Posted on

Remembering James Phillips


30 years ago, on the 31st of July 1995, James Phillips died from complications resulting from a car accident outside Grahamstown earlier in the month. He was in Grahamstown for the National Arts Festival. To commemorate Jame’s life and his influence, we have put together two 15-song mixtapes.

The first includes a cross section of songs from his recordings with Corporal Punishment, Illegal Gathering, the Cherry Faced Lurchers, James Phillips and the Lurchers, as Bernoldus Niemand, and under his own name.

The second includes versions of his songs recorded by others, other musicians’ songs on which he featured, and songs written as tributes to or dedicated to James. The covers are: ‘Shot Down’ – Urban Creep, ‘Afrika is Dying’ – Vusi Mahlasela, ‘Snor City’ – Blues Broers, ‘My Broken Heart’ – Matthew van der Want, ‘Positive’ – Phillipstines, ‘War Song’ – Wendy Oldfield and the Cherry Faced Lurchers, and ‘Snor City’ – Johannes Kerkorrel. The Phillipstines was a James Phillips tribute band especially formed for Concert for James. Similarly, the Cherry Faced Lurchers reformed at the Concert for James with Wendy Oldfield on vocals for ‘Warsong’. Other performers’ songs which featured James Phillips included here are: ‘Paranoia’ – Koos Kombuis (James on backing vocals), ‘Absoluut Goed’ – Joannes Kerkorrel (James plays blues harp), and ‘Bigger Than Jesus’ – Kalahari Surfers (with James on backing vocals). Songs in some way dedicated or in tribute to James include: ‘Home’ – Matthew VD Want and Chris Letcher, ‘Sunny Skies’ – Robin Auld, ‘Baby, Baby’ – Pressure Cookies (The full ‘Swallow’ is dedicated to James), ‘So I Can Die Easy’ – Dorien Du Toit (off the 10 Years of Splashy Fen compilation), and ‘Groove for James’ – The Dynamics.

James Phillips, who never properly received the attention and rewards his talent warranted, was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboard and harmonica player who started out as a musician in the late 1970s, initially with Corporal Punishment and Illegal Gathering before releasing a solo album under the name Bernoldus Niemand, and then going on to form the Cherry Faced Lurchers (which later became James Phillips and the Lurchers).

Corporal Punishment formed in Springs in 1980 with James Phillips (guitar, vocals), Carl Raubenheimer (bass, vocals), Herbie Parkin (rhythm guitar), Mark Bennet (keyboard, vocals) and Chris Hattingh (drums). Hattingh was replaced on drums by Henry Jantzen. Recorded two songs for the WEA Records Six of the Best (1979) compilation: “Victim’s Victim” and “Goddess of Depression”. Released the 7 inch ep “Fridays and Saturdays” in 1980, including four songs: “In The Night”, “Brain Damage”, “Johnny’s Conscience” and “Rock And Rolls Royce”. The band broke up but James Phillips, Carl Raubenheimer and Steve Howells (drums) reformed the band in 1982 to record new versions of original Corporal Punishment songs in the Shifty Records studios. These recordings together with original Corporal Punishment recordings were released on cassette along with the James Phillips and Carl Raubenheimer project, Illegal Gathering, in 1986.

Illegal Gathering formed in Cape Town in 1981 by Carl Raubenheimer (guitar, vocals) and James Phillips (guitar, vocals) with (initially) Brett Murray (bass) and Brian Rath (drums). After an initial attempt at getting things going Murray and Rath left and were replaced with David Ledbetter (bass, guitar, vocals) and Wayne Raath (drums) when the band reconstituted later in 1981. In early 1982 they recorded a few songs, some of which ended up on marginal compilations (For example, “Emphasis Shift” and “Buttons your lip” on the 1983 Regional Jive cassette compilation and “”Johnny Cool” on the 1984 Out of the Blue compilation LP).

In 1983 James Phillips recorded the single “Hou My Vas Korporaal”/”My Broken Heart” using the pseudonym Bernoldus Niemand (Bernoldus Nobody) as a separate musical identity to his work in his own right. He followed this up with another single, “Boksburg Bommer”/“Jody” in 1984 and then released the album Wie Is Bernoldus Niemand in 1985. Having retired the Bernoldus Niemand persona in 1985 he resurrected it for the Afrikaans Voelvry tour in 1989.

