Blue Water – Julian Laxton Band

Blue Water – Julian Laxton Band

Blue Water – Julian Laxton Band

Julian Laxton is a name synonymous with great South African music. He was in the folk group Mel, Mel & Julian, he blasted us in Freedom’s Children and fooled around and fell into Hawk. Behind the desk he produced Suck, Otis Waygood, Stingray and Rabbitt. And in between all this, he found a bit of time to form his own band – The Julian Laxton Band. Under this guise, he garnered 3 top 20 hits, ‘Blue Water’ being the middle and most successful one, reaching number 7 on the Springbok Charts.

One might be forgiven for thinking you are listening to ‘The Seagull’s Name Was Nelson’ as the song starts with seaside noises – gulls crying and surf gently lapping the shore. But you are soon told that Julian had (despite there being a line in the song that goes “take me back, take me back”) not reverted to his folk days, as a funky guitar and thudding drum arrive and you quickly tumble into Eugene Havenga’s high pitched vocals. The plea of “take me back” is supplemented by “to Blue Water”. By this time you are out in the waves, surfing the funky rhythms of the song, scaling the crests of the vocals and ultimately, gently riding the song back to shore, feeling like you’ve just conquered the big one. It is no surprise that the song was a success. It is loud, proud and you can dance to it.

Where to find it:
Various Artists – The Best of SA Pop Volume 2 (1994) GMP, CDGMPD 40486 (CD)

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