Released in 1995, the song is not as politically incorrect as the title may suggest. In fact, a large part of the lyrics are a plea to ‘baas, don’t call me a kaffir’. which reflects the political freedom black people were experiencing under the newly elected ANC government.
Arthur Mafokate started out as a dancer, performing with the likes of Brenda Fassie, but it was with ‘Kaffir’, which is widely regarded as the first kwaito hit, that he made his breakthrough. Kwaito, has been likened to hip hop and garage music, but with its looped sounds, simple repetitive lyrics, and pounding baselines, it took on a life of its own and became hugely popular in the townships of South Africa.
‘Kaffir’ sold over 150,000 copies and allowed Arthur to set up 999 Music Record Label which promotes up and coming talent, mostly in the kwaito genre. This song’s refrain is catchy and will continue bouncing round your mind well after it has faded from your speakers. Subsequent kwaito hits were not as political as this, so it will be an uneasy bouncing.
Nik Nik Nah – Nik Nik Nah Band (May da wors be with you)
I have virtually no information about this fun little ditty. It was
released as a single in 1983 on Mountain Records, recorded at Tully
McCully’s Spaced Out Studios, written by M McBride and the song rights
are owned by McCully Music. That’s all I know.
What this info does seem to suggest that Tully McCully had a hand in
it, but it is a rather far cry from most of McCully Workshop’s
material. As can be seen from the lyrics below, it is not a serious
song about how a man persuaded his wife to divorce him by singing the
irritatingly catchy ‘Nik Nik Nah’ chorus over and over again. There is
a similar feel to it as ‘It’s Amazing (The Incredible Dance)’ which
was released a few years later.
The band do not take themselves seriously as evidenced by the singer
saying during the fade ‘the public will buy absolutely anything’.
Sadly for him it was not the case with the ‘Nik Nik Nah’, perhaps by
changing the title slightly he could have approached Simba chips for
them to use it in an advert for Nik Naks.
My Marriage is in ruins
But my wife won’t set me free
I want to write my music
But all she wants is my money
My life is now so bad
I must rid myself of her
I think I’m going mad
And then I hit the plan
That will make my wife insane
Every night I sing this song
Over and again
And it go
Die Mystic Boer – Valiant Swart (Dis ’n Groot Avontuur)
Die Mystic Boer by Valiant Swart
I can’t help but think of The Doors’ ‘Riders On The Storm’ when I hear this song. Not that ‘Die Mystic Boer’ is a rip off of Jim Morrison’s classic, it’s just that it has a similar texture to it, and, on certain versions where Simon ‘Agent’ Orange is given free rein on the keyboards, the rich organ sound certainly owes something to Ray Manzarek. The fact that the cover of ‘Die Mystic Boer’ album features a man on a horse with a guitar furthers a ‘Riders’ ambiance.
Valiant hung out with the legendary Koos Kombuis (whom he met during his military service) but was not really part of the Voëlvry movement that brought Afrikaans rock music to the nation. However, in 1996, he released the album ‘Die Mystic Boer’, and became the leading light of the next phase of Afrikaan Rock music. The title track of the album
quickly established itself as not only an important Afrikaans blues song but also an important South African song. The lyrics are poetical, the music mystical and bluesy and the song is magical.
It is worth checking out some of the recorded live versions of the song such as that on the cassette only release ‘Voetstoets‘ and the ‘Tassenberg All Stars‘ (the first one) album.
