"Marie-Louise" was the first international hit of Ngoma studios in 1948. It was a simple love song, sung for the sister of his friend and musical collaborator, guitarist Henri Bowane. It was a slightly different musical style from his previous recordings and the song brought him both big success and big problems, all because of its sheer musical beauty, which the Kinois public found absolutely irresistible. 'Marie Louise' importantly championed a new era in Congolese music, where people danced differently from before, where unlike the older social dances, men and women now danced as couples. In this new social dance known as the 'rumba', the women majestically and sensually swayed their hips, and this brought Wendo big problems.

The song became a success throughout West Africa. With its success came trouble: the song had "satanic" powers attributed to it by Catholic religious leaders. Stories from the time even claimed that the song, if played at midnight, could raise the dead. The furor drove Wendo out of Kinshasa, and resulted in a brief imprisonment by the Belgian authorities in Stanleyville and his excommunication from the Catholic Church. The combination of African lyrics and vocals with Afro-Cuban Rumba rhythms and instrumentation spawned one of the most successful African musical genres: Soukous.

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