August Musarurwa (usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) was the Zimbabwean composer of the 1950s hit tune "

Skokiaan "Skokiaan" is a popular music, popular Melody, tune originally written by Zimbabwean musician August Msarurgwa, August Musarurwa (d. 1968, usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) in the Tsaba-tsaba big band-style that succeeded M ...

" (also known as Skokiyana, Skokian).

History

August Musarurwa was born and raised in the Zvimba
map
district of

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirely ...

, a region in the north of what was then

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

. He attended Marshall Hartley Primary School before moving to what was then Salisbury (

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

) to find work. After working as a clerk for a tobacco company, he joined the

British South African Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, f ...

as a 22-year-old. The BSAP employed Musarurwa as an interpreter, but later he transferred to the police band. He left the BSAP to work for the Bulawayo

Cold Storage Commission The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) is a government ministry responsible for agriculture in Zimbabwe, including the management of agricultural land use, but not land reform. Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka is the incumbent Minister of Lands, Agriculture ...

, living in the company's compound. As leader of the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia, Musarurwa recorded Skokiaan as an instrumental in 1947. A second version of the tune was released in the United States by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

in 1954 under the name of the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band, as Musarurwa's band was now called.

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

met Musarurwa in November 1960 during his African tour. According to his daughter, Armstrong gave Musarurwa a jacket and invited him to visit the United States. The visit was cancelled due to the death in 1962 of Tandiwe, Musarurwa's spouse.

Death

August Musarurwa died in 1968 and is buried in his family cemetery in his village near Zvimba. The inscription on his grave reads ''Here lies August Machona Musarurwa, great singer and music composer, renowned the world over''.

References

Zimbabwean musicians British South Africa Police officers Rhodesian musicians Rhodesian composers 1968 deaths Year of birth missing {{zimbabwe-bio-stub

History

Death

See also

References