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"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Mar 22, 2023
The Velvet Underground – What Goes On
Ngozi Family – Hi Babe
Blackfoot – Running
Teddy Chisi – Funky Lady
Chef 187 – Amsterdam
Kaladoshas – Nipaseko Chance
Amanaz – Khala My Friend
WITCH – Home Town
Cleo Ice Queen – Dreamers
John Wizards – Lusaka By Night
Sadistic Zombie feat El Jae – Ku Lusaka
The Sakala Brothers – Tawela Amalume
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight on a rather overcast blasé grey day, but alas it’s time to travel this evening as our Round Trip must be had for it is indeed Wednesday, splashed onto the Earthly spacetime canvas as March 22, 2023. This is Danno ready as always to travel passport free with you from studio 2 GFN HQ in downtown Gwangju, how do you do? Now, for those not familiar, Zambia is home to one of the most interesting vintage rock movements in Africa after achieving independence in the 1960’s, and the innovative music tradition has lived on to the present. Thus, very excited to take our flight tonight, and glad to share this with you as we head to the home of the mighty Kenneth Kaunda, the liberator of the country who just passed aged 97 in summer 2021, may he rest in power supreme. Hard to find a politician more popular than the man they call KK, he’s in the stratosphere of say, George Washington or Simon Bolivar, he is THAT popular in the present historical memory. But alas, we must take off for Lusaka right now as the flight attendants are looking rather non-plussed with my verbosity, so let’s begin with a huge rock inspiration for people everywhere, and notably the Zamrock movement we’ll take a bite out of tonight on our travels. This is The Drop.
The Velvet Underground – What Goes On
The Drop is on the bus & on our way to the airport tonight for our Round Trip Wednesday, great as always to have you fly with us and this is Danno flying solo as it’s been decreed in 2023, and we just landed in Lusaka, Zambia our destination tonight.
We just started with our TIGHT (or) feature for our ride on flight TD089 to Lusaka, and that was Lou Reed and his Velvet Underground with What Goes On to start the show. A huge inspiration to the so-called Zamrock movement of the 1970’s in Zambia and rockers everywhere, of course, Lou was not your average famous person to put it mildly.
A titan of music both as the leading man of The Velvet Underground and in his own right as a soloist once the group broke up in the early 1970’s. Lou Reed is the outsider’s icon, a man who had great empathy for the forgotten of the world in his music, and a guy who did suffer so himself.
One interesting fact you might not know is after he quit the Velvet Underground, he worked as a typist at his father’s accounting firm for a couple of years, earning $40 a week. More interesting is that he publicly identified as gay in 1970, but would go on to marry & divorce three women during his lifetime as well. He also suffered from bipolar disorder throughout his life, and during most of that time it was both undiagnosed and not treatable.
Lou Reed, a complicated man for a complicated world, the hero of the underworld and the inspiration to so many all over the world.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
So let’s get to a few vintage records to start our Lusaka sojourn this evening, and up next we have the Ngozi Family along with Blackfoot and Teddy Chisi, which are names you most likely are unfamiliar with, but we’ll give you the intro after we Zamrock steady. This is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday to Zambia!
_________
The Drop returns here on the air but we have already arrived in Lusaka and the weather is extra nice. For those geographically challenged, Lusaka is the capital city of Zambia, just north of South Africa.
Now, for a little bit of history, Zambia was liberated in 1964 from British colonial rule, and lead by Kenneth Kaunda from then until the 1990’s. The country is mainly known as one of incredible natural beauty, but it should also be marked as a place of robust & functioning democracy & peaceful transfer of power. Immediately after independence & leading especially into the 1970’s, Zambia became the hotbed of African rock music, and this period is known as the Zamrock Era.
And that was a little taste right there, specifically we heard...
Ngozi Family – Hi Babe (…this was a band led by Paul Ngozi, who was a prominent musician in the 70’s & 80’s. Hi Babe appeared on the family band’s 1976 album Day of Judgement. Unfortunately like many in Southern Africa especially during the 80’s, Ngozi was struck down by AIDS complications, my he rest in power. And surely he does, as he’s consistently listed amongst the most popular Zambians of all time.)
Blackfoot – Running (…this is a band that honestly wasn’t too popular during it’s time and this tune was shelved until it saw the light of day on a Zamrock compilation put out in 2017.)
Teddy Chisi – Funky Lady (…this tune was originally put out in 1977 & re-released on the aforementioned compilation from 2017, titled Welcome To Zamrock! How Zambia's Liberation Led To a Rock Revolution, Vol. 1 (1972-1977). Chisi was responsible for a number of albums during this period.)
Now let’s head forward on the timeline & get in a couple more contemporary tunes out of beautiful Zambia. Up next we have a guy who’s super popular locally nowadays in Chef 187 with a tune called Amsterdam, then we’ll close things here in the first quarter with Kaladoshas and a cut called Nipaseko Chance, which I think means by pure coincidence but I could be mistaken there as this is a very linguistically diverse country, of which I speak merely English in the panopticon. THIS is The Drop on this week’s Round Trip to Zambia.
Chef 187 – Amsterdam
Kaladoshas – Nipaseko Chance
II.
The Drop has returned still in Lusaka, Zambia for this week’s round trip. Danno here, studio 2 GFN HQ in downtown Gwangju, and giving you another taste of that famed era of African music known as Zamrock from the 1970’s, so let’s get to the science behind the magic…
Amanaz – Khala My Friend (….)
WITCH – Home Town (…two hugely popular rock bands of the Zambia Rock Era or Zamrock Period. Amanaz was kind of a meteor that hit the Earth, exploded, and was done, as they only put out one album which we’ll talk about in hour 2, but it is a brilliant bit of music. WITCH like Amanaz was an acronym meaning we intend to cause havoc, and are widely regarded as the most popular band of the time, which would be 1970’s. Not just in Zambia, mind you, but all over Africa, WITCH was a name.)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
So we’ll continue to keep the vibe easy but fast forward once again on the timeline with tunes from Cleo Ice Queen, John Wizardo, and El Jae, all of which we’ll discuss further before halftime, but for now, let’s just hit play. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday to Zambia.
_________
The Drop reverberates again on the mic and we are into the final airbreak of our first 57 tonight. Danno here, in Lusaka, Zambia for most of the show tonight barring the flight here and return for some Korean snacks before we head home proper. That being said, let’s look at the crib sheet on those last three Lusakan joints...
Cleo Ice Queen – Dreamers (…interesting that we played Kaladoshas in part 1 tonight, as Cleo & Kaladoshas used to be married but the ice queen froze it back in 2021. Cleo is a huge personality in Zambia, being both a radio and TV presenter along with very popular hip-hop talent & producer.)
John Wizards – Lusaka By Night (…now, admittedly some might jump down my throat about this joint, as the artist is in fact South African, but I just dug the psyche vibe on this song about a night in the Zambian capital, and also a showcase of the massive cultural exchange that goes on between these two neighbors.)
Sadistic Zombie feat El Jae – Ku Lusaka (…the band Sadistic Zombie (how’s that for an image?) is another group out of South Africa but here they collab with the Lusaka-based rapper and rising young star in El Jae, true name Elijah Ngoma, who’s based in Zambia’s capital city.)
So let’s wrap the hour & go more traditional with a folk song from The Sakala Brothers. This final tune in our first half is a lovely long player called Tawela Amalume or Tawela Uncles. I’m sure that’s not correct especially on the pronunciation so be gentle, but pretty sure amalume means uncle. Bad translation or not, it’s time to jump to part 3, THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip to Zambia and it is indeed halftime.
The Sakala Brothers – Tawela Amalume
III & IV Round Trip
Salty Dog – See The Storm
The Crane Band feat PK Chishala – Na Musonda
Sampa The Great – Energy
Sampa The Great – Freedom
Natasha Chansa – Show Me
Alfred C. Kalusha – Ni Maggie
Rozalla – Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)
Yo Maps – No More
Lumba – C’est La Vie
Amanaz – Sunday Morning
Misty Blue – Mang Gak
Ku One Chan – Don’t Be Sad
Salty Dog – See The Storm
- We open with a bit more Zamrock tonight, this tune being put out initially in 1976.
- Fast forward to 2013, and this tune featured on a Zambian vintage rock compilation called Welcome To Zamrock: How Zambia’s Liberation Led to a Rock Revolution, and this would be vol 2 in the series.
The Crane Band feat PK Chishala – Na Musonda
- This is a tune from 2007 that posthumously features PK Chishala, who is one of the most popular Zambian musicians of all time.
- Chishala mainly worked in the Kalindula genre, which is named after a type of bass that features prominently in the music, and is popular in Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
Sampa The Great – Energy
Sampa The Great – Freedom
- One of the best rappers of our current time, Sampa Tembo is a native Zambian whose cutting vocal styles and extra nice arrangements are making the world take notice.
- Born in 1993, Sampa was raised in both Zambia and neighboring Botswana, achieving fame and a degree while based in Australia between 2013 and 2020, but never forgetting home base as the artist says the people of Zambia and Botswana are the foundation of her success.
Natasha Chansa – Show Me
- Known better as Princess Natasha Chansa, as she is the daughter of the Chief of Kaputa in Northern Zambia, although Chansa eschews the royal titles on stage.
- This tune is off a 2021 mini record called The Genesis EP, if you wanna dig for more from her royal highness.
Alfred C. Kalusha – Ni Maggie
- This is an artist who back in the 1980’s was one of the most popular artists of his time.
- A prolific composer, Kalusha worked mainly in the Bemba folk music realm before passing away far too young in 1988 aged just 31, may he rest in power.
Rozalla – Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)
- This is the title track to t/n Rozalla Miller’s 1991 album, which became a massive dancefloor hit at the time in Europe.
- Rozalla was born in Zambia but raised in Zimbabwe later, where her father hailed from.
Yo Maps – No More
- This is a singer-songwriter, producer, and rapper t/n Elton Mulenga who’s a very popular musician in Zambia.
- Yo Maps achieved a bit of fame back in 2019 with a single called Finally, and this tune dropped back in 2021.
Lumba – C’est La Vie
- This is the title track to the Lusaka-based artist’s debut EP from 2019.
- Beautiful tune, lovely voice, but not a lot of recent stuff from the artist since.
Amanaz – Sunday Morning
- Another tune off the band’s only album ever from 1975 called Africa.
- The band’s name is an acronym for Ask Me About Nice Artistes from Zambia, we featured Khala My Friend, another tune off that album, which has recently kind of caught fire and been licensed for several TV shows and films.
Misty Blue – Mang Gak
- Misty Blue is a trio consisting of vocalist Jung Woon Soo, bassist Choi Kyong Hoon, and guitarist Lee Jeong Woo from small-time music label Pastel Music.
- The group has been putting out music since 2005, some of their early works including OST’s like Comfort for the timeless drama Coffee Prince and other singles for Pastel Music compilation albums.
Ku One Chan – Don’t Be Sad
- This is a tune from 2018 released as a standalone.
- Ku One Chan made a splash upon debut in 2017, with the highly lauded Repetition LP, and in the next year put out two more EP’s, if you’d like to dig deeper.