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Sunny African Summer

Well, it’s been a while since our last mixtape, but the South African sun has emerged from a reclusive winter, beckoning us to compile a shiny, happy, compilation. So we decided to do something that celebrates the returning South African summer. We might have loadshedding, inflation, corruption, potholes and pot-bellied politicians, but at least we have the sun. And we can dance. As Harari sing, “In the summertime, everybody should be dancing.”

This mixtape is scattered with happy upbeat tunes, kicking off with Robin Auld’s tribute to James Phillips, “Sunny Skies”, a great way to get us up and jiving, followed by similarly buoyant songs by Bright Blue (“Living in Africa”), eVoid’s (“Under blue skies”) and Nude Red’s “Seaside Dreams”. Things turn a bit funkier with Phillip Mallela’s “Sunny Day”, Clout’s “Sunshine Baby”, Harari’s “In The Summertime” and Kabasa’s “African sunset”.

South African summers would not be the same without some Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim, and his “African Sun” reminds us why. Miriam Makeba sings “African Sunset”, not related to Kabasa’s tune, but written by Sipho Mabuse. Apart from enjoying summery tunes, we also pause for a moment to remember Zahara, who died this week. Her “Brighter Day” fits very well with the theme of this mixtape.

Vusi Mahlasela’s “Africa The Sun Has Risen’ is hopeful that apart from getting brighter, things will get better. Here’s hoping! Hugh Masekela and Herb Alpert join forces to celebrate the “African Summer”, while Juluka sing their somewhat anthemic “December African Rain” which made a lot of us feel better about things forty years ago.

The mixtape ends with an assortment of sun-referenced songs, from Chris Letcher’s “The Sun! The Sun!” to “Happy Person” by the aptly named, The Sunshines, and McCully Workshop’s “(We All) Look For The Sun” and “Summer Journey” by the Soweto Licks.

Finally, Johannes Kerkorrel plays out on a very relaxed note announcing the arrival of the summer sun. Wherever you are – in the South or the North – turn up the volume and enjoy!

  1. Sunny Skies – Robin Auld
  2. Living In Africa – Bright Blue
  3. Under Blue Skies – eVoid
  4. Seaside Dreams – Nude Red
  5. Sunny Day – Phillip Mallela
  6. Sunshine Baby – Clout
  7. In The Summertime – Harari
  8. African Sunset – Kabasa
  9. African Sun – Dollar Brand
  10. African Sunset – Miriam Makeba
  11. Brighter Day – Zahara
  12. Africa The Sun Has Risen – Vusi Mahlasela
  13. African Summer – Hugh Masekela & Herp Albert
  14. December African Rain – Juluka
  15. Perfect Day – Robin Levetan
  16. The Sun! The Sun! – Chris Letcher
  17. Happy Person – The Sunshines
  18. (We All) Look For The Sun – McCully Workshop
  19. Summer Journey – Soweto Licks
  20. Somer – Johannes Kerkorrel
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Capital 604 – The Miss Parade: 1982

There were thirteen South African songs which charted on Capital Radio’s weekly Top 40 countdown in 1982 but for this week’s mixtape we recommend a further 22 songs which we think should have charted on the Top 40 countdown that year. Of these, three are performed by some the 13 artists who charted in 1982: songs by Steve Kekana & PJ Powers with Hotline, Juluka and Lesley Rae Dowling, all of whom were on a bit of an artistic roll at the time.

As with 1981 we see a wide variety of musical styles with the new wave, ska and post-punk sounds of the Asylum Kids, Corporal Punishment, Dog Detachment , Flash Harry, The Gents, Storm and The Usuals. Once again David Kramer was on song with satirical observations about South African life and there were an increasing number of African styled infusions from the likes of Harari, Joy, Juluka, Kabasa, Steve Kekana & PJ Powers with Hotline, the Malopoets, Marumo, High Masekela, Pett Frog, Sakhile and Caiphus Semenye. Ramsay MacKay contributed another quirky pop song while Lesley Rae Dowling and Mara Louw appear with more conventional pop songs, although not in any way formulaicl.

