Music News & Info With A South African Flavour
Mabu Vinyl is a must music shopping in South Africa. Spanning genre, mediums, and decades, its beautiful store has something for everyone. They even have a large stock of music-related zines.
via 27 Breathtaking Record Stores You Have To Shop At Before You Die.
FREYGANG BAND feels honoured to be featured in the ROLLING STONE MAG SOUTH AFRICA!
Special thanks to TOAST COETZER for a very well written article.
The musicians can’t wait to perform first time ever in Africa and making new friends at the same time…
Black Sheep Rockonspiracy in Rolling Stone Magazine – click here for full article
South African music is entering an exciting era of opportunity and progress as new markets open up for homegrown sounds. This was one of the key messages emerging from the 2013 Music Exchange Conference, which saw industry moguls and musicians congregating at the iconic Cape Town City Hall to talk about the serious business of music.
For three days, from 21 to 23 March 2013, the City Hall was abuzz with the sound of music – with a full programme of workshops and panel discussions on making it, marketing it, getting it heard on various platforms and ensuring that it moves with the times.
This independent music conference, now in its third year, attracted hundreds of experts and delegates from across the music spectrum – from composers and publishers to record company executives and media – to share knowledge and ideas, network, perform live showcases and identify opportunities to boost South African music locally, regionally and abroad.
Among the high-profile music creators spotted at the conference were Vicky Sampson, Mynie Grové, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, RJ Benjamin, Chad Saaiman, Jimmy Nevis, Mark Haze, Dub Masta China and Arno Carstens, as well as industry heavyweights such as Universal Music A&R consultant Benjy Mudie, Cape Town Jazz festival founder Rashid Lombard and Rolling Stone SA editor-in-chief Miles Keylock.
The international speakers on the programme included acclaimed house music producer and remixer Charles Webster (UK), music promoter Doug Davenport (USA) and Africori CEO Yoel Kenan (France).
One of the conference’s undisputed highlights was the keynote address by Trevor Jones, moderated by Universal Records managing director Randall Abrahams. Now based in the UK, Jones was born in District Six and is considered one of the top five film score composers in the world, with several Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations as well two ASCAP Awards in the bag.
Jones has made an indelible mark on the global entertainment industry, scoring international blockbusters such as Notting Hill, The Last of the Mohicans, Mississippi Burning and The Mighty and working with the likes of U2, Sting, David Bowie, Sinead O’Connor, Britney Spears, Elvis Costello and Charlotte Church.
Jones became overcome with emotion after being given a standing ovation by delegates, who warmly welcomed him back home.
During his inspirational talk, he spoke about the importance of music education and his desire to give something back to South African music industry: “Key to South Africa’s success is hard work and building a positive perception of our country and us a nation,” he said.
Award-winning local singer, songwriter and guitarist Arno Carstens, who spoke at the conference about the song that made him famous, said it was an honour to be part of Music Exchange and it was encouraging and inspiring to see so many enthusiastic people attend and share their experiences and knowledge.
Joining Carstens on the stellar line-up of artists speaking about the song that made them famous, Vicky Sampson acknowledged songwriter Alan Lazar (formerly of Mango Groove, and now a successful composer based in Los Angeles), who wrote African Dream. “I am grateful that Alan gave me the song and did not pass me up for Mango Groove’s Claire Johnston,” Sampson quipped. She spent every minute of the conference absorbing and learning, as well as reconnecting with her mentor Benjy Mudie and her old friend RJ Benjamin.
Versatile singer, composer and teacher Benjamin, who has been invited to be a vocal coach for the upcoming season of Idols and will be composing SABC2’s new signature tune, continuously urged delegates to make use of social media platforms to reach new audiences. Benjamin stood out as one of the speakers to whom delegates were drawn and his presentations proved to be extremely popular.
After the weekend’s proceedings wrapped up, local music legend Hotstix tweeted: “What a conference; what great speakers and delegates – wow!”
Added a delighted Music Exchange founder and board member, Martin Myers: “We have been completely overwhelmed by the positive feedback we’ve received, and the animated conversations on social media platforms about the success of Music Exchange.
“Recording and performing artists, as well as composers and other industry players, have complimented the conference for being relevant, engaging and thought-provoking. There was a strong focus on the business side of music, which elevated this event above a mere talk shop: they left with useful, practical information that will undoubtedly be of immense value in their various professional ventures.”
Visit www.musicexchange.co.za to find out more about next year’s Music Exchange conference, or follow @musicexchange on Twitter.
Issued by JT Communication Solutions on Behalf of Music Exchange – www.musicexchange.co.za
Please click on image above for the full article. More information at http://yourlmg.com
These guys see me coming a mile away!
Re-Machined: A Tribute to Machine Head is the star attraction in Classic Rock’s upcoming Deep Purple Fanpack.
Hear official, all-new recordings of the band’s classic 1972 album performed by Metallica, Iron Maiden, Chickenfoot, Black Label Society, Kings of Chaos, the Flaming Lips, Steve Vai, Jimmy Barnes & Joe Bonamassa plus Glenn Hughes & Chad Smith.
Track listing
1. Smoke On The Water – Carlos Santana / Jacoby Shaddix
2. Highway Star – Chickenfoot
3. Maybe I’m A Leo – Glenn Hughes / Chad Smith
4. Pictures of Home – Black Label Society
5. Never Before – Kings of Chaos
6. Smoke On The Water – The Flaming Lips
7. Lazy – Jimmy Barnes with Joe Bonamassa
8. Space Truckin’ – Iron Maiden
9. When A Blind Man Cries – Metallica
Plus, exclusive to this special edition:
10. Highway Star – Steve Vai, Glenn Hughes, Chad Smith, Lauchlan Doley
From Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of the Decade.
Based on 3 reviews
Based on 4 reviews
More at Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of the Decade.
via AlbumOfTheYear.org.
From Leon Economides
Hello
Yes, it’s been a while. Namely a few years. No comments from the peanut gallery.
You might recall that The Rockfest was terminated by 1485am Radio Today’s management, giving us less than three days notice, in February this year. It was a bit of a slap in the face for all the presenters who gave freely of their time, for over three years, and the lack of appreciation and support shown, and the way it was done, left many people feeling pretty embittered and annoyed. For many presenters, whilst being grateful to Radio Today for allowing them the freedom to play the music of their choice, it signalled the end of their short broadcasting “career”.
The Rockfest was basically put on “ice”, with very little chance of it being revived, given the strict playlisted format and programming (not to mention politically correct!) structure of most radio stations in South Africa.
It’s against this background that I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chris Prior, Phil Wright, Benjy Mudie, Melanie Walker, Rafe Lavine, David Blood, Leon Fourie, Robert Laing, Tamara Jeunette, Jurgen Becker, Lesley Chase, Rosemary Royeppen, Greg Tucker, Rui de Sousa, Adelle First, Bojan Andrejevic, Natalie Chapman, Nicole De Gruchy and Mark Vas for having been part of The Rockfest at various stages, and for sharing their music and talent with us.
