Cheb Mami

In January 1986, he was an obvious choice to appear alongside the great names of raï at the Bobigny and La Villette festivals in Paris. Cheikhs (old) and Chebs (young), the entire raï firmament was there: Khlifi Ahmed, Messaoud Bellemou, Cheikha Rimitti (the grand old lady of raï), Sahraoui and Fadela, Khaled... The La Villette concert was a legendary night for raï music. The press were swept away by an raï tidal wave. Overnight, of this boisterous yet haunting Arab music, was on the world music map. At the concert, Cheb Mami met Michel Levy, who became his manager and with whom he signed his first recording contract with the Blue Silver label. He scrapped his project to return to Algeria and stayed on in Paris, where he recorded "Douni El Bladi" (Take me back home) and "Ouach Tsalini" (I don’t owe you a thing). "Pygmalion" Levy organised Cheb Mami’s first appearance at l’Olympia in December 1986. The first raï singer to play in this prestigious Paris music venue, received a standing ovation.

In 1987, Mohamed Khelifati, honoured his duty as an Algerian subject by leaving his career in mid-flight and going home to do two years military service. To pass the time and boost the troop moral, he started a group and toured the barracks.