The band’s name was a warning: We Intend To Cause Havoc. In 1970s Zambia, WITCH lived up to it, playing loud, fuzzed-out rock mixed with African rhythms to packed halls. Then the scene collapsed, the members scattered, and for decades the music was almost forgotten outside Zambia.
Zamrock
After Zambia’s independence in 1964, young musicians in the copper-mining towns and in Lusaka absorbed Western rock from records and radio. Bands like WITCH, the Ngozi Family and Amanaz created Zamrock, a fusion of psychedelic rock, funk and local rhythms.
Jagari
WITCH’s frontman was Emmanuel Chanda, nicknamed Jagari because his wild stage energy reminded fans of Mick Jagger. His charisma helped make WITCH the most popular band in the country.
The albums
WITCH released several albums in the 1970s, including Lazy Bones. Their sound drew on the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, but their songs were their own, often with Zambian themes.
The decline
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, economic hardship, falling copper prices, curfews and the arrival of disco hurt the scene. Some musicians died young, including from AIDS. WITCH broke up. Jagari left music, trained as a teacher and later worked as a gemstone miner.
Rediscovery
In 2012, the American label Now-Again Records reissued WITCH’s catalogue. Record collectors and rock fans around the world discovered Zamrock, and the band’s name began to appear in music magazines decades after its peak.
The documentary
The filmmaker Gio Arlotta made a documentary, We Intend to Cause Havoc, following Jagari as the last surviving member of the original line-up. The project led to a reformation of WITCH with new musicians, and Arlotta became the band’s manager.
Zango
The reformed WITCH toured Europe and recorded Zango, their first album in nearly forty years. Jagari, in his sixties, was back on stage.
Kopala and the Copperbelt
Much of Zamrock’s energy came from the Copperbelt, the mining region around towns such as Kitwe and Kalulushi. In the early 1970s, copper made Zambia one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, and the mining towns had clubs, social halls and young workers with money for entertainment. Bands played long sets in venues packed with miners and students. When copper prices collapsed in the mid-1970s, that economy weakened, and the nightlife that supported Zamrock went with it. The music’s rise and fall followed the price of the metal under the ground.
Many African music scenes of the 1970s disappeared without being recorded or preserved. WITCH were lucky: their records survived, someone found them, and the man who once caused havoc got a second chance to do it again.
