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Springbok Hit Parade Vol 1: SA Songs Covered

Do you remember when you stopped believing in Father Christmas? And do you remember when you first realised that Springbok Hits records didn’t feature the original artists? Quite remarkably, a series of records comprising session-musician covers of contemporary hits, not only shifted enough copies to make a profit, but actually sold hundreds of thousands of albums over a period of more than fifteen years, and became as much a part of the South African musical landscape as CNA record bars and the Pop Shop television show.

The Springbok Hit Parade series was conceived by Ken Talbot, making its debut in 1970 with the goal of providing South African consumers with affordable and accessible music hits. The series was inspired by the Springbok Radio Top Twenty on Springbok Radio on Friday nights, hosted by David Gresham. Released by MFP (Music For Pleasure), the series was initially produced by Robert Schröder, followed by Gresham, and later by Mike Pilot, who oversaw its final volumes in the 1980s.

It was a sort of coming-of-age thing for many (especially white) South Africans – to buy at least one Springbok Hit Parade LP – preferably from CNA or the OK Bazaars, where often low price special deals were on offer. And the series itself seemed to come of age in a sexist way, moving from animated art work to actual Scope Magazine-like photographs of scantily dressed women (the transition happened in early 1976, on Springbok Hit Parade no 26). The models were always white women: after all, these were Springbok hits, and only white people were allowed to be formally represented by the springbok – whether playing rugby, cricket, or posing on the cover of a Springbok Hit Parade record. However, black musicians could be covered by session musicians on the records, as is seen on this mixtape which includes songs originally performed by Joy, Lionel Petersen, Pacific Express, Letta Mbulu, Margaret Singana, and Steve Kekana.

The only significant change to the branding of this series was in early 1980 when the Springbok Hit Parade records became simply Springbok records, the first to mark this change being Springbok 47.

For many, the relationship with Springbok Hits follows the trajectory of a romance novel: we fell in love with Springbok hits records, thinking they were the real thing (we bought a few or more) and we had wonderful times together, but then alas, we discovered that Springbok Hits had cheated on us, they weren’t what they said they said were. We hated session covers, and we discovered they were exactly what we hated. So we broke up. The break up was sudden and it was nasty. They became a source of embarrassment and regret. Then many, many years later, we rekindled fond memories of them. We reminisce about them with our family and friends, we even begin to romanticise them. We discover that some of the sessions musicians were renowned South African musicians, and they were often good versions of songs. Some of us even hook up with ones we grew up with, giving them a curious listen on a lonely Friday night at home.

For this mixtape we have put together 20 Springbok Hit Parade sessions versions of songs originally released by South African musicians. Was that the mark of success? To feature on a Springbok Hit Parade album? You can decide! In the list of songs below we include the original South African artists, and the Springbok Hit Parade record on which each appeared.

  1. Ain’t Gonna Stop Til We Get To The Top (Joy, 47)
  2. Grips Of Emotion (Lesley Rae Dowling, 57)
  3. Man On The Moon (Ballyhoo, 51)
  4. Better The Devil You Know (Stingray, 46)
  5. Nightmare (Peach, 54)
  6. Tokoloshe Man (John Kongos, 5)
  7. Blue Water (Julian Laxton Band, 32)
  8. Buccaneer (Mccully Workshop, 37)
  9. You’ve Got All Of Me (Clout, 41)
  10. Charlie (Rabbitt, 29)
  11. Ek Verlang Na Jou (Sonja Herholdt, 23)
  12. Bouncy Bouncy Bounce (Lionel Petersen, 25)
  13. Give A Little Love (Pacific Express, 42)
  14. I Need Your Love (Letta Mbulu, 9)
  15. Mama Temba’s Wedding (Maragret Singana, 19)
  16. Feel So Strong (Hotline & Steve Kekana, 62)
  17. Vyfster (Lloyd Ross, 63)
  18. You’re Living Inside My Head (John Ireland, 42)
  19. Face In The Mirror (Century, 45)
  20. Paradise Road (Joy, 49)
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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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South African Road Songs

For many people music and road trips are synchronous. Hardly ever is a road trip portrayed in a film without accompanying music as a soundtrack to the road stretching out ahead into the unfolding landscape. Music creates travel moods which cannot be captured in any other way. It can make one want to go on a road trip or perhaps it’s the other way round: road trips require music. Certainly, for many music lovers a road trip is cause for long deliberations over what music to pack in the cubby hole or add to a digital playlist. In the days when cassette players were regular features in cars, some of us spent ages putting together mixtapes, searching for that perfect road trip soundtrack. We knew to be careful to avoid songs with lots of ultra-quiet segments which were easily drowned out by the hum of the engine, or with volume swings that would necessitate continual groping for the volume control. One could become an expert in the road trip mixtape.