In the three years and a bit that The Rockfest on 1485am was in existence, it had built up a pretty good reputation as a series of programmes in which all styles of music, from jazz to blues, from country to metal and prog, and from classic rock to folk, could be heard, seven nights a week. We had three Rockfest concerts at venues such as Tempos and The Rustic Theatre, featuring some of the best bands / artists in the country, namely Mel Botes, Ghapi, Clint & Co, Jonathan Martin, Band o’ Gypsies, Strange Brew, Agro, Radiation, Mantis, bassist Kai Horsthemke and his brilliant band, Three Foot Thang, Brad Cunningham, and a host of others, with the main objective being the promotion of South African bands as well as that of The Rockfest, and Radio Today. South African bands / artists were regularly featured and interviewed on The Rockfest, and all the presenters were encouraged to feature good, original South African music on their shows.
To cut a long story short, that all ended towards the end of February 2009. Some presenters, such as Chris Prior, Robert Laing and David Blood, remained with 1485. The rest of us resigned ourselves to the fact that it was great while it lasted, but, as is normally the case with rock shows on radio in South Africa, it was just a matter of time before the plug was pulled (I think it’s an affliction that seems embedded in the minds of the powers that be that anything that features real guitars, drums, keyboards, and that doesn’t feature the words “Yo!”, or “Was happenin??”, or has rap lyrics about some dildo with baggy pants and a backward facing cap letting the dogs out, or some “sounds like everybody else” R & B diva moaning as if she has an ice pick stuck in the back of her head, is a no-no on South African radio, especially if it’s presented by an “ethnically challenged” specimen of the masculine persuasion). Fortunately, Benjy, who had moved on to another radio station, and Barney Simon, one of the most respected and admired presenters in the country, together with Chris, David and Robert, kept the flag flying, so to speak. As did Shiloh Noone in the Cape.
Fast forward to the here and now….
A few weeks ago, I received a message to call Richard Jones. I had never met him before, but I had heard many good things about Richard in the past, mainly that he had a lot of experience in and on radio in this country, having worked on Capitol Radio and Radio 2000, and, more importantly, he was into music. Rock music. A truly rare breed: a station manager, with years of experience, into rock music! How great is that? Turns out that he also has the perfect face for radio. A marriage made in Heaven!
I called him back, and what he told me blew me out of the water: Richard had recently become station manager of 93.8FM Midrand Stereo, a community radio station based, oddly and cunningly enough, in Midrand. For those of you who don’t know where that is, it’s sort of midway between Joburg and Pretoria, hence the “mid” part….well, you get the drift. Richard wanted to know if I was keen on restarting The Rockfest. On a mandated ROCK station, with an FM signal and a pretty decent range (from some parts in Pretoria, through to the prime business areas of Randburg and Sandton, right through to the other side of the East Rand Mall, as well as to Fourways, Broadcares, etc), with a station manager of Richard’s calibre and reputation, and with total freedom to play any music as long as it has a rock slant / link / connection. Did you get that? I said R O C K, that dreaded word not normally used on South African radio for fear of being tied down on a bed of nails and forced to listen to hours and hours of mindless, nauseating R & B, Pop, Dance, Rap and other juicy bits that seem to make up the staple diet of almost every radio station in the country.
A few immediate questions / thoughts came to mind: Do snakes have hips? Do bears shit in the woods? Does puke always have carrots and peas in it, irrespective of what you’ve been eating? You get the drift, part 2.
Needless to say, a number of frantic phone calls and sms’s followed. I wanted to get as many of the original Rockfest people on board as I could, with the intention of starting immediately. Foreplay was not part of the equation. As you can see on the (almost complete) programming schedule below, quite a few of the original Rockfest people are on board, but there are also quite a few new people, many of whom have never done broadcasting before. Everybody has the same passion: to play the best possible music in the country, on 93.8FM Midrand Stereo. As before, you can hear anything from metal to blues to 70’s disco (listen to classic disco tracks such as “Devil’s Gun” and tell me that hasn’t got serious rock links!). Two weeks into the new Rockfest, and some new kids on the block are already starting to shine!
As before, Brian Currin, who has started a blog for The Rockfest (www.rockfest.co.za), is as supportive and enthusiastic as ever, as are advertisers such as Look & Listen, who did not hesitate to come on board, and I want to say thank you to Howard Lazarus, CEO of Look & Listen, for his unfailing support, help and friendship.
We plan to restart The Rockfest gigs, and it’s our intention to have these at The Rustic Theatre, which is a fantastic indoor / outdoor venue with good food and plenty parking, with our “relaunch” possibly at the end of January / early February.
Each presenter has been encouraged to have their playlist for the week placed on the website / blog (I STILL have no clue what the difference between the two is!), so you will able to get an idea of the kind of music each presenter features on their show.
The station is offering extremely attractive advertising rates, up to the end of January 2010, with great benefits, such as one month FREE advertising, so if you would be keen to advertise on the station (and you would also be helping to keep 93.8FM alive and growing!), please contact either Richard on 0822212201 or station advisor Hanz Stricker on 0825613531. As Angus and the boys said: “You Want Rock? You Got It” – your help in keeping the whole thing alive would be beneficial for everyone.
Well, that’s it, for now. Don’t expect long newsletters every week – some of us work for a living! But you can certainly expect to see the playlists, at least, on the blog / website / whatever! You get the drift. Part 3.
This is for you, for us, for Rock ‘n Roll, for SA music, for non-playlisted radio shows. For the freedom to hear what YOU want to hear on the radio.
Thank you to all the guys and girls who share in the same dream and who will give of their time and energy, and who will share their passion.
Thank the Lord for people like Richard Jones and Hanz Stricker………
I wish you a very happy and blessed Christmas, and hope that the New Year will be safe, prosperous and successful for us all.
Leon.
