Those of you who know how music, modern music in the country emerged on the scene just soon after the disciplinarian authority of the first President Hastings Kamuzu Banda will testify that there emerged a group of hippies that took advantage of the freedom.
Not that these hippies were spot on to the meaning of the word, but they had courage to bring Ragga in a country where everything musical was dismissed with disdain and this made other heads turn and wanted to take them seriously.
Names like Dr. Lizard and Tear Gas were the names that made headlines. Then with the coming in of 101 Power FM which brought into the country Jamaican Reggae artists of highest repute, the fusion with such daring characters promised the music industry the moon.
But suddenly there was just a dearth any of these guys and their kind. While Dr. Lizard real name Malumbo Chisiza had passed away, Tear Gas was completely gone and allowed us to unmask our faces to practically look for him.
Tear Gas, real name Leonard Chongwe thinks times has come for musical Journey to continue, and as he bust back right in front of your faces, you better cover you faces as he is here again to make your eyes wet with tears of excitement.
The Tear Gas took time off do Private Lessons to Learn to Play Guitars, Keyboards & music Production online to better express itself musically.
I was amazed when I tuned in to BBC Focus on Africa on January 27, 2010; there he was Tear Gas blazing the airwaves.
This prompted me to find out where he was exactly after enjoying massive support and recognition he concedes that he was overwhelmed and decided to reflect on his music and the Vision that he initially had. This prompted him to change it to contribute positively to the Masses and therefore he has completely turn a new page as the message in this New Album is all about The Love of God, man and knowing his or her purpose in life.
Dr. Lizard still consider the work he did with the Late Doc Lizard, Tackie T, the Late Junior Manning & others as benchmark which he is still using as the Stepping stone for a better and bigger vision for the music to come.
If you think he is lying just get ready for his new album "Reporting For Duty" which will be launched this February.
Although he has thrown out a little bit of the hoarse DJ voice that was Tear Gass of then now he has adopted what is known as a SingJay posture and apparently it looks he becomes the other first for Malawi.
Which is not strange though, if you look at his bacjground. Tear Gass lived most of his childhood Years in the State of UTAH, Salt Lake City (USA), where he started singing at a very young age at Maranatha Baptist Church.
As was the case during the first second republic days in Malawi, Tear Gass made his debut in the music world through Rap & Ragga Contests that besieged Malawi then and rose to notable recognition through his Hit "Warning Dem Still" (1997).
He then became a regular guest on Ragga Street on MBC's Radio 2FM manned by DJ Tay B (Tailosi Bakili) in the late 90's; well, I think one of these days I will trace Tay B and find out what he is currently doing musically. It has been a while for him as well.
Tear Gass’s debut Album “Togetherness", was a major Hit remember, when it was going back to back with Dr. Lizard’s Mama and of course Anne Matumbi’s ‘Greetings Malawi’ .
When Tear Gass became part of the team of the late Great Junior Manning and they curtain raising the two major shows by Jamaican Artists like Jesse Jenda and Ibo Cooper of Third World, Chrisinti and Iquala Rastafari among others.
Tear Gas disputes that he went into hibernation musically asn he says since the release of his last Album, he has been producing music for other Artists.
Now that he had gone into recess he has come back a better artist as plays several instruments including Keyboards, Piano and Guitar.
And the Gass which has fallen for the Bass Guitar with mentors like Benjy Myaz and influences from the Late Dennis Emmanuel Brown, and Evison Matafale, then my warning is to you is to just watch out for the MUSICAL TEAR GASS...It is here to make you weep with joy...
Feed Back: drummingpen@columnist.com
Gregory Gondwe is a Malawian Journalist. He covers most of the issues unfolding in this part of Sub-Saharan Africa. Lately, his focus has been on Musical information about Malawi, most of the musical articles that appear here until March 2016 were a reproduction of Column entries in Malawi's oldest weekly, Malawi News which was called Drumming Pen.. Now he writes a similar column in the Weekend Nation called Lyrical Pen.
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