Clearly, car trip mixtapes can include music about anything and which capture any mood. But for this South African road trip mixtape we have chosen twenty songs by South African musicians which specifically refer to road trips in one form or another. From Bright Blue’s reference to “Taking a trip on a freeway, trying my best to escape” to All Night Radio’s song about driving at dusk, “with my windows open wide, lights are getting brighter as the sun is going down. There’s two more hours until I stop.”

Perhaps the song which most captures the spirit of road trips on this mixtape is “Lifetime On The Road” by Josie Field and Laurie Levine. These two singer songwriters formed a duo and promoted their debut and subsequent album by embarking on several road trip tours, travelling from town to town, day after day. The song captures the freedom of the road: “Rolled down the window, turned on the radio”, but at the same it expresses the drudgery of too much time on the road, travelling from gig to gig: “Left a town I barely know … so many places I’ll never call my own. A lifetime on the road.”

The tv show Going Nowhere Slowly romanticised the South African road trip, as the presenters journeyed from place to place, travelling down tar roads and gravel tracks, often to the accompaniment of music. It is therefore fitting that two songs from that programme are featured here: Liesl Graham’s “All Roads” and Seven Day Story’s “Going Nowhere Slowly” both of which capture the feeling of travelling on the road, music in our ears.

Many of the songs featured here use travel and the road as metaphors for aspects of our journey through life. Juluka often sang in metaphors and in this instance Johnny Clegg sings, “Spirit is the journey, body is the bus, I am the driver from dust to dust … Across this distance, this divide, I will be with you forever.” In “The Road Is Much Longer” Roger Lucey also uses metaphors to express his desire to cross the distance between himself and a loved one, although in this instance he is on the side of the road, trying to thumb a ride: “And now the night’s fallen and I’m nearer to home. And I hear you calling are you feeling alone? Well it’s up and down highways always returning.” The Gereformeerde Blues Band and Big Sky also sing about hitchhiking along the road while the unfortunate character in David Kramer’s “Matchbox Full of Diamonds” has to settle for walking along the road for hours, “under a sky that never cries”, yet he is nevertheless “happy as a hotel in the springtime, when the flowers bloom again.”

Also featured on this mixtape are Jack Hammer’s “Stay At The Wheel”, “Automobile” by the Blues Broers, Baxtop’s “Golden Highway”, Falling Mirror’s “Highway Blues”, “Rearview Mirror Blues” by the Radio Rats, McCully Workshop’s “Fast Car”, “Seat By The Window” by John Kongos, “Kelly’s Song” by Bobby Angel, Johnny Clegg’s “Ride In Your Car” and “Padkos” by Tony Cox, which is his acknowledgment of that very South African road trip tradition: of packing or stopping to buy food for the road.

If you can’t listen to this mixtape in your car we hope you can at least grab some padkos, sit back, imagine the road ahead of you and escape into the music.

  1. Window On The World – Bright Blue
  2. Hopetown 1975 (Stolen Gasoline) – All Night Radio
  3. Stay At The Wheel – Jack Hammer
  4. Ry – Gereformeerde Blues Band
  5. Hitch-Hike – Big Sky
  6. Automobile – Blues Broers
  7. Golden Highway – Baxtop
  8. Highway Blues – Falling Mirror
  9. Rearview Mirror Blues – Radio Rats
  10. Fast Car – Mccully Workshop
  11. Seat By The Window – John Kongos
  12. Spirit Is The Journey – Juluka
  13. Padkos – Tony Cox
  14. Life Time On The Road – Josie Field & Laurie Levine
  15. Kelly’s Song – Bobby Angel
  16. The Road Is Much Longer – Roger Lucey
  17. Ride In Your Car – Johnny Clegg
  18. All Roads – Liesl Graham
  19. Matchbox Full Of Diamonds – David Kramer
  20. Going Nowhere Slowly – One Day Remains