Mama Tembu’s Wedding – Ipi ‘N Tombia
Mama Tembu’s Wedding – Ipi ‘N Tombia
The Warrior – Ipi N’ Tombia
Back in the early 1970’s Bertha Egnos and her daughter Gail Lakier wrote a musical called ‘The Warrior’ which drew heavily on the joyous township music of the time. Margaret Singana took on the lead female vocals and the production garnered worldwide acclaim. When the music was committed to vinyl, Billy Forrest and Lofty Shulz did the production.
Ipi ‘N Tombia translates as ‘where are the girls’. The answer is that they are centre stage as Margaret Singana belts out the joyous wedding celebration song ‘Mama Tembu’s Wedding’. Miriam Makeba had popularised the Xhosa click in her song ‘Qongqothwane (aka The Click Song), and Ipi ‘N Tombia took it a step further by making the clicks part of the rhythm section of the song.
The song peaked at number 6 on the Springbok Top 20 early in 1975 and spent a total of 17 weeks on the chart and is still popular today, being used in school plays well into the 2000’s. And the kids seem to love dancing to it as much these days as we did back in the 70’s.
Where to find it:
The Warrior – Ipi ‘N Tombia, Gallo, (2001), CDRED 676
Lady Africa – Margaret Singana, Gallo (1996), CDRED603
Video:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 
You can hear the whole of Ipi Ntombi here:
and it is freaking awesome from beginning to end!