“We Shall Miss Them All”

Though I am not a music commentator, I loved music and I still do. Justas we had come out of the villages and joined Secondary school, it wasthe era of Dance Hits or may I call it POP Music. In those days, we usedto boogie to the music of the likes of Imagination, Donna Summer,Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, The B-Gees, Lionel Richie, BillyOcean, Kylie Minogue, only to mention a few. Much as I had woken up from the Juke Box Era, where the Les Wanyika’s Sina Makosa, Shauri Yakoand of course the Super Mazembe’s Kasongo, etc. These were the days when we wore Bell Bottomed Trousers, complete with skin tight shirts, gudiri (platform) shoes as well as Afro hair styles. Remarkably, those were the fashions of the likes of Boney M and company. Most of these Bands hits were real hits then and are still hits to reckon with now days, save for repletion in today’s music, what is really there? Many are just reproducing the oldies and hip hopping them to sell! I really get entertained whenever the oldies are played; the brains behind those hits were really genius. Someone wrote a song that touched the heart then and now but for the current breed of singers, they are either copying or merely repeating themselves! Sounds like, “ndagukunda (instruments and then) ndagukunda”, real bullshit! Back to the masters of music, nature has been knocking them off the list one by one.On the 4th day of July 2003, American soul singer Barry White died in Los Angeles at the age of 58, after a long illness. He died at Cedars Sinai Hospital in West Hollywood. His hits include you’re My First, MyLast, My Everything and Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe. He had avoice larger than life.On the 1st of Jul 2005 – the Legendary R&B artist Luther Vandross, whosesmooth, silky voice gave soul to songs about life, love and relationships, died. on June 25th 2009 the American singer Michael Jackson died at age 50, of propofol intoxication after suffering a respiratory arrest at his home on North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said he had found Jackson in his room, not breathing, but with a faint pulse, and that he administered CPR on his bed to no avail. He was the King of POP music with a very long list of hits under his name, the likes of We are the World, Thriller, Heal The World, Black or White, etc. He was the engine behind the “Break Dance of the 1980s; I recallIsaac Ruci, Philip Odida, Mad Mike and the likes, dancing on theirheads, backs, etc courtesy of MJ music. In the recent past, just a couple of weeks ago, we have lost WhitneyHouston, Donna Sumer and now Robin Gibb. Just a couple of weeks ago, Whitney Houston passed away in Los Angeles. She was famous for Hits like How Will I know, I will Always Love You, One Moment, etc. To some of us, who grew up in the era of such stars, it is quite saddening to see our icons pass away in such unceremonious manner! Not forgetting Donna Summer with her tantalising voice, I loved her hit Unconditional Love, every time it played my heart missed a beat. It is still such a hit nearly three decades later. She passed away from cancer at the tender age of 62. Now, the POP kings of the 1970s, 80 and 90s, Robin Gibb and hisbrothers, Maurice and Barry, in their group known as “Bee Gees” produceda string of memorable hits and were at the forefront of the disco era with their iconic ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack. Robin Gibb was diagnosed with cancer that spread from his colon to his liver last year. Now, he too has succumbed to nature and is no more. We shall Miss them all, May God Rest their Souls in eternal Peace