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Death On The Road

The previous two mixtapes featured songs about roads and road trips respectively and in putting these together we got to thinking about how many South African musicians have died while travelling in their cars. Some of these accidents have taken place as the musicians have travelled to concerts while other accidents have been part of musicians’ day to day lives. In at least two instances – Gito Baloi and Lucky Dube – the deaths were the result of carjackings, while Tebego Madingoane was shot dead in a road rage incident following a car accident. Travelling anywhere in a motor vehicle in South Africa is more risky than in most parts of the world. And given the vast distances between South Africa’s major cities, the potential danger for South African musicians travelling to and from performances adds to the many sacrifices which they make in order to ply their trade. This mixtape is dedicated to all South African musicians in an acknowledgement of the many hours, days, weeks and months they end up spending on our roads, and in memory of those who have died on these roads.

Below is a list of musicians who have died on South African roads. The list is not definitive because – unfortunately – there are other South African musicians who have undoubtedly died in car accidents. If there are any names missing please let us know and we can add their details to the list, in remembrance. And if you know any or all of the names of the members of Sankomota who were killed in a car accident in April 1996 please get in touch with us. Finally, if any of the details listed are incorrect also please do get in touch with the correct information.

We have tried to include a song which features the musician(s) in question, and where possible, include a song which that musician wrote. In the case of Roger Cumming we could not locate a Silver Creek Mountain Band recording of a song on which we were sure he performed, and so we included a very fitting tribute to the Silver Creek Mountain Band by Bill Malkin, which includes a reference to Roger Cumming.

We thank Jonathan Handley of the Radio Rats for drawing and designing a special cover for this mixtape.

In remembrance:

  1. Don Christie of Dickie Loader and the Blue Jeans 1965
  2. Roger Cumming of the Silver Creak Mountain Band 1977
  3. Tuza Mthetwa and Pompie Sofibo of the Soul Brothers 1979
  4. Tony Hunter of the Uptown Rhythm Dogs 1980 (check when died?)
  5. Koos Du Plessis 15 January 1984
  6. Zakes Mchunu of the Soul Brothers 1984
  7. Adam Reinecke of Winston’s Jive Mix Up 17 December 1989
  8. Penny Power of Peach 24 April 1994
  9. Kevin Van Staden of Celtic Rumours 26 December 1994
  10. James Phillips 31 July 1995
  11. Four members of Sankomota 12 April 1996
  12. West Nkosi August 1998
  13. Johnny Mair of Sweatband 11 November 2002
  14. Bles Bridges 24 March 2000
  15. Gito Baloi 4 April 2004
  16. Tebego Madingoane of Mafikizolo 14 February 2004 (shot dead in a road rage
  17. incident following car accident)
  18. Lebo Mathosa of Boom Shaka Shaka 23 October 2006
  19. Lucky Dube 18 October 2007
  20. Tulsa Pittaway of Watershed (and Evolver One and Brotherly) 21 May 2017
  21. Jacques de Coning solo Afrikaans singer 9 June 2019
  22. Jethro Butow of Morocko and …. 19 January 2020
  23. Emmanuel “Mjokes” Matsane of Trompies 22 May 2021
  24. Sakhile Hlatshwayo (Killer Kau) 8 August 2021
  25. Mpura 8 August 2021 (Same accident as above)
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Capital 604 – 1987

There was a healthy variety of South African music in the Capital Radio charts in 1987 from the wistful South African pop rock of Bright Blue, the Afro pop of Sipho Mabuse and Brenda Fassie to the political energy of Savuka and Hi-NRG Euro disco of People Like us, and the novelty studio sounds of Pocket Lips with several other artists making up the 14 South Africans which made the Top 40 countdown.

If there is one particular theme which characterises several of the performers who charted on Capital Radio in 1987 it is a sense of artistic reincarnation combined with renewed creativity. After over a decade performing with Sipho Mchunu as Johnny and Sipho and then more prominently as Juluka and then a short hiatus as a solo singer, Jonny Clegged re-emerged with his new band Savuka and with a far more overt political orientation to deal with increasingly troubled times in South Africa. This is clearly borne out in the song that charted on Capital – “Missing” – which dealt with the disappearance of political activists opposing the apartheid regime. Neill Solomon had a very short period of success on the Capital charts in the early ’80s with the Uptown Rhythm Dogs but in 1987 returned with the Passengers. Cindy Dickinson, who had first made her mark in South Africa as a solo artist and then with Syndicate in 1987, appeared on the Capital charts with People Like Us, who, like Savuka, were as or more popular in parts of Europe than they were in South Africa. Several members of the early ’80s kwela-ska infused band Pett Frogg re-emerged when they morphed into Mango Groove who developed a sound which captured a growing mood towards a more harmonious South Africa.

