By Tafadzwa Muranganwa
Veteran drummer and music manager Sam Mataure has jokingly accused prominent DJ Kudzi Marudza ‘Mr Cool’ for causing him to fail his Ordinary level studies at Mutare Boys High.
Uncle Sam as he is affectionately known in the music circles, said he would ‘bunk’ lessons together with his long-time pal Hosea ‘Hitman’ Singende, a veteran broadcaster, to go and watch Kudzi Marudza playing ‘disco’ at Manica Hotel now Holiday Inn.
“When I was at Mutare Boys High, we would ‘bunk’ lessons and sneak out to Manica Hotel where Kudzi Marudza and the late Caleb Thodhlana, CT, used to play ‘disco’.
“So if you see Mr Kudzi Marudza tell him you are the reason I failed my ‘O’ Levels,” chuckled the former Oliver Mtukudzi drummer and manager during an interview with a local radio station.
The 54-year-old instrumentalist also saluted Classic 263 station manager Terrence Mapurisana for according to him the first published interview in a magazine.
“I hail Terrence Mapurisana for being the first journalist to feature my story in a magazine.
“When I was in Mutare I had tried countless times to make known my exploits in the music industry but it was a hurdle.I then got in touch with Mapurisana when I came to Harare. He didn’t take time to write an article about me and I cherish this because it was the first,”Mataure said.
He spoke about his former boss, Oliver Mtukudzi’s difficult moments when he lost his son, Sam, in 2010 due to a traffic accident.
“That was the most difficult period for the entire Mtukudzi family. It really broke him, I remember him weeping agonizingly.
“We had shows that were lined up but I had to talk to promoters to reschedule some of them because the death of Sam took a toll on Tuku and we needed to manage that ,”narrated Uncle Sam.
Currently, Mataure is managing Chimurenga music maestro,Thomas Mapfumo,whom he maintains is still in the game despite criticism last month that the veteran musician was now a spent force following a horror show in Leicester.