The Cherry Faced Lurchers formed in Johannesburg in 1984 with James Phillips (guitar, vocals). Lee Edwards (bass), and Michael de la Hunt (drums) who was replaced by Richard Vos. They released the album Live at Jamesons in 1985 (including the iconic song ‘’Shot Down’), and recorded The Otherwhite Album in the late 1980s but it was not released until 1992.

In 1991 James recorded a series of demos which were later posthumously released as Soul Ou under his own name.

In 1993 the album Sunny Skies was released as James Philips and the Lurchers with James Phillips, Lee Edwards and various new members and session musicians. The Cherry Faced Lurchers developed a cult following in the 1980s and performed live over the years, including the performance of many songs that have not been released on any of their albums.

All of these albums (as well as the Concert for James) can be purchased for download on the Shifty Records page on Bandcamp.

Also look out for two excellent James Phillips documentary films which were both released on DVD:
James Phillips: Famous For Not Being Famous (Lloyd Ross/Shifty, 2006)
The Fun’s Not Over: The James Phillips Story ( Michael Cross, 2018)

Volume 1: Remembering James Phillips

  1. Goddess – Corporal Punishment
  2. Darky – Corporal Punishment
  3. Brain Damage – Corporal Punishment
  4. Johnny Cool – Illegal Gathering
  5. Changing My World – Illegal Gathering
  6. East Rand Blues – Bernoldus Niemand
  7. Hou My Vas Korporaal – Bernoldus Niemand
  8. Toasted Take Aways – Cherry Faced Lurchers
  9. Shot Down – Cherry Faced Lurchers
  10. Heavy Ous – Cherry Faced Lurchers
  11. Detainees – James Phillips
  12. Polling Day – James Phillips
  13. Where Will You Be – James Phillips
  14. The Fun’s Not Over – The Lurchers
  15. Moses – The Lurchers

Volume 2: Honouring, Covering And Featuring James Phillips

  1. Shot Down – Urban Creep
  2. Afrika Is Dying – Vusi Mahlasela
  3. Snor City – Blues Broers (Concert For James)
  4. My Broken Heart – Matthew Vd Want (Concert For James)
  5. Positive – Phillipstines (Concert For James)
  6. War Song – Wendy Oldfield & The Cherry Faced Lurchers (Concert For James)
  7. Snor City – Johannes Kerkorrel
  8. Paranoia – Koos Kombuis
  9. Absoluut Goed – Joannes Kerkorrel (James plays blues harp)
  10. Bigger Than Jesus – Kalahari Surfers (With James doing backing vocals)
  11. Home – Matthew Vd Want And Chris Letcher
  12. Sunny Skies – Robin Auld
  13. Baby, Baby – Pressure Cookies
  14. So I Can Die Easy – Dorien For James (Off Splashy Fen compilation)
  15. Groove For James – The Dynamics

 

Posted on

Elections 2024 Mixtape

The theme of this mixtape is the coming week’s election, including a selection of songs which deal with South African politics, politicians, protest, and elections. May 29th is South Africa’s 7th post-apartheid election. It marks 30 years since the ‘advent of democracy’ but the situation in South Africa is a mess. As South African citizens are urged to vote on Wednesday, many wonder if there’s any point to it. Clearly, power does not lie in the ballot box, but in the warped and corrupt partnerships between corporates, organised crime, and politicians – ‘mafia bank-rolled politicians’ as Sinazo Mdlalo calls them (in “Gravytrainspotting”). Indeed, some people think politics is actually organised crime, with the wealthy stealing from the poor. Shamrock (in “Political Party”) laments the futility of elections: ‘You can vote for anybody it’s the same problem’.

For one thing, politicians are quick to make promises but slow on delivering. Simmah (in “The Money Never Lies”) asks ‘What happened to promises? What happened to solutions?’ And Skwatta Kamp (in “Politics”) noted, you can vote for the government, but then it’s case of ‘ANC you later’. In “But In Time”, The Pressure Cookies summed up the ballot box dilemma: “I have to make a choice but they all look the same. They all make the same noise”. Sankomota capture that confusion, asking the “Politician”, ‘What’s going on? I have the right to know, don’t leave me here’.

