19 Responses

1. joji says:

   November 5, 2007 at 7:16 am

   “Can anyone help me figure out where it was from?”
   Kindly have a look at ‘http://www.concertzender.nl/programmagids.php?month=-5&date=2007-06-23′
   The Nehterlands Radio 6. Concertzender
   The program is called “Mariama” And the 2007-06-23 one was about Kanindo Singles.
   “”Mariama”, een programma met Afrikaanse muziek. Kanindo Singles.”

   Your blog is a goldmine. Am sorry I discovered it only today. So I am missing ao some very nice Franco music. The links are there but tey are no longer effective. Any remedy?

   Thank you.
2. Frank says:

   November 5, 2007 at 2:21 pm

   Klankenstapper isn’t a official Dutch word, You could translate it as soundsstepper or soundshopper, meaning “travelling around through a world of sounds”. In the case of this series of radiobroadcasts bij the Dutch Public Radio and the Dutch commercial station Concertzender it means travelling through a world of non western populair music (and I hate the tag worldmusic!)

   The music on the broadcast you offer on your wonderful blog consists of Zimbabwean single-releases from the period 1970-80 of East African music, what they call Kanindo.

   I haven’t heard it yet, I am dl it right now. I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like.

   Thanks for sharing
3. Ntwiga says:

   November 5, 2007 at 2:44 pm

   Thanks for all the clarification Joji/Frank. It is much appreciated.

   It seems that the term “Kanindo” exists in both the Zimbabwe and Kenyan music worlds which is a huge surprise.

   I am not sure if all these tracks are Kenyan but some off them certainly are. The first and third tracks for example certainly have Luo vocals but I am not so sure about the second as I cannot identify the language so it might be that the show is a mix of both Kenyan and Zimbabwean music.

   Another error I made: I posted the same version of Gabriel Omollo & Omondi Jassor’s Lunch Time twice – I will root around tonight, try to find the Poxy Pressure cover and repost it.

   - Steve
4. Christian Dubois says:

   November 5, 2007 at 6:21 pm

   Hello Steve,
   I’m Christian from Belgium.
   I’m a French speaker (so don’t be afraid about my English) married to a Kenyan woman and, it’s some time past, I discovered your super blog.
   In Dutch a “Klankenstapper” is a juke-box.
   As Franck said to you this recording come from the Dutch Internet broadcast “Radio 6″ ( you can listen to it on Winamp) and all the songs from this streamed record are lovely Luo’s Benga music. I did not have time yet to listen your track completely but I think I recognize among other things: VB POD Wamol by the Victoria Kings?.
   Long life to your super musical blog and God bless you.
5. Doug says:

   November 5, 2007 at 8:30 pm

   Regarding the Klankenstapper / Mariama program featuring the Kanindo singles, some people may not be aware that P.O. Kaninido was perhaps Kenya’s most successful benga music producer in the 1970s. He was one of the prime movers in marketing this music beyond Kenya’s borders. Many of those French releases on RCA and the Playasound recordings were produced by him. So it’s no wonder the whole genre became “Kanindo” in Zimbabwe.

   Can any Dutch speaker help me out and tell me what they said about me 21 minutes into the Mariama program where I heard my name?

   Doug,

   It is you that they are talking about: I don’t know how I missed that. We (I?) am rubbing shoulders with fame here.

   This mix certainly qualifies to be labeled as strange. For instance, interestingly enough, I’m not sure that all the tracks in this are Kanindo given that the track that starts at 22:00min is Kisii and not Luo. The vocals that start at about 24:00 in the Kisii track are about Seyyid Said.

   - Ntwiga
6. Doug says:

   November 6, 2007 at 2:01 am

   Steve, is it really Kisii or Kalenjin? Not that I know either language but I heard them mention Kericho Hardware. Anyway, I imagine any benga music from Kenya that made its way to then Rhodesia would have been called Kanindo whether Luo or otherwise. In fact, Zimbabwean music in this style is called Kanindo.

   I’d say it’s a good bet they’re referencing me in the show (I’m am indeed an anthropolgist as well as East African music “specialist”.) I only hope I added something informative to the conversation since I have no idea what they said.
7. musa okoth says:

   November 6, 2007 at 10:29 am

   Oh Steve this is just wonderful. Thanks everyone for sharing your info. I am a Luo who happened to live in Harare, Zimbabwe for about 2 years. You can imagine my surprise when Radio Zimbabwe would play these Luo singles which they called Kanindo because as Doug says, they were marketed there by Oluoch Kanindo as cassettes and Zimbabweans could never get enough of them. These tracks are still hugely popular with the older generation.

