A personal memoir of East Africa's first and most succesful impresario by his longtime friend and business associate, the equally illustrious ALLY SYKES of Tanzania

I first met Peter in Nairobi in 1942, during the Second World War. I was at Kabete waiting to be transported overseas for active service. We met at a record shop – East African Music Store. Both of us were in the uniform of the King’s African Rifles (KAR), so we exchanged greetings and a few words. Our meeting in this record shop was an omen, because later our relationship would evolve around music and the business enterprise we would build. 

Colmore was at that time a lieutenant and aide de camp to General Sir William Platt, Commander in Chief of the East African Forces. I was a lance corporal. 

After the war, I disembarked at Mombasa and came to Nairobi looking for a job. Peace had created new opportunities to those who wanted to settle in Kenya. I went to look for Colmore. He had started his own real estate business, Colban Ltd, in partnership with an English lady. Colmore now put me in charge of the office. My job was to take prospective buyers to properties offered for sale and to negotiate the price, leaving Colmore to seal the deal after I had completed the groundwork. I also acted as a public relations officer for the agency. 

At that time, under colonial rule, it was a prestigious job indeed for an African. I got on well with Colmore and we decided to add a sideline to the real estate agency to boost our earnings. We decided to start a band. Since I was in the Entertainment Unit during the war, it was not difficult for me to organise one.

Colmore brought in an African band from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); at that time Kenyan musicians had not yet taken up playing modern instruments. This band from Rhodesia had African musicians who played the piano, saxophone and trumpets. Colmore put me in charge and I was responsible for the general management of the band and for fixing their engagements. The band became very popular in Nairobi as it had talented musicians. We played mainly for white audiences, because that was where the money was. At first the band was known as the Ally Sykes Band, but later it came to be known as the Peter Colmore African Band. 

Colmore is reputed to have owned the first tape recorder in Kenya. He bought the machine from an army officer. In those days, a tape recorder did not use emulsion tape but paper tape and was called the "sound mirror". It was a dramatic breakthrough after the tedious chore of recording on disc. Colmore used to record the American Top Ten from the Voice of America with this tape recorder and the band would practice these songs and play them to their audiences. In this way, American pop songs found their way into the dance halls of Nairobi soon after they were released in New York, Los Angeles and London. 

The quality of our music was excellent. At that time, we played more for the love of art than for commercial gain. Colmore used to come to Dar es Salaam to record local bands like Ulanga Jazz Band, Morogoro Jazz Band, Home Boys and others. He was responsible for recording for His Master’s Voice (HMV) Blue Label and for Jambo Records, which was owned by his friend, Dr Guy Johnson. 

Colmore was the pioneer of disc cutting in East Africa. I was involved in all these ventures. We promoted many bands from Tanganyika and Kenya. Colmore later founded his own recording company – High Fidelity Productions Ltd. There was never a day when High Fidelity Productions was not on the airwaves either in Tanganyika, Kenya or Uganda. Our advertisements were all over East Africa. Colmore also composed his own tunes to go with the programmes. These signature tunes soon became synonymous with the products

Colmore also promoted entertainers and comedians such as Omari Sulemani, known as Mzee Pembe, Halima bint Said, and others. He also promoted musicians such as Franck Humplick, Mathias Mulamba, Esther John and John Mwale, and got the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation to take on famous radio announcers like Stephen Kikumu, Julius Kilua and Said Omari.

I also broadcast radio shows for Philips Company of Holland in Dar es Salaam. I used my band for sales promotion. When we began promoting the Shell Company of East Africa Ltd, I changed the band's name to the Shell Merry Makers. 

Colmore himself was a gifted stage artist. His talent for mimicry invariably had his audiences rolling about with laughter. He was a regular performer at the Nairobi Royal Theatre. Our band also played at the Royal Theatre, adding flavour to the shows. These shows were later linked with publicity of products manufactured by multinational companies. We represented, promoted, and were consultants to Coca Cola (East Africa) Ltd, Cooper Motor Corporation Ltd, Allsopp (EA) Ltd, Shell Company of East Africa Ltd, Aspro Nicholas Ltd, Gailey and Roberts Ltd, Bata Shoe Company Ltd, Kenya Broadcasting Service, Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board and Raleigh Industries of East Africa Ltd.

We were also commercial representatives in Kenya for the Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), now Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam. The head office of this massive sales promotion venture was in Nairobi's Delamere Avenue, now Kenyatta Avenue. Peter Colmore built some products into household names around East Africa. The best musicians East Africa had ever known were used to promote these products. 

