Mowzey Radio and Marvin Gaye: Singers Cut From the Same Cloth

“Marvin Gaye is Shot and Killed; Pop Singer’s Father Faces Charges”: The New York Times April 1, 1984.

“Uganda's Mowzey Radio dies after 'pub brawl'”: BBC Africa February 1, 2018

Two music icons, two news headlines 34 years apart.

When I read the news of Mowzey Radio’s death, my mind was quickened to the death of Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye was a black American soul singer and song writer of the 60’s and 70’s. He helped shape the sound of Motown music. He wrote songs like “Let’s Get It On”, “Midnight Love” and the famous “Sexual Healing”.

Marvin Gaye’s death shocked the world. He was shot dead by his father. They had a quarrel, Marvin fought and beat up his 70-year-old father. His father, wounded and humiliated by his son shot him dead a day before Marvin’s 44th birthday. Marvin struggled with substance abuse and depression.

Mowzey Radio’s death continues to shake his family and fans like an endless earthquake. He got into a bar fight when “a man came out of nowhere” lifted him up and threw him to the ground. He sustained a head injury, lost consciousness and within six days he breathed his last. A few short days after his 34th birthday. It is said he struggled with alcohol abuse and a shot temper.

Mowzey Radio’s influence on Ugandan music is undeniable. A music genius. Like Marvin Gaye he influenced the course of the local entertainment industry. His songs shake the walls of dance halls and bed rooms, kitchens and sitting rooms. Through earphones his lyrics stream straight into our musical nerves we bob our heads and shake our bodies, the lyrics register to situations we know all too well. He said, “I like to sing. I like to melt you people. It’s really nice, it’s really wonderful.” He liked to listen to rich music and was driven to write songs that talked about real things - about everyday experiences.

Marvin Gaye said "I record so that I can feed people what they need, what they feel. Hopefully, I record so that I can help someone overcome a bad time."

Two music icons, two minds, two different eras, separated by oceans, driven with a singular passion to communicate societal issues through good sounds. It’s two men of great musical genius struggling with substances and life and fame and fortune.

Mowzey Radio died on February 1, 2018. Marvin Gay died on April 1, 1984. I compare these two musicians for the impact they had in their communities and the sad way in which their lives came to an end. Marvin Gay at the hands of his father and Radio at the hands of a stranger.

So, when our tears dry and thoughts of Ssekibogo Nakintije Niyerira Moses, aka Radio, aka Mowzey (tiny, big ears…) tag at our hearts what then? When the sound of his voice streams over the airwaves, what then? When his sultry sounds remind us of passion, how we earn our bread and butter or how we should walk the talk, what then? After he emptied himself, battled his demons, to give us songs we love, how must we give back?

Marvin Gaye was inducted in the song writer’s hall of fame, biographies have been written and his music is available. 34 years on, his life and legacy can be accessed on the internet and in libraries. Will future generations know how Mowzey Radio influenced East African music? Will there be biographies to tell about the man and how he was more than his music? What his dreams were? What motivated him? Shall policy makers and governments invest in the preservation of our history, our art, our culture? Shall artists like him who are here and gone – Jimmy Katumba, Elly Wamala, Philly Lutaaya be tangible?

Let’s focus inward. Let’s tell Ugandan stories and tell them well for future generations and for the world. As we honor tomb stones that are cleaned and cemented in the distant villages of relations, let Kampala city have biographies, magazines, even museums filled memorabilia accessible to locals and foreigners.

Is it not said that “amaaso g’omuganda gali mungaalo?” - The eyes of a Muganda are in his hands? 

May their memories live on.