Tom Hark – Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes

Tom Hark – Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes

Tom Hark - Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes (image from 78RPM Collectors' Community)

Perhaps the most famous kwela song to emanate from South Africa, ‘Tom Hark’ is a bouncy, joyous, pennywhistle driven tune that peaked at Number 2 in the UK charts on 24 May 1958 and stayed there for 4 weeks, being kept off the top spot by Connie Francis’ ‘Who’s Sorry Now’.

The leader of the band wasn’t Elias, it was Aaron “Big Voice” Jack Lerole a leading kwela artists of the time. The word ‘kwela’ comes from the Zulu and means get up. ‘Kwela-kwela’ was township slang for a police van and when you listen to ‘Tom Hark’ before the music starts, you hear someone saying, ‘hier kom die kwela-kwela’ and some think that this was how kwela music got its name.

Such was the appeal of this simple ditty that it has been covered by various artists including Ted Heath, Georgie Fame and The Piranhas in the UK and even gained popularity in the West Indies where Millie Small (of My Boy Lollipop fame) recorded a version with lyrics and a group called the Dynamites had a version that went under the titles of ‘John Public’. In South Africa it’s been covered by Mango Groove (in 2000) and The Zig Zags (in 2010, as Footie Footie). It is also a popular tune for football chants in England.

‘Tom Hark’ does seem to live in the shadow of Solomon Linda’s ‘Mbube’ which was used in the myriad of versions of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, but it is an instantly recognisable tune which has been as accepted by the world as ‘Mbube’ was.

Where to find it:

Cafe Africa – Various Artists,  (2010) Not Now Records, NOT2CD376

Video:

Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes:

The Piranhas:

Millie Small:

Georgie Fame:

Island Boy – Mango Groove

Island Boy – Mango Groove (No, not Mandela)

The Best of Mango Groove

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, Mango Groove became one of the biggest bands in the country, finding that perfect blend of western pop and indigenous kwela and jazz. Granted, they did not have the political edge that Bright Blue and Johnny Clegg had, but hey, does it always have to be about politics?

Taken from Mango Groove’s second album ‘Hometalk’ released in 1990, Island Boy is a jaunty, Caribbean tinged tune replete with a brassy horn section and classical strings. It bounces along at a nice pace, with the sassy vocals of Claire Johnston and the sing a long ‘a-woo-a-oh’ chorus, getting you tapping your feet and singing along.

‘Hometalk’ carried on from where the debut album ‘Mango Groove’ left off and, with tracks like ‘Island Boy’, it ensured the band became a firm favourite for many.

Where to find it:

Hometalk – Mango Groove (1990) Tusk, TUCD 14, TUCD (F) 14
The Best Of Mango Groove (2000) Gallo, CDRED 667
The Essential Mango Groove (2008), Gallo, CDREDD 694 (AN)

Video: