Organisation: the site went live on the internet with 1,200 singles listed, spread across more than 300 labels (There are now more than 2,700 singles listed). The site is arranged primarily by label, though I’ve since added a band index to help people navigate their way around.

Bands changed name and splintered with such frequency that my own ignorance has made it difficult to build up timelines for groups’ different incarnations, so the band index requires refinement.

Click on the links at the top of each page to navigate around the site. This is the first website I have built, so if things don’t work, let me know.

Blog: contribute to the site and comment on it here, Also, check too for details of new additions, updates and news.

Pictures: many of the images have come from Ebay screen grabs and are less than clear. If you have better pictures of labels or images of labels that are currently picture-less please send them in.

GET IN TOUCH

This site wants new listings, corrections, label images, release dates, band line-ups and as much information as possible. Help by writing into the blog pages or by mailing contributions to

Credits: this project wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of crate-digger supreme Cheeku Bidani and John Beadle, creator of the wonderful Likembe blog, who both opened their files to me with unstinting generosity, Alastair Johnston of Muzikifan and Doug Paterson, whose deep fund of knowledge you can access via the East African Music Page link to the left, didn’t hesitate in giving me permission to lift large chunks of their own research for which I am eternally grateful. Didier of the Mwanasimba website allowed me to pick his brains and use his images, Wuod Kwatch has offered help with Dholuo and reassurance throughout, Andy and Adam at Eldica in Bradbury St, London E8, a goldmine for lovers of rare and funky vinyl from around the planet, have generously allowed me to use their scans. Finally, this all started when I posted a couple of compilations of 7in records I bought in Kenya in the early 1980s on Matt Temple’s excellent Matsuli blog. I can’t thank him enough for starting me off on another journey and introducing me to new friends along the way.

Blogs

Aduna

Africabeat

African Sound System

Africolombia (New link)

Afro Slabs

Alistair J's Afro-Latin Podcast

Analog Africa

Awesome Tapes From Africa

Benn Loxo du Taccu

Global Groove

Konzeptlos

Likembe

Luo Deejay Jukebox

Matsuli Music

Mboka Mosika

Mixed Messages

Mwanasimba

Sea Never Dry

Snap, Crackle and Pops

Steve Ntwiga Mugiri

Tambour d'Afrique

Voice of America’s

African Music Treasures

Voodoo Funk

Wanamuziki

World Passport

World Service

Ya Congo

Zero G Sound

Ylowek Scavel-Cronek

Discographies and profiles

Bolingo’s African 45s

African Music Hub

African Musicians Profiles

Afromix

Afropop Worldwide

Ambiance Congo

Bolingo’s Congo Discographies

Doug Patterson’s

East African Music Page

Frank Bessem's Musique d'Afrique

Muzikifan

Sam Mangwana Unofficial Homepage

Toshiya Endo's African Page

Forums

Africambiance

African Music Forum

Afromix

Vibes d'Afrique

Shops

AIT Records

Natari

Stern's

Magazines

The Beat

KenTanza Vinyl: 

an East African discography

Welcome, here you will find details of music released on 45rpm discs from the time of Kenya and Tanzania’s independence until the arrival of the cassette and CD killed the single. The listings include records by pioneers of Kenyan music Daudi Kabaka and Fadhili William, benga wizards DO Misiani and Victoria Kings, Kamba legends like Kakai Kilonzo and the Kilimambogo Brothers and Kikuyu ones like Joseph Kamaru, top Tanzanian bands Orch Super Volcano and Nuta Jazz, kings of Swahili pop Les Wanyika, giants of Congolese rumba Franco and TPOK Jazz and Tabu Ley Rochereau as well as the Congolese bands such as Orch Super Mazembe, Orch Shika Shika and Les Kinois who moved east in search of fame and fortune.

The reasons for attempting such a mammoth task are that I love the music and want to know more. Had I been interested in, say, Dutch psychedelia 1969-72, the internet would have offered a wealth of information. Yet, as far as I know, nobody has tried so far to build up a picture of East Africa’s incredibly vibrant recording scene of the time. This is an attempt at rectifying that situation.

Many people know far more than I do about these bands and labels, so I think of what is here as a Wikipedia stub, a starting point where I hope people will come to share their love and knowledge of this music. They can do this easily by e-mailing