Fred Zindi Music
In the 1980’s when Reggae music became popular in Zimbabwe after Bob Marley’s visit, we all thought that it was only a fashion that would come and go. However, since Bob Marley’s departure in May 1981, a flood of reggae artistes have come to Zimbabwe every year. These include Misty In Roots, Aswad, King Sounds, Dennis Brown, Ijahman, Eric Donaldson, Third World,Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, Don Carlos, Jimmy Cliff, Capleton, Sean Paul Beenie Man, Mavado, Kalado, Sizzla, Mr Vegas, Elephant Man, Red Rat, Cocoa Tea, Tony Rebel, Brick & Lace, Luciano and many more.

There is no doubt that their appearance in Zimbabwe coupled with their recordings and videos have made an impact on the Zimbabwean youths which has resulted in the births of Winky D, Dhadza D, Shaddy, Killer T, Tocky Vibes, Kinnah, Seh Calaz, Soul Jah Love and Shinsoman, to mention only a few .

Despite the many years that have gone by since the 1980’s, the influence of reggae music is still prevalent among the Zimbabwean youth. The Zimdancehall culture is influenced by reggae and many youths identify with this music.

The powerful political messages in the music also helped Zimbabwean youth to raise their political consciousness.

Popular band music from the Caribbean (West Indies) did not reach Zimbabwe until the 1960s although West Indian songs such a ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ and ‘Jamaica Farewell’ were taught to children at schools as far back as the early fifties.

In the sixties however, music from artists such as Johnny Nash( An American singer who loved Jamaican music), Desmond Dekker and Jimmy Cliff was heard on Zimbabwe radios but not on a large scale.

It wasn’t until around 1975 that names such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer were heard and not until after independence in 1980 that reggae became a big thing with not only the above-mentioned three names at the fore-front but also with relatively new names such as Culture, Dennis Brown, Barrington Levy, Heptones, Mighty Diamonds, Black Uhuru, Third World, Don Carlos, I Jah Man and Inner Circle. The names of British based but Caribbean-influenced groups such as Steel Pulse, Cimarons, Aswad, Matumbi, Black Slate, King Sounds, Misty in Roots, UB40 and Musical Youth also became commonplace. Between 1983 and 1985, DJ music from the Caribbean also became popular with Yellowman, Josey Wales and Jah Thomas at the forefront.

Before independence popular disc-jockey, Webster Shamu played a lot of Jimmy Cliff songs on radio which he had obtained from overseas but were not available in the country. His programmes popularised the reggae beat (even though the name ‘reggae’ itself had not yet been heard for this kind of beat). A lot of politically conscious Zimbabweans began to identify with Jimmy Cliff’s revolutionary music such as ‘Suffering in The Land’ and ‘Struggling Man’. Thus to the Zimbabweans, Jimmy Cliff’s was at the forefront of reggae music even years later when he did a cover version of Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’, a lot of Zimbabweans preferred to listen to Jimmy Cliff’s version because Bob Marley was only a newcomer.

At independence, however, the tables were turned. Bob Nester Marley was now a bigger star than Jimmy Cliff and he had released the ‘Survival’ album with the track ‘Zimbabwe’ on it dedicated to our country. To cap it all, he came to Zimbabwe to entertain the masses of Zimbabwe during the birth of a new nation and the inauguration of a new leader, Robert Mugabe. With him he brought a massive entourage of Rastafarian musicians, the Wailers, the I Threes and other backing musicians plus a P.A. Sound System of 40 000 watts power output, equipment which had never been seen before in this part of the world.

An estimated 100 000 people watched these celebrations and it is claimed that Gallo record company sold over 25 000 of the ‘Survival’ album within a few weeks after Marley left the country. The record company saw the coming of Bob Marley as a big blessing and it rush-released all his previous albums from ‘Small Axe’, ‘Live’, to ‘Kaya’ and ‘Exodus’. (Kaya was later banned because of its ganja (marijuana) connotations.) The single ‘Zimbabwe’ was also released and this became the first picture sleeve 7 inch record to be released in Zimbabwe with the photographs of Robert Nesta Bob Marley himself and the Prime Minister Robert ‘Bob’ Mugabe on the cover of the record.