Leon Economides – The RockIt Scientist. Playlist: Monday 14 December 2009, 21H00 to Midnight
01. Home – Dreamer, from “Home”. 1972 – CBS Records
02. Titanic – Macumba, bonus track on “Eagle Rock”. 1974 – CBS Records
03. Jade Warrior – Eyes On You, from “Released”. 1972 – Vertigo Records
04. Randy Pie – Kitsch, from “Kitsch”. 1975 – Polydor Records
05. Lake – On The Run, from “Lake”. 1977 – CBS Records
06. Atlantis – Friends, from “Live”. 1974 – Vertigo Records
07. Keef Hartley Band – Sinnin’ For You, from “Halfbreed”. 1969 – Deram Records
08. Walrus – Who Can I Trust, from “Walrus”. 1970 – Deram Records
09. Alan Bown – Through The Night, from “Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal” (Island Anthology 1967 – 1972). 2005 – Island Records
10. If – Child Of Storm, from “If 3”. 1971 – United Artists Records
11. Annie Haslam & Magenta – Night And Day, from “Night And Day (4 track EP). 2006 – F2 Music
12. Quidam – Credo, from “Pod Niebem Czas”. 2002 – Rock Serwis
13. Doro – Herzblut, from “Fear No Evil”. 2009 – AFM Records
14. Mostly Autumn – Flowers For Guns, from “Glass Shadows”. 2008 – Mostly Autumn Records
15. Hawkwind – Orgone Accumulator, from “Space Ritual”. 1973 – United Artists Records
16. Beggars Opera – Passacaglia, from “Act One”. 1970 – Vertigo Records
17. 707 – A Sinful Woman, from “The Fourth Decade”. 2006 – Renaissance Records
18. RPM – A Legend Never Dies, from “RPM”. 1982 – EMI Records
19. Cobra – Blood On Your Money, from “First Strike”. 1983 – Sony Music
20. Malo – Dilo Otra Vez, from “En Vivo / Live”. 2005 – EMI Latin
21. Abraxas Pool – Baila Mi Cha Cha, from “Abraxas Pool”. 1997 – Miramar Productions
22. El Chicano – El Ojo Rojo, from “Latin Legends Live”. 1997 – Thump Records
This coming Monday night (21 Dec), I’ll be doing a four hour show, from 8pm to midnight, standing in for the lovely Linda Sue’s 8 to 9pm show, (she’s on leave). Joining me in the studio as a special guest will be guitarist Peter Hanmer, of Off The Edge and Clint & Co fame, from around 8.30 onwards. One of the country’s best guitarists, Peter has recorded some fantastic solo material as well as some world class music for Off The Edge. We’ll be featuring a number of tracks that can quite easily compare with some of the best guitar-based prog and hard rock music you’ll hear anywhere!
I was very fortunate to catch the dynamic Dilana, together with guitarist Erik, at The Rustic Theatre in Lonehill this week. This woman is phenomenal! She has a fantastic stage presence, is ridiculously talented as a songwriter, and has one of the most incredible voices. I interviewed her on 93.8FM Midrand Stereo last week, and, believe me, she pulls no punches! She has years of experience, having worked with the likes of Golden Earring, Metallica, Joe Cocker and others, and it shows. Toni Rowland, previously with the prog metal band Mantis, and who recently recorded a fantastic album with Ken Hensley of Toe Fat, Uriah Heep and Blackfoot fame, was also in the studio that night. They did a duet, accompanied by Erik on acoustic guitar, live on air. Wow – what a rush! Rumour has it that Dilana will be touring SA again sometime next year, and that our own Ingrid Botha might be getting involved in bringing Dilana out here.
By the way, the support act to Dilana was Dave (Sharpe) and Gabi. If you thought Dave Sharpe was good on keys (with Off The Edge), sax and bass, you should hear him on guitar! Gabi is a seasoned and very good vocalist, and they compliment one another perfectly.
Talking about Uriah Heep, you have no doubt heard that they will be visiting SA in May next year, together with (Andy Powell’s) Wishbone Ash and Deep Purple! At last – SA fans can finally be treated to some REAL rock, by some of the most respected bands in the world! (If you want to get REALLY sick, get yourself a copy of any Classic Rock magazine and take a look at the gigs page. When you see the famous and not-so-famous bands / artists, some of them playing at really small, innocuous venues, on any day of the week, it’s enough to make you weep!)
I’m in the process of finalizing The Rockfest line-up on 93.8FM Midrand Stereo. There are still a few gaps, but these will be filled as soon as the various presenters come back from leave. As things currently stand, the line-up is as follows:
MONDAY:
8 – 9pm – Linda Sue
9 – midnight – Leon Economides
Midnight – 2am – Kevin Flee
TUESDAY
8 – 10pm – Ingrid Botha
10pm – midnight – Lesley Chase (starting mid January)
WEDNESDAY
8 – 10pm – Phil Wright
10pm – midnight – Jurgen Becker
Midnight – 2am – Renier Coetzee
THURSDAY
8 – 10pm – Tamara Jeunette
10pm – midnight – Kevin Stuart
FRIDAY
6 – 8pm – Rosemary Royeppen
8pm – 11pm – David Blood
11 – 01am – Mike Tymvios (starting mid January)
SATURDAY
8 – 10pm – Max Aston
10pm – midnight – Aris B
SUNDAY
8 – 11pm – Robert Laing
11pm – 01am – Rick Gardiner
Please note that because of the festive season, some presenters are away and will not be able to do their shows. Their places will either be filled by other presenters, or automated playlisted music will be featured.
SA ROCK DIGEST ISSUE NUMBER 38
3rd November 1999 [edited 2nd November 2009]
The South African Rock Music Digest
is a free, subscription e-mag, edited
by Brian Currin and Stephen “Sugar”
Segerman and delivered direct to your
e-mailbox.
Established January 1999
———-*********———–
INTRODUCTION
—————
This e-mag is a discussion forum for rock and pop music —
South African and International — past, present and future.
…and in the third millennium, the crowded madness came…
— It Started Out So Nice, Rodriguez, 1972
As we hurtle towards the end of the year / decade / century / millennium
(pick one or all of the above), the Digest will become more erratic,
less regular, still irreverent and always éRocking!
__________________________________________
SA MUSIC AROUND THE WORLD
The SA Rock Digest now has subscribers in the following countries…
Australia
Belgium
Botswana
Brazil
Canada
Central African Republic
England
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guam
Holland
Ireland
Italy
Ivory Coast
Japan
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Russia
Scotland
Sweden
Switzerland
USA
Zambia
Zimbabwe
If you live in a country not mentioned above, please let me know.
__________________________________________
NEWS
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KING OF THE CASTLE
The Castle label (not to be confused with the beer!) is well-known among collectors in SA and abroad for their extensive re-issue programme.
Sony Music SA recently announced that they will be distributing Castle CDs in South Africa.
Rock collectors can look out for old classic Uriah Heep, ELP and Black Sabbath albums, all remastered with updated cover art, new detailed sleeve notes, lyrics and even bonus tracks in some cases.
For pop collectors there are wonderful compilations by Sandie Shaw, The Tremeloes, Petula Clark and Elkie Brooks. Also Justin Hayward and Mike Batt’s collaboration ‘Classic Blue’ which includes reworkings of various pop and rock standards.
A CD of Black Sabbath’s first album, creatively titled ‘Black Sabbath’ and including a bonus track ‘Wicked World’ (previously only available on the American release), to the first person to name the first 4 Black Sabbath albums.
And a CD of Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s first album, titled…you guessed it… ‘Emerson, Lake and Palmer’, to the first person to give us the first names of the band members.
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AMERSHAM SPLIT
Amersham, who have been one of the top performing bands in South Africa over the past few years, have announced that they will be “disbanding”. The reason given is that their drummer, Tim Trotter, has decided to return to the UK. Amersham have been one of the more interesting SA pop/rock bands during the ’90’s and have toured constantly around the country supporting their four albums, the most recent of which, ‘Revolving Doors’, was a ‘Best Of’ collection.
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ORIGINAL EVERGREENS
Those wacky “multi-genre-lists” The Original Evergreen, have announced the imminent arrival of ‘Addictive Personalities’, their third release and first on the MELT2000 label. This CD is expected to hit the SA shelves within the next three weeks and closes off the ‘Puff The Magik/Burn The Evidence’ trilogy of singularly unclassifiable dub rap-hop sounds.
