Filed under: Kenya
Madico were from… Well, I’m not sure.
The person who sold me the record said that they were from Kenya, which is where the record says it was manufactured in the small print.
But, the language listed on the label says “Lingala”, which is spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaïre) and a large part of the Republic of the Congo, as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic.
I guess that they may have been from Angola, due to the song’s title. But if that was the case, the record would have been pressed either in that country or Portugal. Similarly, if they had been from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Republic of the Congo, the record would have been pressed in France. So that leaves the Central African Republic… But then why would the song have Angola in the title?
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number PEA 200 on Pathé Records, manufactured in Kenya. No other information available.
Filed under: Kenya
I could find no information what so ever on either the Rift Valley Brothers or the their label Sawa Sawa Sound. But, as you can see by the label’s address, they were most likely from Nairobi, Kenya. Also the language listed on the single is Kĩkũyũ, which is a language native to that region.
Here’s some information on the Kĩkũyũ tribe from Wikipedia:
The Kĩkũyũ are Kenya’s most populous ethnic group. ‘Kikuyu’ is the anglicised form of the proper name and pronunciation of Gĩkũyũ although they refer to themselves as the Agĩkũyũ people. There are about 5,347,000 Kikuyu people in Kenya, equal to about 22% of Kenya’s total population. They cultivate the fertile central highlands and are also the most economically active ethnic group in Kenya.
Although uncertain, ethnologists believe the Kikuyu came to Kenya from West Africa together with the other Bantu groups. On reaching present Tanzania, they moved east past Mount Kilimanjaro and into Kenya, finally settling around Mount Kenya, while the rest of the group continued migrating to Southern Africa . They were originally hunter-gatherers but unlike the Nilotic tribes who were pastoralists, they began farming the very fertile volcanic land around Mt. Kenya and the Kenyan highlands.
Since the initial posting, I have found that the Rift Valley Brothers recorded two more singles, one on Kalamindi label and the other on the Nguirubi lable. They also recorded as the Rift Valley Stars for the Sibour label.
Catalog number STD 7-06 on Sawa Sawa Sound of Nairobi, Kenya. No other information available.