op ‘n vaal vlakte
het ons hom die eerste keer gewaar
hy’t snaaks gedans en weggeraak
in ‘n waas van walms en wind
daar was klowe in die verte
en die son was nog jonk
en grys voëls het ons dopgehou
toe ons onder die oggend vir mekaar geknik het
ons gaan hom jag
die newels het gewink
die dag het geruik na nuwe bloed
en gebreek
veertig dae en veertig nagte
soek ons die mystic boer
maar soos die perde van middernag-gedagtes
bly hy op sy hoede en loer
oor sy skouer
ons loop deur die leegte
met ons oë vasgepen op ‘n stofwolk
waar sy voete die aarde ontstig het
met passies vol punk en plesierigheid
die môrestond het ons blinkgesmeer met vars hoop
op geluk en wysheid en vreugde
en vure vol verskeidenheid
en lig
na die berge, na die klowe, na die spelonke
dwarrel die gees
terwyl ons, die jagters, hom bestorm
met nette en tralies
en tyd
veertig dae en veertig nagte
soek ons die mystic boer
maar soos die perde van middernag-gedagtes
bly hy op sy hoede en loer
oor sy skouer
die grense van ons mission
was slegs die wind en weer
die bliksems en donders wat bangpraat
en reën bring om stof te kanselleer
hoe groter die drang na ontmoeting
met die koning van die nuwe asem
hoe woester die tog
en hoe stiller
daar was ‘n skaduwee om merker te speel
en ‘n uptempo rouklaag die magnet
en visioene van nuwe dinge
was oral
veertig dae en veertig nagte
soek ons die mystic boer
maar soos die perde van middernag-gedagtes
bly hy op sy hoede en loer
oor sy skouer
skielik was daar niks
behalwe ‘n vaal vlakte en die son
was ons alleen met water en jeans
die danser was weg
teen middernag was die maan treurig en mooi
en die grond het gesmaak na sout
en toe die nuwe oggend opstaan uit die berg
het grys voëls ons dopgehou
so as jy hom sien, en jy wil hom soek
doen dit gerus
want dis ‘n groot avontuur
alhoewel jy eindig
waar jy begin het
veertig dae en veertig nagte
soek ons die mystic boer
maar soos die perde van middernag-gedagtes
bly hy op sy hoede en loer
oor sy skouer met ‘n vreemde grynslag
en dans in die nánag met die maan
oor sy skouer met ‘n oog wat uitdaag
kom nader, kom vra my my naam
Ag Pleez Deddy – Jeremy Taylor (All together now – Popcorn, chewing gum…)
Ag Pleez Deddy
Say ‘Popcorn, Chewing Gum’ to a South African and they will probably respond with ‘Peanuts and bubble gum.’ Say ‘Ag Pleez Deddy’, you’ll either get ‘won’t you take us to the drive-in’ or ‘Popcorn, chewing gum.’ Should you say ‘The Ballad Of The Southern Suburbs’ a lot of South Africans would look at you blankly. You could then add, ‘it’s a song by Jeremy Taylor,’ and they will probably go, ‘Oh, I only know Ag Pleez Deddy by him.’ You can then smile your smug, I know more than you about South African music smile and inform them that ‘The Ballad of The Southern Suburbs’ is the proper name of the song everybody knows as ‘Ag Pleez Deddy’.
It is marginally more ironic than rain on your wedding day that a song that so encapsulated the South African accent, its culture and people was written by a pom, for that’s what Jeremy is. He came to South Africa from England, poked fun at us till the government told him to Voetsek!! They did eventually allow him to return.
‘Ag Pleez Deddy’ nearly didn’t get recorded. According to Jeremy, he wrote a verse and chorus then threw it away because he thought it was dumb. Fortunately for us, he then read an article saying that any serious writer will always finish what he starts otherwise you never learn. So he dug out the bits he had written and completed it.
Wait A Minim!
The next issue was to get it recorded and this is where South Africa has a story to match the legendary Dick Rowe of Decca Records who turned down the Beatles, or the screen test at RKO Pictures that said of Fred Astaire, “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Balding. Can dance a little.” Jeremy took the song to Phil Goldblatt at Gallo records who decided that no one would buy it as it wasn’t commercial enough. ‘Ag Pleez Deddy’ was eventually recorded as part of the musical ‘Wait a Minim’ and went on to outsell any Elvis Presley single in South Africa.
Another famous recording of the song is from 1974 when Jeremy teamed up with the comedian and one time Goon, Spike Milligan for a concert at Cambridge University which was captured on the double album, ‘An Adult Entertainment.’ During this performance, he does have to explain that Eskimo Pies are a kind of ice cream.
Well into his seventies, Jeremy is still performing the song, although he now as to be politically correct and sing ‘Sugar balls’ instead of you know what, and despite this necessary change, the song will live on long after Jeremy eventually retires.
Interestingly, I have not come across many cover versions of this song, I have found a single by a guy called Rodger Bellamy who recorded it, and on Youtube, there is a parody of it by Leon Shuster and that’s about all. Perhaps this stands as testimony to the fact that Jeremy did it so well, no one else has felt they could do it justice.
Weeping – Bright Blue (It wasn’t Rory it was Wi Ping)
Bright Blue - Weeping
From the first dramatic drum beat to the sax laden fade via the neatly woven riff from Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika and poignant lyrics, this is arguably the most important South African song ever recorded. It is certainly one you should hear before you go deaf, and even after you’ve lost your hearing, you still need to listen to it. The sound is huge, the lyrics are angry (in a passive way) and hints at the end of apartheid drawing near.
Bright Blue had relocated to Johannesburg from Cape Town in the mid 80’s and one night in late 1987 at the Orange 338 Studio in Orange Grove, they recorded ‘Weeping’ along with ‘Yesterday Night’, apparently popping out at 2 in the morning to find Basil Coetzee at the Market theatre to lay down the sax solo that is now as iconic in South African music circles as Raphael Ravenscroft’s ‘Baker Street’ contribution is on the global scene.
