Ek Is ‘n Gé – Long John Berks (Why is this not at number 702?)
Ek Is ‘n Gé – Long John Berks
This is one you just gotta hear. Why? Well it’s hard to say. It’s not a particularly tuneful song, Berksie’s not got the greatest voice, and well, it does have a bit of a cringe factor. But like ‘Ag Pleez Deddy’ it is decidedly proudly South African, flaunting our accent and slang with great ‘chutzpah’ (I can use that word in a blog now as I just
leant how it is spelt). Unlike ‘Ag Pleez…’ Long John Berks’ song is a little bit harder edge from the cartoon biker image on the single sleeve to the rougher side of our colourful and varied slang.
John Berks, started out public life as a DJ on LM Radio and went on to work on Swazi Music Radio, Springbok Radio, Capital Radio 604 Transkei and Radio 5 before moving to 702 where he probably enjoyed his greatest success.
Penned by John Edmond and released in 1968, ‘Ek Is ‘N Ge’ conjures up life in South Africa at the times with words like Jukkel Stikkel, chaff and Cherie and phrases like ‘gooiing skyfies to my goose’ although I am not quite sure what throwing chips at avian pond life has to do with the price of eggs. Anyway, have a listen to this and be taken back to a time when we did speak funny.
Where to find it:
Singles bins
Lyrics:
I wear a leather lummie and it’s shiny and black
With some psychedelic paint that I gooied across the back
My bebops in their jammies see me jolling along
As I burn it on my iron and I sing a lekker song
Chorus
Jikkel Stikkel lekker lekker leks
Lekker lekker leks, lekker lekker leks
Jikkel Stikkel is all that I can say
Lekker lekker leks ek is bly ek is ‘n gé
I chaff a lekker cherrie and we’re gonna get cased
She can sing and jawl a geet and she’s classie in her taste
I’m gonna tune my chinas that they’d better stay loose
If they try to make a scene gooiing skyfies to my goose
So listen all my gabbas to the words that I say
Here is what you have to do if you want to be a gé
You’ll soon become a kingpin and you’ll never go wrong
If you cultivate your hair and you grow your sidies long
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
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.
