THEM MUSHROOMS LEGEND

IMPORTANT BITS ON THEM MUSHROOMS LEGEND. 

1.    Teddy Kalanda conceived the idea of composing 'hakuna matata' after he heard a European tourist attempt a conversation while performing in Mombasa in 1980. He made a song from it and recorded it at Polygram in Nairobi while the band had its first tour of the city. 

2.     Hakuna Matata, could be Kenya's most popular song in the history of music recording in Kenya. The song has been redone by dozens of big names across the globe, the song sold 200,000 thousand copies and the line became so popular that I remember t-shirts emblazoned 'hakuna matata' becoming popular in the late 1980s or thereabouts.

A few of the many international musicians who have recorded their versions of Tedd Kalanda's hakuna matata, also known as Jambo Bwana.

•    Froger  (France)
•    Bo Katzman (Switzerland)
•    The Belgian Airforce Band (Belgium)
•    Samba Salad (Holland)
•     Fausto Pred (Italy)
•    Sukbir Singh (Dubai)
•    Adam Solomon of (Canada)
•    Shimelis Ararso (Ethiopia
•    Lisa Shakir (Sudan)
•    Frank Zander (Germany)
•    Boney M (Germany)
•    Children’s choir (US)

This is arguably Kenya's most popular song, especially factoring in the reality that the authorship of Malaika has been disputed.  

3.    Them Mushrooms did a unique genre that was a hybrid of the coastal dance chakacha, blended with benga, rumba, Jazz, Omutibo of Western Kenya, and reggae on some occasions.

4.    Teddy's sax played a unique role in the Mushrooms songs, mostly tracking the melody to become the lead instrument, a role performed by the solo guitar in some other genres like benga/rumba. 

5.    The Mushroom quintet is one of the largest musical families, only comparable to Jackson's five, the Octad of the Isenge of DRC of Dewayon, etc, the Kadori quintet of Kenya, and many others.

6.    Mushrooms is easily the most traveled Kenyan band. The band has extensively toured Europe and Africa. Even a country rarely visited by musicians like Morocco.

7.    All the musician siblings were singers. Each played an instrument and sang. Singing is a common thing among them.

8.    Of the five, three are deceased and two are alive. Dennis Kalume, George Ziro, and Teddy Kalanda are deceased while John Katana and bassist Billy Saro are alive.  

9.    Even after losing sight, Tedd swore to continue singing 'even in darkness'. True to his word, he kept on performing, not just after losing his sight but after 'losing' his legs as well, as he could be seen on stage many times in a wheelchair.

Teddy will be buried at their home, Mushrooms Villa in Kilifi County on 28 October 2024, according to his brother John Katana Harrison.

By Jerome Ogolla

Jabulani Radio Livestream

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