Real Sounds Of Africa

The Real Sounds Of Africa, an 11-piece line-up based in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare and consisting entirely of Zairean musicians, are the most successful proponents of the rumba outside Zaire itself. The group was founded by guitarist Ghaby Mumba, who was born in Kinshasa and played with a variety of local bands before joining the Government-sponsored Orchestre Diables Noirs, playing a mixture of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and rumba in the OK Jazz mould. 
In 1967, two years after the end of the civil war, Mumba left for Zambia, capitalizing on the local interest in Congolese music with a soukous band called OC Jazz. His second outfit, Les Elite Bantous, with its less-than-subtle reference to the influential Congolese band Bantous De La Capitale, took the name game even further. He formed the Real Sounds in 1975. The band moved from Zambia to Zimbabwe in 1978, when they were invited to take up a residency in a hotel in Umtali. As the Zimbabwean war of independence hotted up, they left Umtali, the centre of regular fire fights between guerrillas and the army, and moved to Harare. In the capital, the Real Sounds found an eager audience for their own brand of soukous, which resulted in two hit albums, Harare and Funky Lady.
(read more on AllMusic)
== Links to Peel ==
Peel played several of their material in the late 80's, but didn't seem to play further songs beyond that, according to available tracklistings on this site. He also saw them perform at a motel outside Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe when he visited the country in 1988. His friend and colleague, Andy Kershaw, had the group do several sessions for his programmes during the late 80's.
== Shows Played ==
;thumb|220x220px1986
*15 April 1986: Dynamos Versus Caps (LP - Harare) Editions Zim Production
*23 April 1986: Dynamos Versus Caps (LP - Harare) Editions Zim
*05 May 1986: unknown 
;1987
*17 February 1987: Tornados Vs. Dynamos (12" - Walk For The World) Cooking Vinyl
*23 March 1987: Tornados Vs. Dynamos (12" - Walk For The World) Cooking Vinyl
*24 March 1987: Tornados Vs. Dynamos (7" - Walk For The World) Cooking Vinyl
*08 June 1987: 'Wende Zako (LP-Wende Zako)' (Cooking Vinyl)
*24 June 1987: Tsi Tsi Wangu (LP - Wende Zako) Cooking Vinyl
*08 July 1987: Tsi Tsi Wangu (LP - Wende Zako) Cooking Vinyl
;1989
*19 September 1989: Soccer Fan (LP - 7 Miles High) Big
*21 September 1989: Moselebende (LP - 7 Miles High) Big
== See Also ==
*Gigography 1988
== External Links ==
*AllMusic
*Discogs
Category:Artists