Later releases such as ‘Uprising’ and ‘Confrontation’ became the best selling L.P’s in the country for a long time. The track “Buffalo Soldier’ from the ‘Confrontation’ album was Lyons Maids Hit Parade number one song for over 15 weeks.

It wasn’t only Bob Marley’s music which grew in popularity in Zimbabwe but reggae music as a whole. Music lovers became more and more enthusiastic about this new type of music that they began to listen to a lot more of Jamaican groups. Peter Tosh, The Wailing Souls, Third World, Freddie McGregor and Black Uhuru were some of the groups released in Zimbabwe after independence.

When Bob Marley died, Radio 2 and Radio 3 D.Js did a special tribute and concerts were held throughout the country by many local groups and sound systems to pay their last respects.

The news of his death shocked so many Zimbabwean youths especially those who had adopted the Rastafarian culture.

After Bob Marley, the youths began to crave for more live reggae bands from abroad. Marley’s concerts had not only been spectacular, but had impressed even those people who would not normally attend any kind of music concerts.

Any reggae band coming to Zimbabwe after Bob Marley would have made it. The P.A system he had brought into the country could not be matched with the locally made. Hauberg, Strobe or Scarab 100 watt systems which sounded like home hi-fi systems.

Officials of the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation saw it fit to purchase equipment similar to that Bob Marley had brought for future independence celebrations, big political rallies and for use by visiting bands as an estimated $80 000 had been spent on air-freighting Bob Marley’s equipment.

In 1981, the Ministry of Youth purchased a 20 000 watt P.A. system for an estimated US $125, 000 amid protests from some members of Parliament who were against the idea.

In January 1982, a British reggae band, Misty in Roots, arrived in Zimbabwe.

Their first four concerts were completely sold out as expected and riot police with dogs had to be called in to control the crowds who had exceeded the maximum capacity of the National Sports Centre.

Misty in Roots remained in Zimbabwe for the next five months during which time they bought musical equipment, A VW Combi and a farm from some of the proceeds of their concerts.

After Misty in Roots, UB40, another British reggae band came and toured the country for a month, followed by Aswad in the same year.

In 1983, Jimmy Cliff, a well-known reggae star among Zimbabweans filled Rufaro Stadium to maximum capacity in Harare after another sell out concert in Bulawayo the previous week. Concert promoter, Musekiwa Kumbula who had organised the successful Jimmy Cliff tour tried to intercept Peter Tosh towards the end of the same year on his way from Swaziland where he had just finished performing. It is said that Peter Tosh while passing through Zimbabwe signed a contract to come back but felt ill and could not make it. Instead Musekiwa then committed Gregory Isaacs. This also fell through because Gregory was arrested for possessing arms in Jamaica during the time he was supposed to tour Zimbabwe. However, another promoter Iain Mclntosh, together with radio D.J Mike Mhundwa managed to get Don Carlos (ex-member of Black Uhuru) to come to Zimbabwe. In June 1984 Don Carlos performed in front of over 30 000 music fans but unfortunately the P. A system, the only one of its capacity in the whole country at the time, let him down when it failed to work.

The impact of the Bob Marley Tour, followed by the tours of Aswad, UB40, Misty in Roots, Jimmy Cliff and Don Carlos and the subsequent release of reggae records in Zimbabwe especially after independence did not only popularize reggae music, but also brought a subs-culture of Rastafarians among the Zimbabwean youth.

The number of young people wearing dreadlocks in Zimbabwe especially in the 1980’s became quite phenomenal. Some even went to the extent of emulating the language used by Jamaican Rastas and others went further to smoke what the Rasta believe to be ‘a sacred herb’ (‘Ganja’ or locally known as ‘mbanje’ or ‘dagga’).

Red, green and gold T-shirts, scarfs, head-gear and other types of Rasta clothing became the ghetto fashion.

Thus, reggae music has not only acted as another leisure musical influence on young Zimbabweans but has brought with it a very powerful cult which most of the unemployed youth find as a satisfying and justifiable cause as the Rastafarians are always concerned about the plight of ghetto youths. It is the rather mystical aspects of Rastafarian faith like eating ‘ital’ food, smoking ganja, believing in Jah (God), wearing dreadlocks and the ‘roots’ talk that the youth have adopted from this movement which, to begin with, came to them simply as music.

Looks like the Caribbean influence is here to stay.

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