   Apparently, the Kanindo craze led Zimbabwean musicians like Leonard Dembo and Simon Chimbetu among others to develop their own sungura/museve beat where they credit the Kenyan artistes. By the way, I have also come across the Kanindo collections in other African countries like Zaire and Ghana and now here they are on Dutch radio. Wow! If only someone could produce a CD of these Kanindo series to preserve them for posterity!!!!
8. John B. says:

   November 6, 2007 at 6:25 pm

   P.O. Kanindo was one busy bee! He was also responsible for all of those Makossa 12″ benga singeles back around ’80 and for single-handedly starting a benga craze in Eastern Nigeria in the 1970s, which indirectly (or maybe not so indirectly) was responsible for giving us the sounds of Ikenga Super Stars, Oliver deCoque, Kabaka, and quite possibly Nico Mbarga’s “Sweet Mother.” At any rate, there was one hell of a cross-fertilization between Nigeria and Kenya going on during those years.
9. zim says:

   November 8, 2007 at 2:26 pm

   I found a couple links that suggest that kanindo was associated with the war for independence in zimbabwe:

   from AllAfrica:
   Kanindo spread through Kenya, Tanzania and as far south as Zimbabwe , where it was associated with the 1970s war of independence because the cadres (guerillas) who spent time in East Africa during military training brought it back with them. The music was accompanied by a dance style called “mujibha”, the same name given to war collaborators; it was performed by raising the legs high and then stamping the ground hard. It is the kind of energetic, guitar-driven, repetitive dance music heard everywhere in eastern and southern Africa, with a driving beat and high tempo; yet although it was ubiquitous, little of this music has been released internationally. Hence, the bands are relatively obscure: the best known Kenyan exponents include DO7 Shirati Jazz and Victoria Jazz Band,

   also on a page about Simon Chimbetu, there’s this:

   The instruments and combinations in this song are steeped in Benga which is an early East African version of rhumba. In Zimbabwe, Benga has been popularized as Kanindo first by the guerrillas of the 70′s war of independence who had had contacts with East African during military training. In recent years it has been identified with Radio Zimbabwe’s Simon “Pashoma” Ncube. Some of the Benga hits that are popular in Zimbabwe are Kiseru by Orchestra D.O.7 Shiratti Jazz Band and Rusalina Soda by Mori River Jazz Band.

   from:
   http://www.gcal.ac.uk/politicalsong/research/chirere.html
10. juan carlos says:

    November 9, 2007 at 3:19 pm

    su pagina es excelente
11. Fabian - Africolombia says:

    November 9, 2007 at 7:01 pm

    The Champete song: Guapeame is Interpreted by Rafael Chavez y Abelardo Carbonó in the Guitar.

    Currently Rafael and Carbonó are not continue with the music.

    They were among the pioneers of champeta Beside to
    Viviano Torres & Anne Swing Orchestra.

    The Song “Susan” its Interpreter is (Winston Peters)

    Thanks Steve, for Gladden (Alegrar) our hearts with his good music,

    Regards,
    Fabian
12. Tom says:

    November 10, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    I believe the track “Susan” is Wganda Kenya; the studio band from the Columbian label, Disco Fuentes.
13. Fabian - Africolombia says:

    November 12, 2007 at 11:17 am

    Steve

    Could show me the link of RADIO of Kanindo Singles. I do not understand the language.
    is German?

    Cheek this Link:

    http://www.kassfm.co.ke

    Kalanjin Music from Kenya

    Many thanks

    Regards,
    Fabian
14. Fabian - Africolombia says:

    November 15, 2007 at 1:37 pm

    Steve,

    Listen the track, Carolina by Abelardo Carbonó y su Conjunto

    he play the Guitar and Chant the song

    http://vibesdafrique.proboards83.com/index.cgi?board=1&action=display&thread=1195082815

    Fabian–
15. Esororo says:

    April 13, 2008 at 4:01 pm

    Nice Music Steve,

    Track that starts 6.56, 21.30, 48.50 are Kisii by the band know as Nyamwari Jazz
    and the rest are Luo by the group that went with the logo Collela Mazee which also sold and marketed under the logo Kanindo to rest of Africa cause it was a more know logo.
16. George Mufundisi says:

    August 20, 2009 at 8:21 am

    Oh, my God! This is the type of Kanindo I have been searching for quite sometime. Most of these songs remind me of the libearation war for Zimbabwe when our gallant fighters used to dance to these in the rural areas during pungwes. I was a young boy attending primary school then.
    Thanks for sharing.
17. Fidelis Mherembi says:

    December 9, 2009 at 8:19 am

    Thank you for the lovely information about the music whic became known as Kanindo in Zimbabwe. The music was popularised by a D.J called Simon Pashoma. It should be noted that Gramma records adopted the term Sungura music to market its musicians from the early 80s. Zimbabwe had musicians like Joe Ephraim and the Sungura boys leading the scene. However it should be noted that Oluoch Kanindo had a Sungura label already. The label was possibly adopted by Gramma Records for marketing purposes. It can be observed that the music from Kenya has a close linguistically. Swahili would for example be close to Shona. The sungura music sometimes referred to as museve continue to evolve and stands out as a distinct style.
18. Robert Kroos says:

    February 23, 2010 at 9:04 am

    Hello.. I am the one who did the show of Kanindo Singles on the Concertzender. By typing the word Kanindo I got on your blog.
    The music broadcasted on that particular show is from cassettes I bought in Zimbabwe. In the middle of the night on a parking place I begged a truck driver to tell me what he was playing on his soundsystem finding out it was Kanindo.
    I have not read the whole thread here but if there are any specific questions I am glad to answer them.
    All music on this show is taken from 3 cassettes and 1 (promo?) cd(with tape cover) from the Kanindo series.

    All the best: Robert Kroos
19. tafi says:

    November 4, 2010 at 2:47 pm

    hie rob,the link to your session seems to have broken. is there any other way i can listen to your session. would very much appreciate it.