Some of these songs were playlisted on Capital Radio: “Girl Gone Solo” – Asylum Kids, “Shame on you” – Flash Harry “Nobody Nobody” – The Gents, “State of Independence” – Joy, “Can’t stop myself” – Mara Louw and “Angelina” – Caiphus Semenya. In addition, various other songs by these musicians were playlisted in 1982: “Machines” – Dog Detachment, “Mama’s Leaving” – Lesley Rae Dowling (a 1981 song), “Down At Marlene’s” – Flash Harry, “No Going Back” – Steve Kekana and “Without You” Caiphus Semenya.

Once again, huge thanks to Marq Vas for helping us source a couple of hard-to-find tracks.

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Capital 604 – The Miss Parade: 1981

There was plenty of good South African music in 1981. 14 South African songs made the Capital Top 40 countdown and we think there are 21 more songs which should have made the cut. There was also a healthy variety of musical styles, from post-punk, ska, reggae and new wave to folk, pop, rock, funk and soul, very often with a particular South African flavour such as Juluka’s Zulu folk-rock, David Kramer’s Western Cape klopse folk and the township funk-soul sounds of Harari, Kabasa and the Movers.

1981 saw a continuation of the resurgence of original South African music with the alternative scene rooted in punk, ska and new wave continuing to grow. The Asylum Kids, National Wake, Flash Harry, the Lancaster Band and the Usuals had each been gaining a following on the live music scene and now emerged from the studio with songs worthy of radio play. Mara Louw, who had appeared in musicals for years, made her debut solo recording, as did David Kramer, who brought out the album Bakgat after gaining a strong following on the folk circuit, particularly in the Western Cape. The Radio Rats re-appeared with “Erase” after the success of their 1978 hit “ZX Dan” (see Youtube for the video as it appeared on SABC at the time), Falling Mirror followed up 1980’s “Neutron Bop” with “The Crippled Messiah” and Bite released “Loud Radio” after previous singles had not received much attention. There were also songs from a variety of established performers from Harari, Steve Kekana and John Kongos to the Julian Laxton Band, Marumo, the Movers and Neville Nash. And there were interesting new experiments from the Pop Guns (a minor super group comprising members of the Radio Rats, the Chauffeurs and the Safari Suits) and Soweto Soul Orchestra (a studio project put together by Sipho Mabuse).

Several of these songs were playlisted on Capital Radio but did not make the Top 40 countdown: “Schoolboy” – Asylum Kids, “Loud Radio” – Bite, “Modern Science” – Lancaster Band, “Make A Stand For Love” – Julian Laxton Band, “Crippled Messiah” – Falling Mirror, “Shine On (Brightly)” – Steve Kekana, “I’m Dreaming” – John Kongos and “Rules And Regulations” – The Usuals. Furthermore, some of these musicians were playlisted with songs not featured here: Flash Harry (“Hot blood”), National Wake (“Supaman” and “Bolena”), Harari (“Liven up”) and Neville Nash (“Wind Me Up”).

Meanwhile over at SABC’s Radio 5 some of these songs were prohibited from airplay. The entire Bakgat album by David Kramer was not allowed to be played for various reasons including the way he mixed languages (which went against the SABC’s apartheid policy of cultural purity), his use of inappropriate language (slang and obscenities) and his mild criticism of the apartheid establishment. Flash Harry’s satirical protest song, “No Football”, was banned from airplay because it was viewed as blasphemous, indicating that more people watch football “than go to church”. “Crippled Messiah” by Falling Mirror was also rejected because the SABC censors thought it was blasphemous. The Asylum Kids’ “Schoolboy” was also not played on SABC, because it was seen to encourage a rebellious attitude towards school. The SABC were not yet playing Juluka because they mixed languages in their songs and they sometimes took on political themes critical of the government, for example in “African Sky Blue” they note that “Soon a new day will be born” and that “The warrior’s now a worker and his war is underground”. In 1981 Radio 5 was not playing reggae and so the Usuals and National Wake were not considered acceptable. This was especially true of National Wake given their political edge, with lyrics like “Wake up nation, wake up, ‘cause this might be your very last chance, we’re bubbling up in the new time space with the new time people” (“Wake Of The Nation”).

Fortunately some of these songs were heard on South African airwaves thanks to Capital Radio, but most of all we have the musicians and record companies to thank, for writing and recording these songs, regardless of how the broadcasters would react.

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