Madalaboy: The rhumba senior music lecturer

Mkhululi Ncube, Showbiz Reporter
In terms of respect, he is to rhumba music what Nicholas Zachariah is to Sungura – a lecturer who has assisted many to grow in the music scene and is fulfilled with that role.

That is the story of Honest Regiment Kamanga popularly known as Madalaboy, Nyasa, and Uncle Dallas in the rhumba music circles.

The musician was born to a Malawi national who sired him with his mother in then Salisbury (now Harare) in 1968.

He was to relocate to his mother’s birthplace in Makhulela village, Bulilima District in 1975 where he grew up at the heart of the country’s war for liberation.

He briefly stayed in Malawi before coming to Zimbabwe with his mother but does not know what ended his parents’ relationship.

Despite being one of the backbones of rhumba music after the demise of rhumba legends such as Solomon Skuza and Ndux Malax, Madalaboy has largely remained in the background mainly due to his humbleness with most people who passed through his hands gaining more fame and limelight.

He was the founding member and leader of Ndolwane Super Sounds and despite giving birth to the group that went on to record hits, he left after paving their way to stardom.

“I was the leader of Ndolwane Super Sounds but we ran the band together and decisions were collectively made.

Develop Moyo was our rhythm guitarist and I played the lead while Abson Ndebele played the bass guitar. Abson was to return to the rhythm guitar after Develop left the band. Charles (Ndebele) and Martin (Sibanda) who were also composers were entrusted with the vocals,” he said.

Never one keen to take credit for his fruits in music, Madalaboy hails his late teacher and former Mangwe legislator and former deputy minister of Home Affairs Obedingwa Mguni for planting and nurturing the music seed in him.

“I came to Zimbabwe in 1975, but due to the war, I only went to school when schools re-opened in 1980. I used to speak Tumbuka language from Malawi, but I lost it because there was no one I could speak it with. I was in the school choir and our choirmaster was Obedingwa Mguni.

“He started by teaching us imbube and later introduced homemade guitar instruments. We won a lot of awards in the form of goats during competitions.

However, I didn’t finish secondary school and relocated to South Africa where I managed to unite with my former schoolmates who included the late Abson Ndebele and Charles Ndebele who I sang with at school.

“We then regrouped in South Africa to pursue music in 1993.

We decided to do a demo for recording companies to see if they could accept us in the music industry. We called ourselves the Big Four and the demo we did was entitled Noyana.

“We were pleasantly surprised that people loved the demo as we had done it to get approval from recording companies. That made us take music seriously and we decided to boost our group,” he said.

The Umona hit-maker said while searching for more guys to work with them, they were approached by Collen Moyo who expressed interest to join them.

Madalaboy said Collen introduced Martin Sibanda to him and he was “blown away” by his singing, resulting in him recommending him to the other members, that the two be incorporated into the band.

“That’s how Martin Sibanda and Collen Moyo became members of Ndolwane Super Sounds. Once they came, we decided to get a new name and despite the many that were proposed, Ndolwane Super Sounds was the agreed one and so began the journey.

What many may not know is that the first album that was supposed to be produced by Ndolwane Super Sounds was Nimcitsheleni in 1996, not Africa.

“We recorded Nimcitsheleni in Harare, but somehow, it seems there was a mistake in saving the lead guitar which I had played and it got deleted.

Efforts to get me to redo it failed due to communication and logistical challenges as I was in Bulawayo and Abson Ndebele was in Harare.”

The Nimcitsheleni album was to be re-recorded later without Madalaboy’s input after they produced the album Africa which marked the group’s entrance into the music field.

Despite being the midwifery of Ndolwane Super Sounds, Madalaboy is very happy with the success the band made without him and hails the members he left for the great work they did.

“I amicably left Ndolwane Super Sounds in 1996 and came to Zimbabwe and formed my band, The Shining Fellows.

I didn’t want a band name that tied me down to a particular place hence that name. I produced my debut album in 1997 entitled Umona which was received well. I worked with drum player Joseph Silwane who hails from Gwanda and he had songs on the album as well.

“I named my music Itshovatshova and introduced various flavours borrowed from other cultures. I never looked back after my debut album till now,” he said.

But how did he earn the name Madalaboy?

“I got the nickname Madalaboy from my producer, the late Tymon Mabaleka when I recorded my debut album and song Umona. He wanted to know who this Madalaboy I was singing about was.

He thought I was singing about someone, but when I told him there was no such person, he then gave me the name as he thought I was hiding something from him. That’s how I got that name and it has stuck with me.”

During the economic challenges in the 2000s, Madalaboy said he stopped playing at live shows and instead, assisted people who were recording in Bulawayo before relocating again to South Africa in 2001 where he looked for employment, but continued with music.

The Thandaza hit-maker said he was to reunite with his teacher, Obedingwa Mguni in South Africa and they worked together at a nightclub as barmen, but the late politician upgraded himself academically which saw him making it in that country before coming back home.

According to Madalaboy, they had discussed forming a band with the late Mguni before the formation of Ndolwane Super Sounds, but that did not materialise. They remained close friends even after Mguni returned home to be a full-time politician.

“I was inspired by two great musicians, Solomon Skuza and Leonard Dembo. I religiously followed their music and to a lesser extent, that of Ndux Malax. In all my compositions, I normally look at what we encounter in our daily lives and try to make use of it, either by writing advisory songs or writing songs that may encourage unity among people.

I’m proud of what I’ve done so far to give young people opportunities because music is a passion-driven thing,” he said.

Madalaboy said there are few rhumba musicians who have not passed through his hands to be imparted with his knowledge in music and in fear of forgetting some, he does not want to name the long list of those he assisted.

“I have 18 albums to my name and four collaborations with Allen Ndoda. Two weeks ago, I produced two singles from my upcoming album Bekutheni after fans requested an album.

The two tracks are Abafuni Ikhulunywe and Vimba. I’ll give the fans more tracks till the whole album is out,” he said.

One needs to listen to his music to understand the artiste’s lasting power, hand, and ear for quality production and his latest two tracks bear testimony to that.

Commenting on the Rhumba genre, Madalaboy said: “Rhumba music has grown in terms of its recognition in different cultures.

However, it’s the technological side of things where we’re far behind. We need to teach people about digital platforms. Companies that used to market and distribute our music long folded due to technology.

“Technology while good, has killed our livelihood because our fans are still left behind as most of them still prefer to buy CDs instead of accessing music on digital stores.

Selling CDs makes it hard to distribute our music resulting in pirates enjoying our sweat,” he said.

His first-born son, Handsome Kamanga is already an established guitarist after graduating from his father’s famed school of music. He is one of the most sought-after guitarists in rhumba circles while the other two boys and a girl make up his children.

The musician is popular for his clean shave and suits on stage as he never misses an opportunity to don formal wear and look presentable each time he is on the stage.

Uncle Dalas enjoys traditional foods such as idelele and umfushwa among others and is not a demanding someone when it comes to food.

“I’m a simple person when it comes to food. The one thing that I don’t eat is pork due to my religious beliefs as I’m a member of the 12 Apostolic Church.

This will explain why I have a number of gospel songs on my albums. I’m not a pastor, but just a church member who’s very close to the Word of God.”

– @themkhust.

Article Source: The Chronicle