When Bongo Flava peters out quickly

`Mnanionesha njia ya kwetu` was a hit by the then prolific DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra which was released more than a quarter of a century ago.

But it stays put in the hearts and souls of music lovers, both the young and the elderly.

Talk about `Georgina` by the then Safari Trippers Group which unleashed the piece more than 30 years ago, and the then obtaining appreciation and love for the track remains intact today.

That was the works of the legendary Marijani Rajab, one of the everlasting stalwarts of Tanzania`s music.

For local music lovers still harbour undying and everlasting appreciation for music legends which included Joseph Mulenga, a canny guitarist who could not register his voice behind microphones.

So was the celebrated Fred Ndala Kasheba who made his debut on Tanzania`s music scene in the late 60s with the then Orchestre Fauvette.

His compositions remain unchallenged and appreciated in the local music world despite being launched on the scene more than 20 years ago.

Now enter the current music generation. The whole story seems to be laden with cons more than pros. This article does not intend to belittle what the young girls and boys of this country are catering for music lovers countrywide.

But, it needs to point out the fact that the youthful music needs much to command appreciation of music lovers from people who can play pianos to sugar mummies preparing cheap dinners in the hinterlands of Tanzania.

On a frank note, tracks by musicians reputed to be on the top charts of the country`s music artistry, such as Feruzi, Afande Sele, Professor J, TID, Lady Jay Dee - just to mention a few - have fast run out of favour for music pundits a few months and years after they ascended on the music fora.

To cement claims to this reality, one of the music producers in the country made pronunciations to this effect, that compositions by Bongo Flava artistes were bound for doom as they did not carry with them the needed artistic paraphernalia.

A good example of the good compositions which have stayed on the music scene for decades include the `twist` tracks by Kenyan musicians who included Peter Tsotsi, Daudi Kabaka, David Amunga and others.

Their everlasting tracks include `Nakumbuka Adija Wangu`, ?Nilikutana na Mlofa Moja`, `Wale Vijana`, etc, which are still hot cakes as the world marks dates and weeks in the year 2007.

The same applies to compositions with Congolese musicians such as Franco Luambo, Nicholas Kasanda, Tabu Ley, Joseph Kabassele, etc, whose compositions landed on the music scene years when millions of music lovers were not yet born, but their music`s impact is noticed and recorded on the almanacs of Africa`s music artistry hitherto.

The trouble with Bongo Flava artistes is that they have all along indulged in cheap business whereby people who regard themselves as musicians simply pick up microphones and wail into them with compositions lacking in lyrics and melodies.

In doing so, the end product ends up on a dry plain with most music lovers shunning and ignoring such cheap products revolving on a few repetitive lines of lyrics completely lacking in the widely publicized flavour.

A good, living example is tracks unleashed by the Msondo Ngoma Music Band. The products remain on every music lover`s lip and ear as people who composed them threw everything at their disposal toward making the said tracks real hits.

The said tracks are those unleashed by the band when their legendary singer and composer, Moshi William, was still around.

The ageing composers and singers seem to have stolen all the `golds` in the field as the contemporary generation seems to lack the expertise which would guide them towards the needed artistry which could make them heroes with the needed dexterity in respect of respected music.

On the international scene, our Bongo Flava musicians have to reckon with former and current international artistes such as Michael Jackson, Jim Reeves, Lionel Richie, Abba Group, The Beatles, etc, whose works are still revered by a wide cross section of people for their artistic adroitness which has made their ?pieces? remain on the scene for ever.

As the days go on, the young boys and girls of this country, who are the main grafters of the mode of their music quality and standards, have to come of age and reckon with the needs of their fans and their markets within and outside the country.

Indeed, they have to reckon with the fact that, their counterparts in Uganda and Kenya, for example, could readily `steal` what would have been their markets in this part of the world. What has to be taken into consideration is quality and not quantity.