		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="109460728"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><div class="articleWide cleared">
<div class="alpha">
<div id="js-article-text" class="article-text wide">
<div>
<h1><span style="color:#8a7e11;"><strong>Sisters Amal, Hadia and Hayat Talsam were known in their 1970s heyday as the &#8220;Sudanese Supremes&#8221; </strong><br />
<strong><em>&#8217;45 years on they are ready to take global stage by storm&#8217;</em></strong></span></h1>
<p>Stepping onto a Khartoum stage and launching into their first song, The Nightingales, Sudan&#8217;s best-loved girl band, still raise whoops and cheers from adoring fans, 45 years after their debut.<br />
Sisters Amal, Hadia and Hayat Talsam were known in their 1970s heyday as the &#8220;Sudanese Supremes&#8221; for their stylish bobs, matching dresses and their soulful ballads, changing the image of female artists in Sudan forever.<br />
Their outfits may have changed a little , at the January concert in Khartoum, the sisters appeared in long robes and loose headscarves, but the audience&#8217;s adoration has only increased, with fans dancing and singing in front of the stage.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="articleWide cleared">
<div class="alpha">
<div id="js-article-text" class="article-text wide">
<div>
<h1 class="artSplitter"><strong><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26907" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/nightingales1.png" alt="nightingales1" width="636" height="422" /><br />
</strong><strong>The Nightingales: Sudan&#8217;s best-loved girl band , perform at a concert in Khartoum</strong></h1>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="articleWide cleared">
<div class="alpha">
<div id="js-article-text" class="article-text wide">
<div>
<p>Their vintage brand of Sudanese pop, songs of longing and youth blending elements of folk music with their driving vocals aim to show the world another side to Sudan.<br />
&#8220;We want to travel the globe and offer our art to all the peoples of the world,&#8221; Amal said after the concert at the family home, sitting beside her sisters.<br />
&#8220;We could show a beautiful side of Sudan to the outside world&#8221; said Hadia, the oldest of the sisters, grinning.<br />
Although they haven&#8217;t got round to planning their tour, they do have some prior experience.</p>
<h2><em><strong><span style="color:#8a7e11;"> &#8216;Vibrant period&#8217;</span><br />
</strong></em></h2>
<p>The Nightingales were formed in 1971, when a family friend came to their home in Omdurman, Khartoum&#8217;s twin city, to ask their father if he could pick three of his seven daughters to perform a song he wrote.<br />
The trio performed so well that they made the arrangement permanent and they were picked to tour Sudan with president Jafer al-Nimeiri, a socialist-leaning army officer who seized power in 1969.<br />
&#8220;It was a very, very vibrant period for culture and art,&#8221; said Hayat, the quietest of the sisters.<br />
Amal said she was 15, Hadia 17 and Hayat just 13 years old when they started touring, building a region-wide fan base.<br />
But in socially conservative 1970s Sudan, not everyone was pleased at the three young women travelling unaccompanied and singing and dancing in front of crowds.<br />
But the sisters won acceptance by force of character and with support from their family.<br />
&#8220;The Nightingales changed the way people looked at female artists in Sudan,&#8221; said Hadia.<br />
The group did nothing to change their looks and even appeared on the state broadcaster performing their songs.<br />
Other female artists had preceded them but their music had been more traditional.<br />
Neighbours, friends and even some relatives criticised their father for their on-stage and television appearances as their fame grew.<br />
&#8220;Our father wasn&#8217;t interested in any of that and he used to encourage us a lot,&#8221; Hadia said proudly.<br />
&#8220;We were able to stand firm and fight back against people who were against us and our progress and our presence on stage proved that there was nothing wrong with it,&#8221; Amal added.<br />