Also in 1987, Wendy Oldfield left Sweatband to embark on a solo career in which she could move away from a rock sound dominated by the band to explore her own pop-soul sound as a singer-songwriter in her own right, to create what she referred to as “a new kind of Wendy thing”. Also reinventing herself as a solo artist with her first solo album in 1987 was Brenda Fassie who left behind the Big Dudes and began a hugely successful solo career. Meanwhile, Bright Blue, who charted on Capital in 1984 with “Window on the World”, had taken a forced break of two years while Dan Hartman and Ian Cohen served two very reluctant years of conscription in the South African Defence Force. Bright Blue re-emerged in 1987 without former lead singer Robin Levetan but nevertheless with what was to become one of the anthems of the transition to a post-apartheid South Africa, “Weeping”.

Established artists such as Lesley Rae Dowling, Jonathan Butler and Sipho Mabuse continued to chart on Capital, as did Sweatband (still with Wendy Oldfield as vocalist) and new arrivals on the scene Pocket Lips and 909, both of whom developed more in the studio rather than on the stage.

The most successful of the South African songs on the Capital charts in 1987 were Mango Groove’s “Move Up” and Wendy Oldfield’s “The Real World” which both reached number 1. Surprisingly, “Weeping” by Bright Blue spent two weeks at number 2 but missed out on the top spot. Jonathan Butler also peaked at number 2 with “Lies” but lower down, at number 5, with “Holding On”. “It’s Amazing” by Pocket Lips reached number 3.

Savuka’s “Missing” got as far as number 8 while “Tonight” by Sweatband peaked at number 10, as did Lesley Rae Dowling with “When the Night Comes” and “Hold On” by the Passengers (where it spent two weeks). 909’s “What Are We Going to do About Love” and Sipho Mabuse’s “Shikisha” both peaked at number 20 while Brenda Fassie’s “Mr. No Good” only reached number 21 and “Hiroshima” by People Like Us peaked at number 22.

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Capital 604 – 1986

The Info Song (as it was referred to) created strong division in South African musical circles. The government decided to distract people from its politically-motivated deaths, detentions and torture with a song encouraging everyone to get on and work together. To encourage musicians to take part they offered them tempting sums of money. The more politically enlightened musicians refused to take part and warned others not to do so, but there were those who ignored those warnings and got behind the government’s efforts. Musicians from both sides of the divide charted on Capital in 1986: Lesley Rae Dowling and Jonathan Selby (lead vocalist for Petit Cheval) took part, the rest did not.

Taking part was not without its negative consequences. Steve Kekana’s house was burnt down and one of his friends staying there at the time was burnt to death. Others were simply shunned by the musical fraternity. It created divisions within some bands such as Petit Cheval. Selby explained that “there were artists like Steve Kekana, Papa and Blondie and these guys were part of the whole scene, so it didn’t really bother me that much and I really wasn’t tuned into what was going on in the townships, I really wasn’t tuned into the kind of oppression and suppression that was going on. I was raised on Springbok Radio. I was brought up in a protected, middle class Jewish environment. I was more interested in what was going on overseas and trends overseas, that sort of thing … My bent in life at that stage was really exploring myself, my ego, everything was a huge self-centred, I believe a huge self-centred sort of hedonistic journey.” Petit Cheval drummer Danny De Wet noted that Selby’s participation “basically split the band”.

Wendy Oldfield of Sweatband nearly took part but pulled out in the eleventh hour. As she explained:

“When I pulled out I really got a lot of flak from that side. There was a lot of pressure, like ‘Stop, don’t let those lefties influence you’ from that side. And then I had the lefties saying ‘Don’t be bloody mad’. And I was kind of stuck in the middle looking for advice.”

Another of the musicians to chart on Capital in 1986, David Kramer, went further than refusing to take part in the song. He was a witty and insightful satirical singer songwriter but the critique of society within his message was often not detected by a generally conservative audience. Kramer explained:

“I got to a point where I felt quite trapped by my popularity, and by the expectations of what people thought I was going to do and the potential for writing, moving more and more into the ra-ra-ra type of South African song. And I suppose at that point I was becoming quite disillusioned with people misinterpreting what I really was trying to do … and also I got involved with the Volkswagen commercials and I suppose people started seeing me much more as just a comedian. You know, a funny little guy … and I became more and more one-dimensional. And what I was saying there was that I felt people weren’t really listening. And I suppose the edge that I had in the early years – which was very powerful for me – I’d lost that … it was the time of the State of Emergency and the country was really in a bad, bad way – and suddenly I looked at myself and I didn’t like what I saw. This happy-go-lucky guy making everybody feel good, and I decided to try and get back to where I had started. And that’s what led me back to doing Baboon Dogs.”

The Baboon Dogs album included politically overt songs such as a cover of Roger Lucey’s “Dry Wine” and the song which charted on Capital, “Going Away’ which questioned people’s commitment to South Africa. In the process Kramer lost a lot of his conservative fan base but at least this was the first of his songs to chart on Capital.

Of the South African songs that charted on Capital in 1986, “This Boy” by Sweatband reached number 5, “Going Away” by David Kramer reached number 7, “Love Is Knocking” by Petit Cheval,which featured a guest vocal by Lesley Rae Dowling, who also charted this year, reached number 8, where it spent two weeks, and “We Are Growing” by Margret Singana reached number 20. The rest of the songs did not make the top 20.

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