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IAFRICA.COM
Iafrica.com, the biggest web portal in South Africa, has launched Local Beat, a site dedicated to South African music in their entertainment site.
Here you can check out the featured band of the week as well as the featured celebrity, and learn some things about SA muso’s you would never have dreamed possible!
Also get well know music journalist Dave Chislett’s assessment of the gig to go to in your city in the recommended gigs section. If you disagree, you can link from here to the Powerzone to see what else is on in your area. You can also link to some of the coolest SA band sites and read South African music CD reviews.
Check it out at:
and head into the entertainment section
Dave Chislett
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NEW RELEASES
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INTERNATIONAL
LED ZEPPELIN – THE EARLY DAYS
a best of Led Zeppelin (part 1) for anybody who doesn’t already have every note ever laid down by these Legends of Rock.
http://wallofsound.go.com/news/stories/ledzeppelin102899.html
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ERIC CLAPTON – CLAPTON CHRONICLES – THE BEST OF 1981-1999
a compilation from Eric’s years with the Warner Brothers label including ‘Tears In Heaven’, ‘Layla (Acoustic)’, ‘Blue Eyes Blue’ (a new song from the “Runaway Bride” soundtrack) and many others from this master guitarist.
Also released on video.
————-
GENESIS – TURN IT ON AGAIN – THE HITS
A compilation of hits and including ‘The Carpet Crawl 99’ featuring guest vocals from Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins.
Track list at: http://www.genesis-web.com
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DAVID BOWIE – HOURS
includes the haunting ‘Thursday’s Child’
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SOUTH AFRICAN
PIET BOTHA – JAN SKOPGRAAF
The second album from South Africa’s cross between Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen is out now on Wildebeest Records. Haunting and humorous, this Afrikaans album tells stories about life and living in South Africa. Not as good as his 1995 outing ”n Suitcase Vol Winter’, but well-worth a listen.
http://pietbotha.com
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FAMOUS CURTAIN TRICK – LAND OF NO CADILLACS
New album from the Durban-based band who opened for Bryan Adams earlier this year.
————–
THE HONEYMOON SUITES
The Honeymoon Suites have finally released their debut full-length album, ‘Five Star’, the follow-up to their so-called ‘Greatest Hits’ EP from 1998. The Suites have been gigging relentlesly over the past two years, honing their exuberant and energetic stage show and style. As live acts go, there cannot be many SA bands who can match the invention and sheer entertainment of the songs from their legendary live sets. On ‘Five Star’ they have delivered a good-time album that does well to illustrate the band’s sound, songs and ensemble chemistry.
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BIG SKY
One of SA rock’s unsung heroes, Steve Louw, has just released his ‘Best Of The Decade’ collection. Louw has been playing under the name ‘Big Sky’ since the dissolution of his first band, All Night Radio, late in the 1980’s. Although he performs as Big Sky, Louw is essentially its only permanent member, recruiting musicians specifically for certain tasks. Louw wrote all these songs, which were recorded in America under the watchful eye (ear?) of some well known LA studio producers. The second Big Sky album, ‘Horizon’, won the 1997 SAMA award for “Rock Album of the Year” (highly deserved) and the band grabbed the prestiguous support slot for Rodriguez’ 1998 tour to SA.
See review below.
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – A NAARTJIE IN OUR SOSATIE
During the early ’80’s, Shifty Records was the home to many of the SA rock fraternity’s most ‘alternatief’ artists. Many of these tracks appeared on a vinyl compilation called ‘A Naartjie In My Sosatie’, including the Kalahari Surfers (‘Prayer For Civilisation’), National Wake (‘International News’), Bernoldus Niemand (‘Hou My Vas Korporaal’) and Roger Lucey (‘Storms And Fires’).
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FETISH – SO MANY PROPHETS
The new Fetish is album out – you can go listen to sound samples from it on
http://www.fetishmusic.co.za
thanks
Stefan
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WHATS ON
———–
JUST JINGER
Just Jinger are currently on their national tour to promote their new album ‘Here’s To You’. For more info and all those dates, see http://www.justjinger.co.za or http://www.bmg.co.za
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FESTIVAL OF LIVING TREASURES
More than 30 000 people are expected to attend the ‘The Festival of Living Treasures’ which will be held concurrently in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park on December 15 & 16 and in the Shongweni Resources Reserve on December 16, 17, 18 & 19. The combined festivities will present around 80 performances in more than 60 hours of music and dance over five days.
The projected line-up of acts reads like a “who’s who” on the national and international music scene. It includes Ginger Baker (UK); Oliver Mtukudzi & Mahube (Zimbabwe / SA); Yungchen Lhamo (Tibet); Sergio Dias (Brazil); Bob Brozman (USA); Joel Gonthier (France); Phil Manzanera (UK/ Cuba); Young Ba Cuba (Republic of Congo); Simba Morri (Kenya); Nestor Kornblum & Michele Averard with Patricia Almeyda (Spain / Peru); Lamine Konte (Senegal); Gito Baloi (Mozambique); Miriam Makeba; Ray Phiri & Stimela; Jimmy Dludlu; Mathew Van Der Want & Chris Letcher; Paul Hanmer and McCoy Mrubata; Wendy Oldfield; Landscape Prayers, and “Guitars For Africa” (all from SA) to name but a few.
————–
ELAINE PAIGE
Elaine Paige is also coming to SA in November for a few performances, try http://www.ticketweb.co.za for info and tickets.
————–
ALANIS MORRISETTE
Alanis comes to SA in December…
more info at http://www.air.org.za
—————
PIET BOTHA
DIE SKOPGRAAF TOER – PIET BOTHA
NOV 4 DORPSTRAAT THEATRE, STELLENBOSCH
NOV 5 DORPSTRAAT THEATRE, STELLENBOSCH
NOV 6 DORPSTRAAT THEATRE, STELLENBOSCH
NOV 8 THE GRANGE THEATRE, BELLVILLE
NOV 9 THE GRANGE THEATRE, BELLVILLE
NOV 10 MELKBOSSKERM (WEST COAST)
NOV 11 WHAMMY BAR, TABLE VIEW
NOV 12 ROYAL HOTEL, RIEBEECKKASTEEL
NOV 13 JUFFROUSHOOGHTE, VREDENBURG
Hannalie Coetzee
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OBLIVIOUS ROCK
The Hangklip Hotel in Pringle Bay are hosting Oblivious Rock from 10 – 16 December 1999. This is an opportunity for young and upcoming bands/talent to present and promote themselves with Hangklip as a venue. Bands like Springbok Nude Girls, Valiant Swart and Akkedis had the same opportunity and developed to what we know and respect today. For more information contact Jacques at (028) 273 8448 or mailto:hangklip@iafrica.com
Oblivious Rock will be the appetizing build-up to the Mainstay Hangklip Rock Festival on 18 December. Watch relevant spaces for details.
