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The Bhundu Boys were a Zimbabwean musical ensemble that played a mixture of chimurenga music with American rock and roll, disco, country music, and pop music influences. Their style became known as jit, and is quite popular across Africa, with some international success, and has influenced later groups like Nehoreka and Mokoomba. British world music DJ Andy Kershaw said that at the height of their magical powers they were "...the single most natural, effortless, catchy pop band I've ever heard"; the BBC's John Peel famously broke down in tears the first time he saw the band perform live.
The name came from bhundu (meaning "bush" or "jungle"), in reference to the young boys who used to aid the nationalist guerrilla fighters in the 1970s war against the white minority government of what was then Rhodesia. Lead singer Biggie Tembo (Biggie Rodwell Tembo Marasha) was a Bhundu boy.
The band travelled to UK in 1986 for a live tour organised by Elias, and Scottish graphic artist Gordon Muir became their manager. After touring the UK for a year, basing themselves initially in Hawick, Scotland with Muir and travelling relentlessly, the band appeared to be on the brink of a major commercial breakthrough. They were feted by Eric Clapton and Elvis Costello and Madonna asked them to be her support act at Wembley Stadium in 1987.
In October 1986, just as the band's second UK album Tsvimbodzemoto was about to be released in UK, on the Discafrique label by Elias, they met with Roskilly and requested that their Shed Studios contract be terminated early as manager Muir wanted to sign them to Warner Bros. Records. This was a monumental blow to the Studios and to Roskilly their erstwhile producer, in particular. It was however agreed that the contract would be nullified in return for all rights associated with existing Shed recordings, being assigned to the Studio’s publisher Shed Music, in perpetuity. In practice, Shed Music continued to pay writer's publishing royalties. Controversially, much of their £80,000 advance from WEA was spent buying a house in Kensal Rise, West London that as of 2006 was still a source of dispute. The band played in North America, Australia and Hong Kong. But the first WEA album True Jit, produced by Robin Millar, was considered too far a jump in style from their original Shed Studios' recordings (produced by Steve Roskilly) and was unfavourably received.
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Three members died of complications from AIDS: David Mankaba (d. 1991), his replacement Shepherd Munyama (d. 1992) and Shakespear Kangwena (d. 1993).
Tembo tried a comeback by collaborating with a Bristol band, Startled Insects, without success. Returning to Zimbabwe in the early 1990s, he tried to self-produce some more music at Shed Studios including two albums ( Baba of Jit and Out of Africa). Time in the studio for these albums were not paid for and Shed Studios didn’t complete final mixes. As a result neither album was properly released or published. Tembo became ill with depression, became a practising Christian, eventually hanging himself in a psychiatric hospital in 1995, where he had been sectioned for violent outbursts.
Meanwhile, the band soldiered on, recording two more albums. Muir left their management in difficult circumstances as the band's income dried up. In 1996 he sold the band's house in Mortimer Road, Kensal Rise, as part of winding up the band's assets, with surviving band members reporting they received almost nothing from the deal; they suspect that Muir had actually used the band's money to buy it in the first place, using their Warner advance without permission. Muir has countered that there were no profits to divide up. The band finally called it quits in 2000 after bassist Washington Kavhai was jailed in the UK on an aggravated assault conviction.
In 2001, Shed Studios issued a compilation album of all the Bhundu Boys recordings made in Zimbabwe, entitled The Shed Sessions
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Kuda Matimba lived in London as of 2007, playing with Harare, a group he started in 2005 together with Kenny Chitsvatsva. He had lost contact with Rise Kagona.
Moyo Tembo, son of Biggie Tembo, formed a group called The Chinhoyi Superstars, who released their debut single "Woiteyiko".
Biggie Tembo Jr., a second son of Biggie Tembo, has followed in his father's footsteps and released his debut album, Rwendo, in 2010. He was convicted of assault against a woman in 2015.
Shed Studios release in Zimbabwe - Produced and engineered Stephen Roskilly
Discafrique release in UK under licence from Shed Studios
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