Hometalk – Mango Groove
Hometalk – Mango Groove
Mango Groove – Hometalk
After the success of their eponymous debut album, the difficult second album loomed for Claire Johnson and her band. South African music history is littered with bands who made a great debut album, but then we never heard from them again. But this was not to be the case with Mango Groove. They produced another album of catchy dance tunes that had everyone dancing and tapping their feet to. The title track quickly told us that the Groovers were not a one album wonder and, with its sassy brassy sound, literally bounced up to the top of the Radio 702 charts.
Taking inspiration from the big bands of the 50’s, they are an unusually large group (11 people are pictured on the album cover), but they updated the 50s into the 80s and 90s with this ‘big’ sound. Claire Johnson’s vocals glide sexily over a large collection of instruments, including at different times saxophone, trumpet, xylophone, penny whistle, piano and there is even a tingling triangle. It is a smorgasbord of sounds thrown together into one giant party pot.
Where to find it:
Hometalk – Mango Groove (1990) Tusk, TUCD 14, TUCD (F) 14
Mango Groove – The Essential Mango Groove (2008), Gallo, CDREDD 694 (AN)
Video:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 
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