As the competitive music scene in Kinshasa swelledafter 1960, singers and players moved on to become bigger fishin smaller ponds. Franco's protege, lead guitarist Mose Se "FanFan," left Kinshasa to work in Kenya and Tanzania beforesettling in London in the '80s with his band Somo Somo. In 1993,Fan Fan joined Brussels-based OK Jazz alumni to launch one ofmany post-Franco spin-off groups, Bana OK. An inveterate wanderer,"Le Pigeon Voyageur" Sam Mangwana started out in Kinshasaas one of the few singers to work with both Franco and Tabu Ley. Sam then moved to Abidjan in 1976 where he launched his widelyacclaimed group the African All Stars, and embarked on a ramblinginternational career that continues today.

In the 1980s, soukous took hold in Paris and otherEuropean culture centers. Many musicians relocated to recordand build careers away from home. Some recorded for the Zairemarket, but others abandoned the demands of a fussy Kinshasa publicand set out in new directions. Composer Ray Lema ventured intoarty rock formulations and world music collaborations with, amongothers, a female Bulgarian choir. Few talk about Ray back homeanymore, but other musicians have walked a finer line, managingto branch out without losing their base audience. Paris-basedPapa Wemba maintains two bands, Viva la Musica for soukous, anda group including French session players for his internationalpop.

Among the soukous loyalists, Les Quatre Etoiles (FourStars) united veterans of the Kinshasa scene, guitarists SyranM'Benza and Bopol, and singers Wuta Mayi and Nyboma, whose creamytenor shines, even from the ranks of Zairean vocalists. The firstParis supergroup, Les Quatre Etoiles played soukous preened andpolished for a European audience, and they remain popular. AnotherParis success story, singer Kanda Bongo Man created a new modelfor soukous. By eliminating the slow rumba section from the longZaiko song form and going straight for the seben, Kanda pioneeredshort, dance tracks suitable for play on disco dance floors everywhere. Groups like Loketo and Soukous Stars followed suit. Soon Parisbecame home to a loose federation of talented studio players whorecorded in ever-shifting configurations, supporting singers onrecords for the African and Caribbean markets and filling outbands for occasional tours.

The cherubic Kanda, a graduate of the smooth Kinshasaband Bella Bella, brought sunny showmanship and a high degreeof professionalism to the music. At first, his neat sound heldlimited appeal in Kinshasa, but as his hit-making credentialsbuilt steadily, he began touring Africa in the early '90s, becomingone of the top-selling artists across the continent and even earningapproval in his old hometown. One of the newest groups to emergefrom the Paris scene, the immensely popular Nouvelle Generationspun off from Papa Wemba's Viva la Musica in 1992.

Soukous guitarists can earn cult followings, andKanda's first guitarist Diblo Dibala garnered one of the mostfanatical. Having played briefly with OK Jazz and then with BellaBella and other groups back home, Diblo came to Paris and rosewith Kanda, gracing his records with quick, stylish and elegantlyprecise seben solos. Diblo went on to work with Pepe Kalle andothers before joining affable Congolese vocalist Aurlus Mabeleto form the group Loketo in 1986. Loketo's early U.S. tours helpedto introduce soukous in America. Diblo and Aurlus parted waysin 1991, but Loketo forges on with an aggressive tour schedule,as does Diblo's new group Matchatcha, named for a flower thatmakes you itch--"to dance" says Diblo. Other pillarsof the Paris soukous guitar stable include Nene Tchakou, LokassaYa Mbongo, Dally Kimoko and Bamundele Virigo (Rigo Star).

Some lovers of the old Kinshasa sounds complain aboutthe Paris soukous machine. They say that the well-oiled studiosystem lets producers crank out records programmed on auto pilotusing and a handful of session players. Seen as signs of modernityby many in Africa, the keyboards and drum machines so prevalentin Paris soukous can turn off western listeners who are attractedto African pop for its human feel and intimacy. In general, though,the complaint makes little sense to Zairean pop musicians whopartially base their continued popularity on staying abreast ofnew developments in pop sound technology.

Meanwhile, back in Kinshasa, elements in the Zaireanarmy rebelled against President Mobutu in 1991 creating a politicaland economic crisis from which the country has yet to emerge. The clubs of Matonge, which had supported hundreds of bands,went into decline. Since that watershed year, Zairean musicianshave continued to emigrate to East Africa and recently, SouthAfrica as well, the one African country where soukous was notpreviously heard due to the cultural restrictions accompanyingapartheid. Many Zairean musicians have also gone to London, Paris,Brussels and other European cities. With competition fierce inEurope, some find their way to the United States. Tabu Ley relocatedto California in 1994 for a two year stay, and soukous bands runby Zairean expatriates now carry on the tradition in San Diego,North Carolina, Boston and New York.