In “Change” Hugh Masekela asks “Why does everybody want to stay in power forever? … Everything must change.” He lists various African leaders who clung on to power for decades, and notes that Mandela set a different example. Whatever complaints we have about our continually failing government, at least our leaders are constitutionally obliged to step down after two terms. However, while the leaders may change, the story has remained the same. The ANC government who now head the most unequal society in the world, which for Freshlyground is a “Banana Republic”. They warn that we are currently in another state of emergency, under the rule of a corrupt and harmful government.

Several songs on the mixtape deal with aspects of the bananarization of our country: Sinazo Mdlalo’s “Gravytrainspotting”, Vusi Mahlasela’s cover of James Phillips’ “Africa Is Dying”, “Potholes And Politicians” by Fuzigish, Tony Cox’s “House Of Parliament Blues” and “Die Fokkol Song” by Koos Kombuis. The Kiffness use laughter as a tried and tested political weapon with their cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick In The Wall’: ‘Hey Voetsek! Leave those funds alone. All in all Mzansi is just sick of it all.’ In “Blue Light Brigade” the Kalahari Surfers let Julius Malema speak for himself. ‘Fuck you” he swears at a journalist at a media conference. But given his extreme wealth, he might as well be saying this to the electorate. The government’s blue light brigade is an example of the repressive and belligerent nature of our leading politicians, forcibly clearing the roads so that they can race around without concern for those in their way. Indeed, a case of ‘ANC you later’.

Some of the songs on this mixtape capture an uncertain moment, in the late 1980s and early-to-mid ’90s, when there was hope that democracy and elections might lead us closer to equality and human rights for all. Johnny Clegg and Savuka hoped that “One (Hu)’man One Vote” would be a solution, Prophets Of Da City hoped that we would “Neva Again” see one group oppress another (the Marikana massacre was still to come), in “Moses”, James Phillips and The Lurchers appealed to Mandela, “Please don’t turn out like all of the rest”. And in “Polling Day”, written prior to the 1994 elections, James Phillips suggests that the solution lies outside of the ballot box: “Just let us find ourselves in our own way, then maybe we might just not be needing polling day”.

The mixtape ends with more songs recorded during the apartheid era which, while applying to that context, still apply today. It’s a reminder that the struggle for people’s rights did not end in 1994. Bright Blue warned that ‘We’re on a ship with no direction’ and that we need to “Rock The Boat’ to change the direction of an unjust government. Indeed in 1989 the Kalahari Surfers (in their cover of the Who song) warned us not to be fooled again: that ‘the party on the left’ could become ‘the party on the right’. As has happened. In the 1980s Roger Lucey warned that there would be “No Easy Walk To Freedom”. Little did we know how difficult that road would turn out to be, despite the 1994 elections, and how wide the distance between rich and poor would become.

  1. One (Hu)’man One Vote – Johnny Clegg and Savuka
  2. Change – Hugh Masekela
  3. Political Party – Shamrock
  4. Politics – Skwatta Kamp
  5. Banana Republic – Freshlyground
  6. Gravytrainspotting – Sinazo Mdlalo
  7. The Money Never Lies – Simmah
  8. Blue Light Brigade – Kalahari Surfers
  9. Africa Is Dying – Vusi Mahlasela
  10. Polling day – James Phillips
  11. But In Time – Pressure Cookies
  12. Potholes And Politicians – Fuzigish
  13. House Of Parliament Blues – Tony Cox
  14. Die Fokkol Song – Koos Kombuis
  15. A Song For The ANC – The Kiffness
  16. Neva Again – Prophets Of Da City
  17. Politician – Sankomota
  18. Moses – James Phillips & the Lurchers
  19. Rock The Boat – Bright Blue
  20. Don’t Get Fooled Again – Kalahari Surfers
  21. No Easy Walk To Freedom – Roger Lucey
Posted on

Women’s Day 2022

This mixtape commemorates Women’s Day in South Africa. On the 9 th of August South Africans acknowledge the contribution made by women towards improving South African society. In particular, on the 9th of August 1956 over 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, to protest an extension of the apartheid government’s pass laws.

Accordingly, black women would also have to carry passes when travelling to ‘white’ urban areas. The march was led by Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams The women left 14 000 copies of a petition at the doors of prime minister, J. G. Strijdom. They stood for 30 minutes before singing a protest song composed especially for that occasion: “Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ Imbokodo” (You strike the women, you strike the rock).

Significantly, the protest saw feminists coming together to make a stand against institutionalized racism. Over the following decades South African feminists continued to define feminist struggle broadly, tackling racism, class inequality and sexism in an intersectional way.