Best regards
Jacques Rossouw
__________________________________________
REVIEWS
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BIG SKY – BEST OF THE DECADE
Stephen Segerman
When Big Sky won the SAMA award for Best Rock Act in the mid-’90’s, beating off a strong challenge from the younger turks of the SA rock scene (Urban Creep, Squeal), many folks’ reaction was “Who?”. A typical response towards an artist who has worked consistently since the early ’80’s to establish himself as one of SA’s foremost rock musicians. Steve Louw began his career with All Night Radio before creating Big Sky in 1990. With no other fixed band personnel involved, Louw worked with an assortment of producers and musicians, usually international, to create his ’90’s body of work. He worked with Kevin Shirley on the first album, ‘Waiting For The Dawn’, and then used the legendary producer and arranger, Shelley Yakus, for his second, ‘Horizon’, which was the album that won the SAMA award. The third album, ‘Going Down With Mr Green’, completed his trilogy of exceptional ’90’s rock albums.
But despite the quality of the material on these three albums, Steve Louw remained SA Rock’s “Invisible Man”. He popped up with a full band as the support to Rodriguez on his 1998 SA tour and caught the attention of a host of SA rock fans who then went looking for some of these albums. Now Steve has released a compilation of the best tracks off these three albums, and ‘Best Of The Decade’ is a worthy title and damn fine album. Besides the older hits like ‘Waiting For The Dawn’, Diamonds And Dust’, ‘Slow Dancing’, ‘One Cut With A Knife’, ‘Run To Me’, ‘Wasted’, and ‘Strange Room’, there are two new tracks – ‘Destiny’ and ‘Skin Deep’. Steve Louw is a no-frills rocker with an ear for elegaic melodies and intelligent lyrics. He deserves far more attention then he has received and hopefully this strong collection will achieve just that.
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FORUM
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ON THE EDGE
I have taped episodes 2,3 and 5 of “Edge” on the then TV1, directed by Cliff Graham for the SABC (MCMLXXXVII). The script was by Gus Silber and reflected the history of South African pop music (Hawk doing Orang Otang on stage and early Rabbitt at Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, sponsored by GAP jeans – fights and all!). In one of the episodes Cindy Alter of Clout was interviewed and the following comes out of that interview.
“Graham Beggs actually knew Glenda. Glenda was our keyboard player and Graham had managed Glenda’s band that she was with before. She told us there’s this manager, he’s got a record company, he’d like to see you. Can I bring him around one Saturday afternoon when we’re rehearsing? And that led on to another thing. Graham came to a few rehearsals – he liked what he saw . He saw some potential there and said “Look I’ve got a good song I’d like you to record”. And that was ‘Substitute’.”
“Mike Fuller and Clive Calder also approached Clout and said, “Please come with us we’ll make you famous” and Graham also said, “Come with me I’ll make you famous. At that stage we went with Graham because we were going overseas the next day. He said, “Sign the contract girls and we’ll go overseas – so we did.”
On the fact that “she hasn’t got millions and doesn’t drive a BMW or a Mercedes,” Cindy mentions that they, “–didn’t read the fine print and what ensued was not what we had expected.” She further states that, “It did become a bit of a puppet show with the grand master puppeteer raking in all the money and the poor little puppets getting put in the box at the end of the day.”
It is also interesting to note that according to the narrator, the fact that it came out that none of the members of Clout had actually played instruments on the single (‘Substitute’) and their places were secretly taken by an all male session band (Circus), helped lead to the “downfall of the group”.
Is there somebody out there who can pull a few strings to get “the Edge” series broadcast again or if that is not possible, to get it released on video tape?
Greetings
Dave Malherbe
For more info on ‘Substitute’ visit http://www.rock.co.za/files/sa_classic_songs.html
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PSYCHO REPTILES
Being a 80’s local music fan – I was wondering if you have any news re. Psycho Reptiles? Are they still around, my vinyl is getting played up!
Later Barfly
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FINCH AND HENSON
Would love to know if Brian Finch & Kenny Henson still make albums and where are they now. Used to have most of their albums but cannot remember the names. Can you please let me know the names of their albums and if these are available on CD. Can their albums be ordered on the Internet?
Maureen McKinnon
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PEDRO THE MUSIC MAN
I am based in CT and very well known by children, those who used to be
children when the Kideo series were shown and their parents of course.
I see myself as a music teacher who uses story-telling as a way to
introduce children to African musical instruments and the pleasure of
making music with self-made instruments.
I am not appearing on TV at the moment but my music is playing every
morning on School TV (sung by the Pezoulies puppets). Of course nobody
watches these programs at the moment since the intended audience is at
school!!!
I do my own recording at home with Cubase VST on a Mac platform and been enjoying it. The Pezouli songs have come out all kinds of flavours (I believe in exposing children to as wide a variety of music as possible.). Many SA musical forms such as Kwela, Marabi, Mbaqanga and then the whole African diaspora stuff such as Blues, Bossa, Salsa with quite a lot of the material turning out quite “rocky”. I even have a song on transport with the Jew’s harp which sound a lot like J.J.Cale.
Also, if you have an advertising section, I am probably the only musician in SA who is not yet “booked” for the great millennium bit. Not sure I want to be working on that day either…
Somewhere somehow there must be some very rich parents planning the mother of all children parties.
Stay well
Pedro
http://users.iafrica.com/m/mu/musicman
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BLUE WATER
Can anyone help with the official original lyrics for the song (TAKE ME BACK TO) BLUE WATER by Julian Laxton Band? It was a hit in SA and Zimbabwe as a single but I have never been able to decipher all the lyrics. Perhaps someone has the sheet music with the official lyric? Would appreciate the help.
Many thanks in advance
Chris Kimberley
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JEREMY TAYLOR
Rod Currin
Editor’s brother (in case you didn’t guess from the name): I listened to that LP [Spike Milligan and Jeremy Taylor, issue #37 – ed] so many times you could almost hear the other side playing!
I actually met Jeremy Taylor when we were videoing a conference that he and Malie Kelly were performing at. (Sorry for the grammar!). No, they
appeared one after the other, not together.
While my colleagues buzzed around Malie like flies around – well, you know – I had a great chat with Jeremy (well, I DID address him as “Jeremy”). He was most amazed how many of his songs I knew from the LP, since those songs were never released in SA. As he says on the LP: “I wrote a lot of songs while in SA, many of which were recorded, all of which were banned!”
He even sang one song to me (just me!) and we both agreed it would not go down well with the specific audience that night, so I guess I can say I was a music consultant for him, albeit VERY briefly and unofficially!
No, it’s not my fault that he advertised tea-bags on TV. That was BEFORE I met him…
Cheers
Rod
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HIDDEN GEMS
————-
PRISONERS OF WAR – DAVID KRAMER (from KLASSIC KRAMER) and
GOEIE NAG GENERAAL – PIET BOTHA (from ‘n SUITCASE VOL WINTER)
2 very different songs about the border war in South Africa. David Kramer sings in English and is very serious when he asks “what were we fighting for?” Piet Botha offers the answer; “die OK bazaars and die hele bladdy spul by die SAUK”. Piet’s song is thunderingly powerful with a stunning guitar solo.
