In 1972 black people rarely featured in the country’s white-owned official newspapers, unless, perhaps, they were a dead “terrorist”. However, Dr Footswitch’s performance prompted The Rhodesia Herald to print the picture of their guitar player, Manu Kambani, on the front page along with the screaming sentence “Jimi Hendrix is dead but Manu is alive”. With his ability to mimic the mesmerising antics of Jimi Hendrix Manu had impressed everybody and the editor of the paper couldn’t resist printing the story. Heavy criticism from conservative whites followed, accusing the Herald of “lowering the standards.” But the coverage turned Manu into an emblematic figure in Harare, one of Salisbury’s oldest townships, and would influence many youngsters…

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