Atiya Sharara & Abdel Fattah Mansi | Oh Batta b/w Leila (Disques Sharara, 1964)

 

The year Sabah put out her infinitely more famous "Sola Cha Cha Cha," Egyptian violinist Atiya Sharara, Libyan poet Ahmed al-Hariri, and our old friend qanunist Abdel Fattah Mansi cooked up this sublimely ridiculous cha-cha-adjacent 45 on Sharara's own label. 

"Oh Batta"'s lyrics consist of about a dozen words, eight of which are "Oh batta, dance with me, cha-cha-cha."

Batta, we believe, means "duck." This would seem to explain the muted quacking of the trumpet throughout the first track. Is this a Sabah diss track? Or just a KAW-meh-DEE take on a worldwide trend? Someone needs to write an encyclopedic history of Arabic pop's vinyl 45" years. 

(Listen to "Oh Batta")

The second track, "Leila," is an instrumental version of Side A, replete with tasty qanun and violin solos. We think you're going to like it.

(Listen to "Leila")