DALOM Music founder Dan “Ndivhiseni” Tshanda, who was known for his disco sound, Splash, which became a hit in shebeens and night clubs in many parts of southern Africa, had “turned to God” before his death.
By Sindiso Dube
The Dalom Music boss passed on at a hospital in Sandton, Johannesburg in South Africa after suffering heart failure last week.
The Lufuno hit maker had just finished producing a gospel album which was ready for release by the time of his death.
In an interview with The Standard Style, family spokesperson Moudy Mudzielwana said Tshanda had completed the gospel album which would be released in March.
“By the time of his death, he had completed an album, a full gospel album, which was supposed to be released in January, but it will be out in March and there is no title as of now,” said Mudzielwana.
“The future of Dalom Music will be discussed by family members in the near future.”
In an interview with our sister paper NewsDay last month, Tshanda said he was almost done with the album and was planning another visit to Bulawayo, a city he considered his second home.
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“I am done with the full body of work and I can promise you and other Zimbabweans that we will be coming again to share with you what we have been cooking,” Tshanda said then.
Fans of Splash will be waiting with great anticipation for the upcoming album which will be interestingly a gospel project, coming from an artiste who was well known for his love of good things in life and shebeens.
Splash music can be best described as the pulse of shebeen, as his music was popular with all shebeens and all night clubs in Bulawayo. Tshanda was known for visiting shebeens around the city and drinking there whenever he came to perform in Bulawayo.
A shebeen queen from Makhandeni, Mamza, said Splash music brought life to her small and unlicensed enterprise.
“Shebeen life is based on Splash, you can’t run a shebeen and ignore Splash, that’s where the business is. I remember one time when Dan made a surprise visit at my shebeen, it was almost turned into a show with everyone wanting to get a glimpse of the ‘big husband’ as Dan was affectionately known,” she said.
The musician was born in January 1964 in Matangari and raised in Chiawelo in Soweto, he started his music career in 1983 when he met Ray Phiri, who changed the group from Flying Sounds to Splash and they released the hit Peacock in 1985 which hit platinum.
Under his Dalom Music stable, Tshanda worked with Patricia Majalisa, Chicca, Dalom Kids, Rhuu Tshikovha, Montana, Nditsheni, Peacock, Tafula and Matshikos, where they produced hit albums such as Eye For An Eye (1990), Why (1994), Cellular (1995), and Double Face (1997).
In September 2018 he released an album titled Matshikos Battle for Survival and was working on a new album which was set to be released at the end of this month.
Tshanda’s memorial service was held on Friday at Bassline in Newton, Johannesburg. He will be buried at Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg next Friday.
The musician is survived by his wife Sylvia and children Ndivhuwo, Lutendo and Lufuno.