Searching for Vinyl in Nairobi - About Rarities and Forgotten Gems

In a narrow aisle at Kenyatta market an unmarked stall, famous for playing songs from bygone eras, houses vinyl records. The cool retro shop, located at Stall 570, doesn’t even have a name but its repute and fame is much bigger than any name; I am quickly shown to its location as soon as I ask my way around. The youthful-looking 50-year-old James Murugami is the shop owner, and has been pushing vinyl for half his life, starting back in 1988. He’s surrounded by stacks of dusty records whose covers reflect the age of some of his clientele. Though the stall is modest in its size, its many crates are full of great hits form the likes of Franco and Tabu Ley, and even the soundtrack to “Out of Africa”.

James nostalgically recalls popular Kenyan musicians like Kikuyu benga artists: Simon Kihara “Musaimo” and Daniel Kamau. “Their records and cassettes made good sales here as well as in River Road, where we also used to buy [them] in wholesale.” He then touches a particular LP almost like it’s embellished in gold and mutters, “I collected this one from somebody’s home just the other day and it’s not for sale as it has speeches by Malcolm X. I had never seen one like it,” he utters.

To maintain the vintage shop, James sources old records from people’s home—a task that could be slowly on its way to extinction. “Technology has really affected my business, and I can’t fight it. My only advantage is that I still have quite a big clientele, some collectors don’t know what to do with vinyl so they end up bringing them to me.”

Prices of records at the shop vary between KES 150 to KES 300 or more, depending on their rarity and the cost James incurred while acquiring them. He also repairs vinyl record players, turntables and replaces styluses at the shop, charging KES 500 to convert an LP into a digital format.

For more on where to find Vinyl Records in Nairobi, Facebook Page Nairobi Vinyl Record Collectors.

If only music history had entailed the funk and old school magic that the KenTanza vinyl website has managed to document, then maybe East African music would be appreciated much more. KenTanza lists retro artists that made it big in East Africa and are from Kenya and Tanzania in 1960s.

Among them was the late benga artist D.O. Misiani:

Nuta Jazz:

and Congolese crooner, Franco:

 

By Josephine Opar