Only 500 copies were originally pressed and interestingly the double A sided single listed the tracks as ‘Yesterday Night + Weeping’ which seems to indicate that perhaps the band thought the former (a nice jauntly Afropop tune) was going to be the bigger hit. It was released during a time of political turmoil in late 1987 and ‘Weeping’ topped the Radio 5 charts for 2 weeks in January 1988, no mean feat, given its illegal musical reference to the banned Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika.
A number of cover versions have appeared, most notably by Vusi Mahlasela, Qkumba Zoo and the international artist Josh Groban. An interesting acoustic live version by another SA great, Robin Auld, can be found on Youtube (sound quality not the best – see link below).
‘Weeping’ propelled Bright Blue from being the good eighties South African band, a reputation that their debut album ‘Bright Blue’ had suggested at, into one of the most important South African bands of all time.
I knew a man who lived in fear
It was huge, it was angry, it was drawing near
Behind his house, a secret place
Was the shadow of the demon he could never face.
He built a wall of steel and flame
And men with guns, to keep it tame
Then standing back, he made it plain
That the nightmare would never ever rise again
But the fear and the fire and the guns remain.
It doesn’t matter now
It’s over anyhow
He tells the world that it’s sleeping
But as the night came round
I heard its lonely sound
It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping
It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping.
SAX SOLO – Basil Coetzee
And then one day the neighbours came
They were curious to know about the smoke and flame
They stood around outside the wall
But of course there was nothing to be heard at all
“My friends”, he said, “We’ve reached our goal
The threat is under firm control
As long as peace and order reign
I’ll be damned if I can see a reason to explain
Why the fear and the fire and the guns remain.”
It doesn’t matter now
It’s over anyhow
He tells the world that it’s sleeping
But as the night came round
I heard its lonely sound
It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping
It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping.
SAX
It doesn’t matter now
It’s over anyhow
He tells the world that it’s sleeping
But as the night came round
I heard its lonely sound
It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping
It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping.
Composed by: Heymann/ Fox/ Cohen/ Cohen
Recorded and released by Bright Blue in 1987. One of South Africa’s greatest songs… includes instrumental references to ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica’.
Thanks to Stephen Segerman. Video:
Robin Auld Cover:
Josh Groban & Vusi Mahlasela Cover:
Weeping cover versions available at Rhythm Music Store:
There’s a lot of them about – albums, songs, films, places, books, paintings, even golf holes. What am I talking about? Well, lists that’s what. Not only are there lots of lists out there, but there are a lot of lists that suggest (or perhaps command) you listen to, read, see or play 1,001 of the items listed. Why 1,001? Why not a straight 1,000, or if you’re feeling random 1,023 or 978. I guess it has something to do with the way ‘a thousand and one’ rolls off the tongue.
‘Why so many?’ you may well ask. My answer would be that for people who are fanatical about the things in question, 1,001 is probably not enough and this is borne out by the fact that the edition of the book 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, actually contains as an added bonus an ‘index’ style list of the 10,001 songs you must hear before you die (some of those listed there are included in my list)
A lot of lists exist as to the greatest songs of all times, most of them only giving 100 entries and invariably these lists tend to draw from the same pool of songs. By extending the list to 1,001 (or even 10,001) it opens one up to a lot more music that you had never heard before, and, if the list is any good, it will be quality music.
Over the next however long it takes me, I will be listing what I think are the 1,001 South African songs you must hear before you go deaf. Why? Because I want to. (You don’t have to read this, you know). And why ‘before you go deaf’ and not before you die? The answer to this is (a) to avoid any copyright issues and (b) we all know what makes you go deaf (no not that silly, it’s listening to your iPod too loud).
South Africa, the Rainbow Nation, has a rich diversity of people and with this comes a wide variety of styles of music. We have pop, rock, metal, kwaito, blues, Afrikana, reggae, umbaqanga, township jive, grunge, folk, zef and a host of other compartments to keep the pigeonholeologists in work for the next 1,001 years. The fact that often a song may straddle a number of different genres, brings further career opportunities to the aforementioned ologists.
I freely admit that the songs chosen to be on this list are (a) my opinion and (b) limited to what I have actually heard. I’ll be interested to hear what other people believe should be included in such a list, provided each suggestion is accompanied by a large sum of money in unmarked notes, and an even larger sum of money if any suggestions are made in an abusive manner. (Hey, I’ll have to pay a shrink to deal with people rejecting my opinions in favour of theirs).
There will be no particular order to the list as I haven’t actually finalised that yet, so I will just start with a few dead certs while pruning those 35 extra tracks that have made my 1,036 songs list so far. Another reason is I really can’t decide if David Kramer’s ‘Hak Hom Blokkies’ should be number 142 or 849, so decided to avoid tough choices altogether.
I don’t know how regularly I will update this blog, but aim to try and get a blurb about a new song up every week (I make no promises though).
