Don’t Play It No More – Don Stanton
Don’t Play It No More – Don Stanton
The Best Of SA Pop Vol
Don Stanton was born in Cape Town and was in a group called the Comrades. In 1969 he moved up to Johannesburg and toured with the African Follies show. After a car accident in 1971 he recorded some solo material which included the track ‘Don’t Play It No More’. The song made it on to the Springbok Radio charts, spending four weeks there and peaking at number 17.
According to the comments on the Youtube video of this song, he eventually moved to Portugal where he passed away sometime around 1994. There are 8 singles and 2 albums listed in his discography in Garth Chilvers & Tom Jasiukowics book ‘History Of Contemporary Music Of South Africa’ and they add that he managed the Casino nightclub in Durban for a while. And that is about it for the information available on Don.
Listening to ‘Don’t Play It No More’ you get the impression of someone who was passionate in a relaxed kind of way. The song is a lilting, slightly reggae-ish one that bounces along merrily like a stroll on a white sandy beach with the wind blowing gently. But on top of this you get Don’s yearning vocals begging you not to play ‘that song’ anymore. What that song is, we don’t know, but we do know it brings back painful memories to the singer.
Fortunately for Don, when it came to this song, the DJs ignored the instructions on the disc and played it all the way into our charts which ultimately had enough effect to be included in The Best Of SA Pop series.
Where to find it:
Various Artists – The Best of SA Pop Volume 1 (1994) GMP, CDGMPD 40485 (CD)
Video:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 