ZAMROCK: ROCKING HARD THE ZED WAY

By Misheck M'hango

Zambia got independent in 1964. At the time of independence, there was no commercial music industry in the country. Although among the expatriate community there were a few part-time bands modelled after professional Western bands, among indigenous Zambians there was completely nothing of the sort. Our people largely enjoyed traditional music imported from the villages and totally relied on radio and imported records for commercial music. Zambian traditional music is predominantly African drums, energetically played with open palms to the accompaniment of vocal choruses, usually in the call-answer format.

The nearest to commercial music among the locals was folk music played by such early pioneers as Alick Nkhata, Alfred Mapiki and Emmanuel Mulemena. This was simple acoustic guitar music either played live in "sundowners" on the Copperbelt or on national radio. Zambian modern economic development was triggered in the northern copper-mining regions, by the border with DR Congo, referred to as the Copperbelt in reference to the copper mines littered all over the region. After a hard day at work, miners would gather in open public places for some late afternoon entertainment going into the early evening. This came to be known as sundowners and became a very popular social pass time.

However, at the close of the decade as the economy boomed and the miners on the Copperbelt were beginning to enjoy an improved economic life which afforded them sufficient purchasing power to spend on some luxuries such as entertainment, a commercial record industry began slowly taking shape. Initially, this came in the form of weekend or evening part-time bands comprising of young Zambians who had full-time day jobs but got together to imitate their musical heroes in their spare time. At this time, there was a heavy, impactful invasion of particularly British rock music - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple. A whole new legion of devout Zambian rock fans was born - it was these acts they would imitate, playing covers of their songs in live shows which were initially aimed at entertaining expatriate audiences but later attracting increasing numbers of locals.

As the new decade dawned, the music scene became heavier. Firstly, there were additional influences from the USA - such acts as James Brown and Grand Funk - then, secondly and most importantly, there was one huge political announcement that changed the whole scene. In a watershed speech, President Kenneth Kaunda decreed that Zambian radio must play 90% Zambian music. Two things quickly happened in short order: the Zambian rock bands began experimenting with a hybrid sound which incorporated traditional rhythms into Western rock - and even singing wholly in Zambian languages - and Zamrock was born!

The second significant revolution was that Zambian bands quickly built a large enough following to go fully professional. This led to a very rapid explosion of the Zamrock scene.

By 1973, the earliest Zamrock acts The Witch and The Tinkles, had released their first commercial albums. The very first was Introduction by The Witch then, Ichalo Kuwama a by The Tinkles. The Zambian public lapped up these productions faster than the proverbial hot cake. Zamrock picked up gale force and swept the local scene like a hungry, thirsty hurricane, giving birth to a lively, pulsating music industry. By the mid-70s the Zamrock industry was teeming with scores of bands and soloists and had even spread down the rest of the line of rail. New acts such as Mosi-oa-Tunya, Ngozi Family, The Peace, Salty Dog, MacBeth, Crossbones and many others hit the heady, swinging scene and churned out hit after hot hit for the slavish fans.

A little later, Zamrock also saw the emergence of the two most talented, supremely gifted soloists that always stood heads, shoulders and elbows above everybody else - Keith Mlevhu and Rikki Ililonga. Live shows, known as "ama session" were very popular. A number of competitions such as Battle of The Bands emerged. It was entertainment galore. The scene really became groovy, complete with its own radio shows, newspapers and magazines.

At its height, Zamrock competed very well with imported Western music. The unique genre with its very peculiarly Zambian feel always firmly captured the imagination of local audiences and remained a hot staple. Alongside imported rock from the UK and US, and the also very dominant sounds of soul music from the US, plus the peppering of Jimmy Cliff and Johnny Nash's reggae from Jamaica that dominated the 70s airwaves, hot, tasty servings of Zamrock always found a ready and enthusiastic audience. Everywhere you went, you heard on continuous rotation hits such as Chifundo Pa Mtima, Mwebalume bandi, Lazy bones, Sheebeen Queen, Journey to Kasama, Ubuntungwa, Love & Freedom and numerous more wonderful, timeless gems.

The appeal of Zamrock lay in its very Zambian accent - an exciting, danceable beat very close to traditional African drumming, much more melodic singing without the lush arrangements of some of the Western rock, then of course carrying themes and painting everyday scenes the audience could easily relate to. It was a very palatable fusion of the two sounds and two cultures, very tasty and scintillating.

As the decade ended, Zamrock however died a sudden and rapid death, sadly! It is generally thought the economic decline in the country had a lot to do with this, but also the emergence of disco music, which shifted musical tastes. Also blamed is the political situation - liberation struggles going on in neighbouring countries led to frequent curfews in the country, meaning no live shows in the evenings, and therefore cutting off the bread and butter for bands.

A new local sound in the form of kalidula was born, only a few acts such as Ngozi Family

and Crossbones adapted and survived. The rest just faded away into the harsh sands of time.

Kalindula is an electric version of traditional Zambian music originating from Luapula Province, done totally in local languages – predominantly Bemba - and, unlike Zamrock, concentrating almost exclusively on social commentary. Like traditional music, it is primarily dance and not “listening” to music, it usually even calls out to the audience to take to the dance floor and fully express themselves in dance.

For some three decades, Zamrock was truly and fully dead. A relic of the past, only brought to life from time to time by a few of us fiercely loyal, undying adherents just for sentimental reasons. Then something happened, which was as pleasant as it was amazing: about a decade ago, there was a sudden resurgence of Zamrock - overseas, in the West!

Music lovers in the USA and Europe "stumbled across" the beautiful, unique sound of Zamrock and started demanding for it! Music labels such as Now Again Records and Strawberry Rain rose to the challenge - they began digging up Zamrock archives, reissuing whole catalogues on CD for the appreciative Western audiences. As we speak, practically the entire catalogue of The Witch has been reissued, and also many more from Mosi-oa-Tunya, Rikki Ililonga, Amanaz, Blackfoot. Several more are still undergoing production. Two surviving godfathers of Zamrock, Emmanuel 'Jagari' Chandaand Rikki Ililonga have been busy touring the US and Europe giving live Zamrock performances and lectures. There is even a "Reborn Witch" band somewhere in the US!

The current happenings show that Zamrock was a wonderful thing that was born never to die. It is a great cultural explosion that has all the ingredients of an immortal fruit: to be enjoyed in the present by those that are fortunate to experience it, as by those that first tasted of it back in the 70s, and those that shall eternally enjoy of it in years to come.

Zamrock shall live forever!

About our contributor:

Misheck M'hango is a multifaceted artist. He is, an author, an actor, passionate about music and a musician. He has played in several bands over the years and started his own band named X-virus over twenty years ago.

You can see some of his work:

Kicking the hippo out of the river

Wanikumbuka

He lives in Kalulushi, Zambia.