Charles Worrod

Charles Worrod (

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, 1912 –

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 6 June 2008) was the proprietor of the Equator Sound Studios record label (see

Equator Records Equator Records or Equator Sound Studios was originally known as East African Records, owned by Afcot Ltd, situated in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1960, Charles Worrod launched Equator Sound Studios Ltd. along with the Equator Sound Band. Kenyan musici ...

) in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, during the 1950s and 1960s, having left post-war England to relocate to

, and later, Nairobi with his wife Wynne. Worrod keenly provided a fruitful atmosphere where his salaried staff could experiment, learn, and develop. In the late 1960s, he enrolled six of his core musicians including legendary Kenyan musician,

Daudi Kabaka Daudi Kabaka (1939–2001) was a Kenyan vocalist and musician. The type of music he is known for is called Benga, a popular style in East Africa. His best-known songs include "African Twist", "Harambee Harambee" and "Western Shilo". His song " H ...

, in a two-year course at the Conservatory of Music in Nairobi to learn music notation and theory. Worrod was never to reap great financial benefits from the recording industry in East Africa, although he went on to be well known in musical circles both locally and abroad. Worrod is said to have been influential in the development of the growing popularity of the 'African Twist' and similar music styles developing at the time. His hand in the music industry both locally and abroad saw him meeting and promoting music legends such as

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...

and

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (22 March 1936 – 13 September 2023) was a Kenyan-born British singer-songwriter and musician. His music is an eclectic mixture of folk music and popular songs, the latter variously in a crooning or in a schlager ...

. Initially, Roger Whittaker was under contract to Worrod, who allowed him to cancel it to pursue a more lucrative career path with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

. Worrod is credited with recording songs of international status, such as ''

Malaika Malaika Nakupenda Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian artist, Adam Salim in 1945 and recorded for the first time by Kenyan musician, Fadhili William. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya a ...

'' (

Fadhili William Fadhili William Mdawida (November 11, 1938 – February 11, 2001), often referred to simply as Fadhili William, was a Kenyan recording artist and composer who is most famous as the first person to record Adam Salim's song " Malaika" which he rec ...

), ''

Helule Helule "Helule Helule" is a Swahili song written by Kenyan musician Daudi Kabaka. It was first released as a single by Kabaka and fellow Kenyan musician George Agade in 1966 through Equator Records. However, the song is better known for the version ...

'' (which later caught the interest of the British pop band,

The Tremeloes The Tremeloes (formerly Brian Poole and The Tremeloes) are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with ...

), and the Kenyan-nationalised anthem-like ''

Harambee Harambee is a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events, e.g. fundraising or development activities. The word means "all pull together" in Swahili language, Swahili, and is the official List of national mottos, motto of Kenya, appearing on ...

''. During his time promoting and recording Kenyan music, Worrod instituted the concept of

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

in Kenya for musical artists. He died in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

on 6 June 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Worrod, Charles English record producers British expatriates in Kenya People from Coventry 1912 births 2008 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople British expatriates in South Africa