January is over-and so is my month-long hibernation from these streets.
I know some of you thought I had hibernated to launch my political career- seeing that my kitambi, jingling bunch of keys and a newspaper forever tucked in the armpits, cuts the image of a mheshimiwa.
Forget that- I had hibernated because I was broke than a family of church mice.
The entire January, my mango shaped head couldn’t come up with a story to tell. And when it came, I had no quid to buy bundles to post it. None of my friends came to my aid since I have friends who can readily swing me a crate in December, but can’t buy me 100mbs to catch up with these streets in January.
One story that came to my mind is about the boy’s band we formed once upon a January- as we waited for our KCSE results to come out.
Kamaley was our lead vocal since his voice had broken properly due to smoking things legal and illegal.”Jimmi Hendrix” Kamanja played guitar which was homemade. Shei was our drummer since he couldn’t sing. But boy, that lad caressed the drum (which we had pinched from a church) with his crooked fingers till it moaned with pleasure. I was the band’s nerdy songwriter since I could neither sing nor play any instrument.
For weeks we practiced in Kamaley’s cube, raising a ruckus that could be heard in Kosovo. The Fab Four made their musical debut in a disco matanga of a departed villager I can’t recall.
Our first hit, which we dubbed directly into those C90 cassettes, swept through the village like a hurricane. Overnight, we became instant teen sensations. Wise dads hid their daughters once they heard the quartet had been spotted in their neighborhood.
Soon, we started promising girls season tickets to the Grammys. Puff Daddy, whose record label was to cut our first CD, constantly featured in our talks. Five Alive, and even Boyz 2 Men had nothing on us.
Ah, the idealism of youth!
I will cut this story at that point-just like our dream was cut short soon after. This left us artists without an art form and thus dangerous souls.
The death of the Fab Four marked the end of one of the most promising boys bands to ever come from Murang’a.