined them into a single MP3 and attempted to make the transition as seamless as possible.

I don't know very much about Aisha Hassan, other than that she was Egyptian and married to the composer Khalil al-Masry. (Thanks to Moroccan Tape Stash's Tim Abdellah for hipping us to her Arabic Wikipedia page.)

Discogs includes four of her 7" records; this is not one of them. Google translates "Daa W Daa" as either "Wasted and Lost," "Wasted and Gone," or "Lost and Lost." I like the first one, but suspect the second is probably closest to the original meaning. As in "our love is wasted and gone," or whatever Richard and Linda Thompson might sing.

This song is a banger. You're going to want to hear it.

(Listen to "Daa W Daa")