This mixtape begins with Nothembi Mkhwebane’s interpretation of “Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ Imbokodo” before moving into a series of songs which celebrate South African women and women more generally: “Women of the World” by the Mahotella Queens, Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s “Legends”, Laurie Levine and Josie Field’s “Trailblazing”, Edi Niederlander’s “Strong Women in Africa” and “African Women” by Pamela Nkutha.

Dope St Jude (“Inside”) and Godessa (“Social Ills”) tackle beauty standards to which girls and women of colour are expected to conform. There follows a series of songs which explore issues about women’s day to day lives. In “Bay of Bombay” Jennifer Ferguson sings of the sacrifices mothers often make: “her eyes would look at the food she cooked, and the clothes she’d clean and iron” all the time her thoughts escaping to “the ships floating on some bay.”

Khaki Monitor describe a young woman “Trying to Make Sense” and in “Mama Shabalala” Juluka describe the struggle of an old refugee woman “looking for a simple home … living from hand to mouth, dodging the wrong arm of the law.”

In “Mother Agriqua” Vusi Mahlasela tells the story of Saartjie Baartman, taken to Europe as a spectacle to be gazed at: an example of the African “other”, both alive and dead (as a museum exhibit). Finally her remains were returned to South Africa and buried. “Wenu se Goli” by Madosini Manquina documents the difficulty of life for rural black South Africans, when men had to leave home to go to work on the mines. The song is an open letter to a migrant mine worker informing him that because he has been away so long his wife’s love is over and she has been unfaithful. Miriam Makeba’s “Welela” is also about the effect of migrant work, but this time the song is about children calling for their mother to return because they long to see her.

Sexual violence is a theme addressed in depth in several songs included here. South Africa’s biggest shame is the widespread sexual violence by men towards women. In “Icala” Busi Mhlongo warns, ‘Don’t ever raise your hand at your woman”. Freshlyground wrote “Gone Gone Gone” (song for Khwezi) as a dedication to Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo, who accused Jacob Zuma of raping her. Her treatment during the trial that followed was appalling, as she was victimized by Zuma’s supporters. In the end Zuma was controversially acquitted of the rape charges. “41 000 Sisters” by Kaalvoet Prinses (Tremaine Barnes) is a song of solidarity with women who have been subjected to sexual violence (41 000 is the average number of reported rapes in South Africa between 2015 and 2019) and is representative of the Barefoot Campaign, a stand against the rape and sexual abuse of women.

Karen Zoid in turn calls for “Justice! Justice!” She angrily demands “Lock away the rapists and throw away the key.” In “Signs” the Pressure Cookies remind us how, when reporting sexual abuse, women are often made to feel guilty about the venues they frequented, the way they were dressed, who they got a lift with, and in fact, they stand accused of failing to “stay behind closed doors”.

The mixtape ends with two songs by male singers providing a critique of sexism. Matthew Van Der Want’s “Lonesome Hero” is a satirical song from the point of view of a woman who wants her lover to experience freedom, but it becomes clear that the experience of freedom which she offers her lover is at her own expense. The song thus questions freedom in a relationship and how in a heterosexual relationship women often sacrifice their own freedom in favour of that of their partners. “Show Luv” by Skwatta Kamp is a hard-hitting attack on men who abuse women, making it clear that such behaviour is never acceptable.

  1. Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ Imbokodo – Nothembi Mkhwebane
  2. Women of the World – Mahotella Queens
  3. Legends – Yvonne Chaka Chaka
  4. Trailblazing – Laurie Levine & Josie Field
  5. Strong Women in Afrika – Edi Niederlander
  6. African Women – Pamela Nkutha
  7. Inside – Dope St Jude
  8. Social Ills – Godessa
  9. Bay of Bombay – Jennifer Ferguson
  10. Trying to Make Sense – Khaki Monitor
  11. Mama Shabalala – Juluka
  12. Mother Agriqua – Vusi Mahlasela
  13. Wenu se Goli – Madosini Manquina
  14. Welela – Miriam Makeba
  15. Icala – Busi Mhlongo
  16. Gone Gone Gone – Freshlyground
  17. 41 000 Sisters – Kaalvoet Prinses
  18. Justice ! Justice ! – Karen Zoid
  19. Signs – Pressure Cookies
  20. Lonesome Hero – Matthew VD Want
  21. Show Luv – Skwatta Kamp