Catalogue       Group                                                                         A side/B side                                                       Year

Number

PAS 001      Earthquake                                                   Kutanga Tanga Pts 1 & 2                        1983

PAS 003      J.J. & Co                                                       Mama Kayai Pts 1 & 2

PAS 004      Zembi                                                          Chwo Matinde Pts 1 & 2

PAS 005      Zembi                                                          Alinga Linga Pts 1 & 2

PAS 007      Shango                                                        Viviene Pts 1 & 2

PAS 001 and PAS 005 are two records that Sofianne of Groovy Record in Paris alerted me to in April 2011. Neither band features anywhere else on this discography, though I have found a passing contemporary reference to a journalist/musician J.J. Otieno, who gained fame in the 1980s with a song called Kutanga Tanga, so Earthquake may be his band. The title phrase is Kiswahili slang for ‘philandering’.

J.J. Otieno is also the songwriter on PAS 003, details of which – along with PAS 007 – were supplied by Fredrik Lavik in September 2014. Like everything else on this label it was produced by Wayne Barnes, who is now based in the UK.

The Zembi single PAS 005 is in Dholuo and the musical style is described as “raggae”, which makes it sound an intriguing prospect. Update: PAS 004 surfaced on Ebay in March 2013. Its style is “disco benga” so clearly the band liked to mix it up.