By the 1980s, the group had cemented their reputation as one of the country&#8217;s best loved groups &#8230; but Sudan itself was changing.<br />
Nimeiri grew increasingly paranoid and repressive toward the end of his 16-year reign, declaring sharia Islamic law in 1983 and igniting another civil war with southern rebels.</p>
<h2><em><strong><span style="color:#8a7e11;"> &#8216;Better than the Supremes&#8217;</span><br />
</strong></em></h2>
<p>The Nightingales kept playing but in 1988, with all three married and other commitments, they played their final concert in Khartoum.<br />
Amal and Hadia left for the Gulf with their families, before moving to the US, while Hayat stayed in Khartoum.<br />
The next year, now-president Omar al-Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup and his military authorities imposed a curfew that lasted for years, putting limits on musical performances.<br />
But in 2007, Hadia and Amal performed in New York&#8217;s Central Park at a festival of Sudanese music and people urged them to return to Sudan for a full reunion.<br />
Apprehensively, Hadia and Amal returned the next year and organised a concert with Hayat at the officers&#8217; club in central Khartoum, unsure whether their fans would remember them after 20 years.<br />
When they arrived, the streets were jammed with expectant fans.<br />
&#8220;The only thing that changed was they liked it much more and it was a huge success,&#8221; Amal said.<br />
Now, the Nightingales tour Sudan when they are all in the country together, drawing hundreds of spectators of all ages to their shows across Khartoum.<br />
They have lost none of their glamour, singing in matching outfits, with performances punctuated by mid-set costume changes &#8212; and a quick cigarette break.<br />
Amal, Hadia and Hayat are confident they can win more fans abroad and are keen to arrange their tour.<br />
And would the comparison with the Supremes help draw foreign crowds in?<br />
&#8220;Honey, we&#8217;re better than the Supremes,&#8221; Amal shot back in American-accented English. &#8220;We came to their country, but they never came here&#8221;.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14222" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/article-doc-9u20y-1cbpi5jabl560086c6d8fb95b6a5-86_634x415.jpg" alt="article-doc-9u20y-1cbpi5jabl560086c6d8fb95b6a5-86_634x415" width="634" height="415" /></p>
<h5><em>Photo: Ashraf Shazly /AFP</em><br />
Sisters Amal, Hadia and Hayat Talsam were known in their 1970s heydey as the &#8220;Sudanese Supremes&#8221;</h5>
<h5 class="clear"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14224" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/article-doc-9u20y-2oyr8x2fap50a802cebb4135ab17-708_634x422.jpg" alt="article-doc-9u20y-2oyr8x2fap50a802cebb4135ab17-708_634x422" width="634" height="422" /><em><br />
Photo: Ashraf Shazly /AFP<br />
</em>The Nightingales&#8217; vintage brand of Sudanese pop, songs of longing and youth blending elements of folk music aim to show the world another side to Sudan</h5>
<p class="imageCaption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14227" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/article-doc-9u20y-1cbpi5jabl560086c6d8fb95b82d-55_634x422.jpg" alt="article-doc-9u20y-1cbpi5jabl560086c6d8fb95b82d-55_634x422" width="634" height="422" /><em><br />
Photo: Ashraf Shazly /AFP<br />
</em>Fans watch The Nightingales perform at a concert in Khartoum</p>
<h5 class="imageCaption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14230" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/article-doc-9u20y-2oyr8x2fap50a802cebb4135ace2-418_634x435.jpg" alt="article-doc-9u20y-2oyr8x2fap50a802cebb4135ace2-418_634x435" width="634" height="435" /><em><br />
Photo: Tom Little/AFP<br />
</em>Amal Talsam, a member of Sudanese band The Nightingales, holds a picture of herself when the band started in the early 1970s</h5>
<h5 class="artSplitter"></h5>
<h5 class="artSplitter"><em><strong>Lets us know what you think of this article. Like? Dislike? Funny? Interesting? Cool? Drop us a line in the comment box or join us on facebook and twitter to help us give you a better reading experience </strong></em></h5>
<p class="imageCaption">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