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ON THE NET
————
MUZE
http://www.muze.com
Incredible online music database and completely searchable.
Their Top 1000 albums list is particularly interesting and very detailed with cover scans, track listings, release dates, musician info and sound files.
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KOOS KOMBUIS
For a while now, the only website dedicated to the world, words and music of Koos Kombuis was Bomskok Babbelaas (http://www.lia.net/agrobler/Bomskok.htm). Now Mr Kombuis has decided to do it himself and you can find his new site at: http://www.kooskombuis.co.za
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MUSICA ROCKS THE NET
Yvonne McDonnagh
Musica hits the World Wide Web and cyber space will never be the same again. The focus is on entertainment and on the cutting edge of new technology, but most of all it’s fun! Check out the funkiest designs ever seen on the Web in this country and click through to a multiplicity of rooms offering news, reviews, chart updates, flashbacks, live chats, live Web radio, links, sound bites, video clips and the latest gossip about what’s happening in music, both local and international.
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SA ROCK DIGEST ISSUE NUMBER 37
[24th October 1999 – edited, 22nd October 2009]
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The South African Rock Music Digest
is a free, subscription e-mag, edited
by Brian Currin and Stephen “Sugar”
Segerman and delivered direct to your
e-mailbox.
Established January 1999
———-*********———–
INTRODUCTION
————————–
This e-mag is a discussion forum for rock and pop music —
South African and International — past, present and future.
As we hurtle towards the end of the year/decade/century/millennium
(pick one or all of the above), the Digest will become more erratic,
less regular, still irreverent and always éRocking!
Please note: All e-mail contributions to the SA Rock Digest need to be in plain
text, and with no attachments. Also, all e-mails in HTML format, in lowercase, or
all in CAPITALS, tend to take quite a while to fix, so will often be ignored.
__________________________________________
APOLOGIES
———–
Sincere apologies to the Rage website for the wrong address last issue.
Here’s where to find them:
http://www.rage.co.za
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REVIEWS
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FOUNTAIN OF TEARS
As promised last issue here is some info on US prog-rockers, Fountain of Tears.
I’m writing about this band and their new independently released CD for 3 reasons:
1. They sent me their CD and I really like it.
2. To show South Africans that excellent bands all over the world struggle to get recognition, its not a uniquely South African malaise.
3. To show Digest readers that self-promotion through the Net is a viable proposition.
WHO ARE THEY?
Jeff King
From its birth, the vision of Fountain of Tears has been to write original music that is refreshing, inspiring and stimulates the creativity and imagination of the listener. Founded in 1995 by Erik Ney and Jeff King, the success of this vision would require the perfect blend of personal, creative, and musical elements. This blend was achieved through the additions of Joe Daub and Mike DiDonato. While the music was initially written as instrumental, the members believed that by adding the right vocalist they would be able to reach a broader market. It wasn’t until December of 1997 that Anna DeRose was found as the voice that would compliment their sound.
Although the success of their former bands, Believer, Sacrament and Sardonyx had won them world-wide recognition in the thrash and metal genres, the members of Fountain of Tears had not fully tapped their musical potential. In order to retain creative control and to work at a relaxed pace, they began to write for their first independent release. This unique album features not only the vocal versions of the songs, but also the instrumental versions as they were originally written.
Like many groups consisting of talented and driven individuals, dedication to the project was tested through periods of hardship and uncertainty. Family commitments, careers, school, circumstances of life and conflicting schedules prevented the members from meeting more than once per week, and set-backs had considerably lengthened the writing and recording process. Final editing and mastering for the album was completed in early 1999, and the band, relieved and somewhat exhausted, held a listening party for a very enthusiastic audience.
As Fountain of Tears promotes its self-titled CD, Erik is married and in medical school; Joe is married, has a two year old son and races on a pro mountain bike team; Jeff holds a degree in Philosophy and is a provider of web and music services; Mike builds computers, manages a specialty printing shop and plays ice hockey; and Anna pursues her degree in textile sciences. Together they continue to write music that is emotional, powerful and memorable.
WHAT DO THEY SOUND LIKE?
Brian Currin
Their sound is 90s progressive-rock/metal with female vocals. Haunting atmospheric keyboards swirl around the soaring vocals of Anna DeRose and are punctuated with sizzling guitar work. My only complaint is that the vocals seem a bit subdued in the mix, I really would have liked to hear Anna’s voice more clearly.
This CD has 10 tracks, the last 5 being instrumental versions of the first 5.
Album opener is ‘Survive’. Fans of SA band Fetish will love this one. Strong vocals and even stronger instrumentation.
‘She Wants To Be’ is a thundering piano-driven rocker with some stunning guitarwork.
‘The Sleeper’ is the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, narrated by Sheree Kunkle over a perfectly matched aural soundscape (the atmospheric keyboards I spoke of earlier). The tolling bell adds to feeling of eerieness. Don’t listen to this one late at night on your own.
‘Carousel’ starts with some gentle guitar then picks up speed and races along with no apparent end in sight…and then it ends far too soon (after 5 and a half minutes). Anna sounds very like Kate Bush on this track.
‘Real’ is a powerful rocker with determined drumming and pounding piano, similar in places to early Renaissance.
The instrumental versions also sound great in their own right. Jeff King’s piano is really incredible. Fountain of Tears are a group of talented musicians who deserve to do very well.
Listen to MP3s and buy the CD on their website:
http://www.fountainoftears.com
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R.A.H. IN PURSPECTIVE
Roger Glover
Last issue we posted Garry Smith’s review of the Deep Purple and Friends concert at the Royal Albert Hall on the 25th September.
Here is an insight from Deep Purple bassist, Roger Glover, reprinted here with his kind permission…
It has been a few weeks now, and time enough to put some perspective on
things. The two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall were, in a word, bloody great.
(yes, I know, that’s two words, so there’s no need to start threading about it, I’m a bass player, and Welsh, so I don’t know any better!) None of us could really have anticipated the feeling that we experienced together on those nights. What a joy. Thank you all, the most loyal and intelligent bunch of bananas any band could ask for. To stand there on that stage and be given the welcome that we received was truly unforgettable. We do love you, especially all you that work so hard on our behalf on the Net.
As you know, I am a fan of IP, SM, JL and IG, and I think that everyone
put in a stellar performance. I loved all the solo pieces. Working with
Ronnie [James Dio] after all these years was such a treat as well. In particular I would like to say how proud I am of Jon, who was not only inspired enough to write the Concerto in the first place, but to devote all his time and energy over the months before these dates to ensure that it all went swimmingly, as they say. Great job.
The five days of rehearsals were super; a lot of concentration, laughs,
nerves, memories, old friends, new friends, pizza. Big accolades for our trusty crew, along with various unsung heroes, all part of the team; Charlie Lewis deserves a special mention, a giant among men, talk about grace under pressure. Colin Hart, who has been with us since 1971, did a superb job under intense stress. Alison Hussey was indispensable. Moray and Louie, our sound and lights, and Rob on monitors, all did wonderful things. We stand in the spotlight but all the crew, every single one of them (including the ones that weren’t there but were with us on the tours over the last couple of years) deserve your applause. If it wasn’t for either you or them we’d still
be in a rehearsal room somewhere.
