Catalogue       Group                                               A side/B side

Number

ULUS 015    Mbiri Sisters                             Ndi Mugi/Ndari Ya Maheni

ULUS 023    Rwengo Sisters                         Mwendwa Paulina/Wendire

An Audio Productions label that probably dates from the 1980s. The Rwengo Sisters are presumably the distaff side of the Rwengo Brothers, the band led by Kikuyu musician John Ndicu.

According to Popular Music Censorship in Africa by Michael Drewett and Martin Cloonan, Ndichu fell foul of the Kenyan authorities with a song, Nonginya Turiote (We Must Be Consumed by the Hot Sunshine). It described poverty and unemployment as threats to the survival of ordinary people. Considered by the censors to be “the voice of discouragement” it was banned in December, 1987.

Thanks to Sofianne of Groovy Record in Paris for supplying details and a scan of this record in April 2011.

Details of ULUS 015 were added in September 2011 using information from the University of Mainz African Music Archive.