Midwest Mahjar: The Recorded Sounds of the Arabic-Speaking Diaspora in the United States at 78 RPM

  Ismael Ahmed, Aliya Ogdie Hassen, and the Little-Known Story of the Cairo Record Company and the Middle East Record & Film Company Elie Younes, "Take Me With You in Your Car," #151. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection.  https://youtu.be/gS_NWD6eR7E My intention to write this post began in a wholly different place than it ended. I bought a Nour al-Hoda 78  record on the Middle East Record Co. label back in December 2020 as a part of a package deal. The seller listed and offered a lot of three 78s, two by Hanan on a different label and one by Nour al-Hoda. I had previously written about Hanan, had the fortune of meeting her sister in 2018, and continue to listen to Hanan’s music. Because I rarely sell discs(I often trade), I never gave the Middle East Record Co. disc much thought, so it went into my general record stash until a month later. I searched online databases, including Discogs, with hopes of finding something about the Middle East Record Co. label; I c...

  Petrophon Records: A Rare Arab American Record Label Releases Patriotic Songs at World War II's Beginning Petrophon Record featuring Najeeba Morad on vocals and Petro Trabulsi leading the orchestra in his own composition. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. https://youtu.be/MDhAPoCpLNg   Until a few years ago, we had never heard of Petrophon Records, nor had we seen their label. A Grand Rapids, Michigan record collector listed two or three 78 rpm records featuring Najeeba Morad on the popular auction site eBay in 2021. These records were not pressed on the well-known Morad Records, later operated by Najeeba and her family, these were both on Petrophon Records.  Najeeba Morad Karam, 1944. Courtesy of  Ad-Deleel. LOC. Close examination of these two discs reveals that Petro Trabulsy or Peter Trabulsi and his Arabian Orchestra backed Najeeba Morad on these sides. Petro Trabulsy was the “Petro” from which Petrophon derived. The label also notes that Petro compos...

  Abdulmunim Shakir: A Pan-Arab Political Activist and Educator Declares “I Am a Muslim” on a rare 78 RPM Record Abdulmunim Shakir c. 1958. Courtesy iof Richard M. Breaux Collection. Few 78 rpm records have intrigued us as much as Dr. Abdulmunim Shakir’s “I Am a Muslim,” backed by “Related Passages from the Holy Quran." Released on a custom label in 1956, it reads for “Exclusive Domestic and Foreign Distribution of Record Through Copyright holder.” Most singers and musicians we’ve written about at Midwest Mahjar traced their ancestry to the so-called Levant but a few like Hana Rached and Mohammed el-Akkad trace their roots to North and northeast Africa. Abdulmunim Ahmed Shakir or Abdelmoneum Shaker was born to Ahmed Shakir and Nema Shadi on 19 May 1914 (some documents say 1924) in Atbara, Sudan, at the time under Anglo-Egyptian Condominium rule. Ahmed Shakir reportedly served as a brigadier general in the Egyptian military under King Fuad I. In reality, however, Great Britain m...