The other day I was recounting the events that led to the Concerto being performed again thirty years on, to someone who doesn’t know much about us, and as I related it I realized what a fantastic tale it is. The circumstances and coincidences that culminated in the shows on 25th and 26th September 1999 are quite magical; the manuscript for the Concerto being lost for all those years and then Marco De Goeij approaching Jon in Rotterdam last year after having spent two years of laborious detective work on the score and writing it out again; Paul Mann, Colin Hart’s nephew, who as a young boy grew up listening to the Concerto and dreaming of one day becoming a conductor; the LSO, one of the busiest orchestras in the world, having a free weekend; The Royal Albert Hall, just as busy, finding a free weekend; Ronnie Dio, Sam Brown, Miller Anderson, Graham Preskett, Steve Morris, Eddie Hardin, Dave LaRue, Van Romaine, all the singers, the Kick Horns, all being available and willing to offer their services in the name of the charity; and Deep Purple, a band in need of a special event to round off this touring season and a kick off towards the next album. Serendipity, a word that was invented for such occasions.
Anyway. When’s the next one?
Good luck,
RG
{Editor: boy, I wish I had been there…
Maybe DP will come to tour South Africa again sometime?}
Visit The South African Deep Purple Website at:
http://www.deeppurple.co.za
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FORUM
——-
SPOKEN WORD SONGS (CONTINUED)
I think WE SALUTE YOU by Reg de Beer was a spoken word song.
Trumpeter Murray Campbell (normally known for instrumental tracks) also roped in various people to record spoken vocal parts for his songs.
Chris Kimberley
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CONNECTING PEOPLE
A number of people have told me about meeting up with old friends, and making new ones, thanks to the Internet, e-mail and in some cases, this Digest.
Stephan Forster and Nigel Walsh got together in London and swopped LPs, CDs and tapes.
Stephan also met up again with Craig Ballen in San Diego recently. And Rene Mullenders and Bas Mollenkramer have met in Holland. Read on…
GOING DUTCH
Last weekend I went to visit Bas Möllenkramer, the guy with the Flames website. He has quiet an amazing record collection including LP’s of Freedom’s Children, Hawk and Otis Waygood. On his Flames site he mentions the different pressings of each Flames album, he in fact owns a copy of each pressing. He has different pressings of various other LP’s as well including about 8 copies of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. He moved from the then Rhodesia in 1975 so he missed the whole Rabbitt hysteria though he’s quiet an admirer of Trevor Rabin’s guitar work. He actually saw him perform on stage with Yes (with the complete line-up). Well, I brought my ‘Rabbitt – The Hits’ CD along and introduced him to Rabbitt and he was impressed. I also brought along my ‘Best Of SA Pop’ CD’s and that brought back a lot of memories. He’s been looking for the Staccatos’ ‘Cry To Me’ for years. He was also impressed with Lesley Rae Dowling’s first LP with ‘Grips Of Emotion’ on it. Another interesting LP he has is one of Jeremy Taylor with Spike Milligan. We didn’t listen to it but it must be quite something. I can go on and on and on about what I saw (and I didn’t even go through all his LP’s, that would take days).
Rene Mullenders
{Editor: I have that Spike Milligan and Jeremy Taylor LP. It was recorded at Cambridge University in December 1973. The funniest part, among a double LP of very humourous songs, stories and poems, is Jeremy explaining the words of ‘Ag Pleez Daddy’ to his English audience.}
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RADIO FAN – POLAND
I love the music from Africa. I have all the albums by Johnny Clegg,
I love Trevor Rabin (as I am Yes fan)…I love Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Oyaba.
Lately I ordered soundtrack from the TV series Shaka Zulu…
I told you already about my Treasure Island on the radio, it would be great if I could have news about music from South Africa weekly.
Thank You
Lukasz
{Editor: Now thats the type of “may I subcribe” letter we really like! Lukasz is a DJ on a radio station in Poland and he plays “beautiful music from all over the world”}
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DOG DETACHMENT
For my money, “Dog Detachment” and “Asylum
Kids” were THE business in the early 80’s.
Any idea of what ever happened to the Armstrongs? I’m sure Barney Simon would know. I used to work with them at CSIR in Pretoria. One of them was an MSc aeronautical engineer, and the other was working on a PhD in radar technology….if I remember correctly.
I’m in SA every 6 months or so. Do you know if their albums have been
re-released on CD? I would certainly buy!!
Mark Pratz
Prague
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THE DYNAMICS
After numerous requests for info on the Dynamics, the Digest made contact with keyboardist Jimmy Florence (thanks to Jonathan Handley).
Jimmy is not yet on-line, but as soon as he is, we should receive some e-mails about the Dynamics, Extremist and all the other things he has been involved in. Watch this space!
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NOSTALGIA RULES, OK?
During the past weekend I went on one of my regular nostalgia trips and came upon a recording I made of an interview which, after the re-release of ‘Astra’, Robin Clark of the then Radio 5 had with Julian Laxton. In it they play tracks off the album and Julian gives some very interesting information regarding the recording of ‘Astra’. After Julian’s mention of Mel, Mel and Julian, I just had to listen to the album again and as always found it a very good early Simon and Garfunkel (‘Wednesday morning 3:00 AM’ era) imitation. It is difficult to imagine Julian walking out of M. M. and J. into Freedom’s Children.
During the interview Robin Clarke mentions that he met Colin Pratley at a Hawk/Freedom’s Children concert at Durban City Hall and that by pretending to be the drummer of a fictitious band, got access to the concert via Collin. The mention of Colin Pratley in turn triggered Wildebeest and I was compelled to listen to the whole of ‘Bushrock 1’ recorded live at Upstairs (Sunnyside, Pretoria) on 28 Feb and 1 March 1981. One tends to forget the great sounds Wildebeest produced with the interaction between the frentic violin of Dave Tarr and driving lead guitar of Boet Faber. Can someone tell me where Dave and Boet were/are before/after Wildebeest? I couldn’t believe that I had forgotten that ‘Bushrock 1’ features ‘Slowly towards the North’ (as ‘Pofadder’), ‘The kid he came from Nazareth’ (as ‘Russian and Chips’) and ‘Tribal Fence’.
I often find myself using the stereotyped expression *they were well before their time* when referring to some SA talent in general and Freedom’s Children and Hawk in particular. But then what time would have suited them best to have entered the spotlight?
Greetings
Dave Malherbe
Visit the Freedoms Children website at:
http://www.rock.co.za/legends/freedomschildren/
and Hawk is at:
http://www.rock.co.za/legends/hawk/
and just to round it all off, Otis Waygood is at:
http://www.rock.co.za/legends/otiswaygood/
All part of the SA Rock Legends website
http://www.rock.co.za/legends
Where South Africa’s rock legends still live
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JOHNNY CLEGG
I didn’t know Johnny Clegg is South African. I’ve heard (not seen) him & Savuka live back in 1988 somewhere in France while interrailing with Maarit (my wife). We were outside a big tent where he was performing, so we couldn’t see him, but the music was really relaxing. There were lots of people outside that tent, so the atmosphere wes great there, too.
