Fergus Richardson-Soar is a PhD candidate in International History at the LSE. He works under the joint supervision of Professor Joanna Lewis and Dr Tim Gibbs (Paris-Nanterre). He holds a BA in History from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in the History of International Relations from the LSE. As a historian of underground music in Africa, his research often involves tirelessly tracking down and interviewing members of bands from fifty or sixty years ago. Fergus continually lends his expertise to the music industry, working with record labels interesting in re-releasing this music to a new audience. Choosing to selectively work with partners who conduct this process fairly, equitably and with the utmost respect to the original creator. In Compiling, researching and writing liner notes for select releases one of Fergus’ priorities is making his research accessible and available in the country of origin.

Provisional thesis title

“’Amalume Lekani Mowa (Uncle Please Stop Drinking),’ Shebeen Kings and Strange Dreams: Rock Music, Antimony and Countercultural Challenges to Authoritarianism in Zambia. C.1969-1980.

This thesis examines the impact of Zambia’s countercultural rock music movement, named Zamrock on the country’s post-colonial landscape. Through music, vinyl records, their covers and extensive oral histories the project stresses the dynamism of sonic source bases. This approach allows Fergus to make a variety of nuanced insights. Namely into the nature of cultural nationalism, urban youth cultures, gendered cultural repression and the antimonies inherent in many of the global countercultural movements of the 1960s. Through the study of music, the project paints a far more complex picture of post-colonial Zambia and the various extra-political forces involved in the both the development of national identity and challenging the authoritarian government of the day.