Shine On (Brightly) – Steve Kekana

Shine On (Brightly) – Steve Kekana

Steve Kekana already had about 6 albums under his belt before he made the cross over to singing in English and released ‘Don’t Stop The Music’. The album included his international hits ‘Colour Me’ and ‘Raising My Family’ and would go out under the name ‘Raising My Family’ in Europe, presumably to cash in on the popularity of the track there, especially in the Scandinavian countries.
However, if memory serves me correctly, in SA ‘Shine On’ was the first one that got the airplay and was possibly the first  introduction to this remarkable talent to many white South Africans. The track seemed to bounce onto our radios and didn’t stop bouncing the whole way through the track.
It is a synth driven pop tune which has a good dance beat over which Kekana’s falsetto vocals seem to skip along. The title of is no coincidence as the song itself shines brightly. It is uplifting both lyrically and musically with its upbeat beat and words about being ‘on the right side of somewhere’, ‘moving in the right direction’ and ‘brighter future’. The song was a real tonic. It brought the brighter side of the township sounds into the white living rooms of apartheid South Africa.
Kekana would go on to greater things with songs like ‘Raising My Family’, ‘The Bushman’ and his collaboration with Hotline, ‘Feel So Strong’, but I often come back to this track when I want to be uplifted. Kekana may have shuffled off this mortal coil, but his music still shines on.

Where to find it:
The English Album – Steve Kekana (1999), Gallo, CDRED630

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Wozani – Hotline

Wozani – Hotline

Wozani means come here and its an apt title for a song that lures you into its clutches through seductive beats, hypnotic keyboards and a voice dipped in honey and whiskey. It had been 4 years since PJ Powers and Hotline burst on to the scene with their anthemic ‘You’re So Good To Me’ and 3 years since PJ sent chills down our spines with her awesome vocals on Hotline’s cover of The Beatles’ ‘Help’.

But then in 1983 (the following year) with the release of ‘Music For Africa’, there was a change in direction for the band. No longer were they a straight rock band, they were a South African rock band. Perhaps it was their wonderful pop duet with Steve Kekana, ‘Feel So Strong’ that sent them in new directions, but when you listen to the title and opening track to their 5^th album, they had matured into this new sound and we were all comfortable with it.

‘Wozani’ has the circular rhythm of Zulu songs and also features the deep voiced Mathlathini style backing vocals repeating the title while PJ’s powerful vocals work their own magic on you. It is a song to immerse yourself in. The lyrics talk of simple times, of a man coming home to his wife and her inviting him to come and eat. The tune is not complex, neither is the subject matter which gives the song a feel good factor.  So, wozani and listen to this one.

Where to find it:
The Best Of P.J. Powers & Hotline – P.J Powers & Hotline (1991) Mike Fuller Music Records, PJCD300

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Feel So Strong – Steve Kekana & Hotline

Feel So Strong – Steve Kekana & Hotline

Sometimes when big named stars get together to record a duet the results are not that great and do not add up to the sum of the parts. Perhaps it is competing egos that result in the disappointing output, who knows. However when the local talents of PJ Powers and Hotline got together with our own Stevie Wonder, Steve Kekana, the result was not disappointing.

Written by PJ, ‘Feel So Strong’ is a song that jammed rock and township with a bit of gospel organ thrown in for good measure into 7 inches of vinyl brilliance and this is all coated in a thick layer of pop sensibility. The result is a catchy tune that rocks and you can dance to.

Despite the obvious contravention of Apartheid laws (a white woman and black man singing a song where the lyrics hint at a relationship across the colour bar – ‘I’ve never felt like this before/but being alone isn’t scary anymore’) the song got heavy rotation on the radio stations and climbed to number 6 on the Springbok Radio top 20. It was perhaps the use of phrases such as ‘I never thought I’d find a friend quite like you’ that made the censors think they were just friends.

Given Kekana’s European successes (he charted in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland) it is not too surprising that he and Hotline performed the song on the German Television music show Musikladen (see the Youtube video link below). Together they were beautiful and made beautiful music that rocked our world. Powers to the people who ‘Feel So Strong’.

Where to find it:
Various Artists – The Best of SA Pop Volume 3 (1994) GSP, CDREDD 610

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