And Trevor Rabin. I know Yes, too.
Heikki Heino
Finland
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FALLING MIRROR
Now the good news is that I have been in touch with Tully McCully about the Mirror and he given me the go ahead to remaster the ‘Zen Boulders’ album for a release in early 2000…if this goes OK then it will see the emergence of ‘Storming of the loft’, ‘Fantasy Kid’, ‘Johnny calls the chemist’ and hopefully sometime in the not too distant future a new version of ‘Shattered’ (perhaps a title change) on CD.
One of the most pressing problems that I have is accessing the original album artwork, I’m going to try my old compatriots at Tusk (Gallo) but I’m not holding out too much hope. If I can’t find it I’m going to have to rescan a virgin cover (if that is possible….lets see…)
I’m also desperately trying to get hold of my fellow Brakpanian Lucien Windridge of éVoid in London.
Benjy Mudie
mailto:fresh@icon.co.za
Fresh Music
http://www.freshmusic.co.za
Falling Mirror on the web at:
http://www.rock.co.za/legends/fallingmirror/
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REQUESTS
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SPIRITS REJOICE
Let me introduce myself. My name is Paul Petersen. I am from Cape Town, South Africa but currently living in Kentucky, USA. I came across your website last night and decided you might be the person to help me.
In the early 80’s, I was a member of the band Spirits Rejoice. I sang the song ‘Shine On’. I am now looking for a copy of the video that was made of this song by the SABC. Would you happen to know where I might get a copy? I tried the SABC a while back, and they were not able to help me.
Please let me know if you can help. I would appreciate it very much.
Paul Petersen
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HIDDEN GEMS
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SHE – McCULLY WORKSHOP
This superb Beatlesque track, recorded by the reformed McCully Workshop in 1998, would not be out of place on any Oasis album. That begs the question why Oasis sells millions of CDs and this track is ignored? Even by South African radio programmers!
‘She’ is one of 6 new songs on the 12-track ‘Buccaneer’ compilation CD released in 1998. The McCully brothers (Mike and Tully McCullagh) decided to rework some of their classic songs and record some new ones. They went into Tully’s renowned Spaced-Out Sound studios in Cape Town in 1998 and a while later they emerged with a freshened-up ’98 version of their 1978 chart-topper ‘Buccaneer’. The original late 70s band members, Richard Black (lead guitar and vocals) and Rupert Mellor (keyboards and vocals) were recalled to help flesh out these songs. Mike McCully played drums and Tully handled the guitar, bass and vocals while Kevin Gibson (drums) and ex-Falling Mirror guitarist Allan Faull helped out as well.
McCully Workshop have lost none of the spark that made them one of SA’s greatest pop/rock bands and ‘She’ is a great example of how good they still are at writing and playing catchy, listenable pop/rock songs.
Visit the McCully Website at:
http://www.mccullyworkshop.co.za
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ON THE NET
————
PROMOTE YOURSELF!
Brian Currin
Think you can’t afford to have your own website? Think again!
It is actually very easy to design and host a website for very little cost using Internet magazines (like OTI and .Net) and some superb websites.
I am not a computer genius and basic HTML is about my speed, so I need all the help I can get. Here are some of the websites that supply free hosting of different web resources, if you don’t mind a banner ad or two.
Free Vote
http://www.freevote.com
Voting booths with very easy-to-use functions for both the booth owner and visitors.
BeSeen
http://mysearch.looksmart.com
a website search engine…brilliant…
Inside The Web
http://www.insidetheweb.com
message boards…you choose the colour scheme so it matches your site
The Counter
http://thecounter.com
free visitor tracking, even invisible counters are available
Crosswinds
webhosting – free and unlimited space…no pop-ups or adverts on your pages…I read about this in .Net mag and its really great. The SA Rock Digest back-issues are archived at Crosswinds.
Angelfire
http://www.angelfire.com
another great host site…adverts only appear on index page, not like those horrible Geocities pop-ups…ugh!
Listen.to
http://listen.to/
redirect addresses for those of us who can’t afford our own domain names.
Examples:
http://welcome.to/sarock
http://talk.to/glorydays
Arachnophelia
http://www.arachnoid.com
a superb HTML editor
Hotmail
http://www.hotmail.com
Free e-mail…and you can even check your normal POP mail through them.
There are a lot of others, but these are the ones I use the most…
Also Internet Cafés are great and reasonably priced so you don’t even have to own a computer or have a dial-up connection.
Café Vodacom in Milnerton Cape Town charges R15 an hour and the staff are very helpful and friendly and I go there often.
And don’t forget…
Backstage
http://www.backstage.co.za
Gareth Sherwood, SA musician and computer nut, offers a design and hosting service for a very reasonable fee.
Use the Web, it’s the future of self-promotion…
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Mabu Vinyl, the well-known music shop in Cape Town, will soon be celebrating its two-year anniversary in its more spacious new premises at 2 Rheede Street in Gardens. The shop is situated just off the corner of Kloof Street (next door to A&A Furnishers), and is just a “muffin’s throw away” from Vida e Caffé, the very popular nearby coffee shop in Kloof Street.
Mabu Vinyl carries a large selection of new and second hand items including LP records, 12” singles, 7” singles, 78’s, CD’s, DVD’s, cassette tapes, videos, books, T-shirts, comics, magazines, and even a selection of refurbished turntables and hi-fi’s. Mabu Vinyl buys, sells and trades in all and any of these items. The shop also carries a range of independent CD releases by a range of South African artists.
Mabu Vinyl grew out of the well-known Kloof Street bric-a-brac store, Kloofmart, which was run for many years by Johan Vosloo in the premises now occupied by Vida e Caffé. Jacques Vosloo, the owner’s son, started the record store in the back section of Kloofmart before the store moved to its next premises a few shops away, next to the other well-known Kloof Street music shop, High Five.
Then in October 2003, Mabu Vinyl again moved further down the road into its next premises in Buitenkloof Centre on the corner of Kloof and Buitensingel Streets. Soon after, Stephen Segerman joined Jacques in the store, adding a stock of CD’s, tapes, and DVD’s to the already huge selection of records that fills every corner of this eclectically decorated store.
The new Mabu Vinyl store has something for everyone with hundreds of 7″ singles, 12″ dance singles (for the many club DJ’s who frequent Mabu), and a broad range of rock, pop, jazz, soul, country, comedy, blues, soundtrack, South African and classical LP records. There is also a wide range of new and used CD’s, DVD’s, cassette tapes and books, mostly at reduced or sale prices, and the shop has many regular customers who love to take a few hours to browse through the many music items on display.
Parking for the new Mabu Vinyl store is available downstairs in the Rheede Centre parking garage, or at the nearby Kwikspar or Lifestyle centres in Kloof Street.
website: http://mabuvinyl.co.za
Sugar Music 