Colmore signed on Edward Masengo, the gifted guitarist from Elizabethville, Belgian Congo, to promote Coca-Cola. Masengo had come to Nairobi with a group called Je-Co-Ke meaning Jeunes Comediens Katanga. Colmore, who was already in broadcasting, was informed that there was a young man in town who played terrific guitar. Colmore went looking for Masengo and found him in a filthy lodging on River Road. He was sitting on the floor playing his guitar with people gathered around him listening to his music. This was the beginning of the association between Colmore and Masengo.

There was the famous poster of Masengo with his guitar, holding a bottle of Coca-Cola. There was also the famous photograph of Msafiri Morimori the trombone player. These pictures were regularly printed in newspapers around East Africa. The sales of the product rose as the market responded to the artist, and the music of the artist was promoted through his being associated with the product.Colmore entrusted me with the management of this nascent sales promotion venture in Tanganyika. 

Through Masengo, Colmore signed the talented singer and guitarist Jean Mwenda Bosco, also from Elizabethville. Masengo and Bosco were cousins. In January 1959, Peter Colmore and Edward Masengo flew to Elizabethville to fetch Bosco for a short contract to promote Aspro. The Belgian government made Colmore pay 30,000 francs as deposit to make sure that he would return Bosco back to Congo.

Bosco was already a household name in East Africa, but no one had seen even his photograph or knew what he looked like because he had never travelled outside Congo. At that time, he was recording with a South African recording company, Gallatone.

Bosco stayed in Nairobi for six months. Colmore took Bosco on a countrywide tour of Kenya promoting Aspro as relief for headaches, fever and flu. The effect he had on the sales of Aspro was phenomenal. At that time, Bosco was 29 years old and at the prime of his career. Before he left for home, Bosco composed a song, Shangwe Mkubwa (Let's Praise the Boss), in praise of Peter Colmore, in which he sang of his flight from Elizabethville to Nairobi. Music critics of those times were of the opinion that of all his compositions, this was the best. 

Colmore also arranged for Masengo and Bosco to perform together at dance halls in Nairobi. By the time Masengo left Kenya for home, he was already a rich young man. Masengo married a beautiful Maasai girl, Lucie Akukuu Mainge and had a daughter, whom they named Jojo. This marriage took place in April 1959.

In December 1960, we brought Masengo over to Dar es Salaam for a series of shows. The late Julius Nyerere, my friend and colleague, was the guest of honour at the show at Arnautoglo Hall. Colmore had come over from Nairobi for the show and I took the opportunity to introduce him to Nyerere. I took Colmore to Nyerere’s house at Magomeni Majumba Sita. We found Nyerere in a state of distress – he had just heard reports from Congo that Lumumba had been killed.

As members of Tanu and citizens of a country on the brink of achieving independence, we followed the news from Congo with great interest. And the events now unfolding were extremely distressing for most of us. I had a special interest, as at that time I believe I was the only person in Tanu who had been to Congo and had first-hand experience of the ruthlessness of Belgian colonialism. Masengo was also very sad to hear of the news that Katanga, his home province, had under Moise Tshombe seceded from the Congo Republic. So the only thing I can remember of that day when I took Colmore to Nyerere is how sad we all were about what had happened. 

However, we took the opportunity while in Dar to have Masengo record his old songs with Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation. Back in Nairobi, both Colmore and Masengo wrote to me, Colmore thanking me for introducing him to Nyerere and Masengo for successfully managing his tour and shows. Colmore told me how grateful he was to Nyerere for showing a firm stand on the Congo problem. At that time, Masengo was incorporated into High Fidelity Productions as one of the directors. Colmore was a man of foresight; he realised that we would need the support of Nyerere if we were to expand our business in free Tanganyika. Our business interests there were already growing rapidly. Colmore built a house in Moshi and used to drive over from Nairobi every weekend.

After independence and following the Arusha Declaration of 1967, the government passed the Leadership Code. The code prohibited civil servants from engaging in business, drawing more than one salary, owning property or holding shares in a private company. The code even prevented any civil servant from renting out property. In 1971, the government passed the Acquisition of Buildings Act. By the stroke of a pen, all buildings with a value of more than a hundred thousand shillings became government property. We too lost some property through nationalisation, including the office, which was owned by Colmore.

Colmore could not stand the political climate and so he sold the company to me and returned to Nairobi. But we remained friends. The last time I saw him was few months ago. He was on his deathbed and when he spoke to me he was barely audible. 

Yes, Peter Colmore had a Midas touch. Whatever he touched turned into gold. We had a friendship that lasted 62 years. And over that period I was a witness to that magic.

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