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Johnny Clegg

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John Shipman

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Apr 26, 1990, 1:31:22 AM4/26/90

Eric Koldinger (kol...@june.cs.washington.edu) and Andrew
J. Whitman (a...@cbnews.ATT.COM) asked for copies of my Johnny
Clegg discography. On the theory that others are interested,
here it is.
----
Message-ID: <40...@nmtsun.nmt.edu>

I found out about Juluka many years ago from a friend of
mine who moved to South Africa. I was even lucky enough to
catch their tour in 1984 at Wolfgang's in SFO---possibly the
hottest live show I've ever seen, everyone danced all night.

Their music is wildly eclectic, combining Zulu harmonies (as
in Ladysmith Black Mambazo) and dance rhythms with elements
of several different types of western popular music. Lyrics
are about half English, half Zulu. I find it very hard to
keep from moving when this music is on---a joyful,
irresistibly rhythmic music. The notes for Paul Simon's
_Graceland_ list Clegg under ``Special thanks.''

Johnny Clegg is a white South African who was studying the
Zulus for his master's degree in anthropology. He got into
the culture to the point where the French now call him ``Le
Zoulou Blanc''---the white Zulu.

He heard of a legendary Zulu guitar player named Sipho
Mchunu and tracked him down---Sipho was working as a
gardener in Jo'burg (Sipho initially thought Johnny was
crazy, walking up to him and spouting all this Zulu). They
toured as a duo for a while and got to be very popular.
With some sidemen, they formed Juluka (Zulu for ``sweat,'' a
most appropriate name). Juluka broke up in the mid-80s when
Sipho got involved in a Zulu factional dispute and had to
disappear for a while. Johnny did a solo act for a while,
which mutated into the current group, Savuka (``we have
arisen'').

These bands are immensely popular in South Africa. They
were an interracial band in an era when music was strongly
segregated; their concerts draw all races and ages, from
screaming white twelve-year-old girls to middle-aged Zulu
and Xhosa. They refuse to play segregated venues and have
had trouble with the government over their anti-apartheid
lyrics, but they were just too popular to mess with.

I don't know if this is exhaustive, but here are the discs
I know about.

On CD: Savuka's _Shadow Man_, _Third World Child_, and a
French pressing combining _Musa Ukungilandela_ and _Ubuhle
Bemvelo_. There is a new Savuka release I haven't heard.

Warner Bros. released two Juluka albums, _Scatterlings_
and _Stand your ground_. Some tracks were re-recorded
for this album, some are identical to the RSA versions.
One or both of these may be out on CD.

I also have five South African pressings: _Universal Men_
(1979), _African Litany_ (1981), _Ubuhle Bemvelo_ (1982),
_Scatterlings_ (1982), and _Work for All_ (1983). Someday
I'd like to find a copy of the _Johnny and Sipho_ album,
from their duo period.

Here are track listings for all the albums I have.

_Shadow Man_ (CD, Capitol CDP 7 90411 2): Human rainbow;
Talk to the people; Too early for the sky; I call your name;
Take my heart away; The waiting; African shadow man; Dance
across the centuries; Joey don't it; Siyayilanda.

_Third World Child_ (LP, Capitol CLT-46778): Are you ready?;
Asimbonanga (Mandela); Giyani; Gumba gumba jive; Great
heart; Missing; Ring on her finger; Third world child;
Berlin wall; Don't walk away.

_Scatterlings_ (LP, Warner 23898-1): Scatterlings of Africa;
Spirit is the Journey; Umbaqanga music [a version of
``Umfazi Omdala'' with English words]; Digging for some
words; Shake my way; Siyayilanda; Kwela Man; Simple things;
iJwanasibeki; Two humans on the run.

_Scatterlings_ (MINC 1040): Siyayilanda; Kwela Man; Simple
Things; iJwanasibeki; Two humans on the run; Scatterlings of
Africa; Spirit is the journey; Digging for some words; Shake
my way; Mad dog.

_Stand your ground_ (Warner 9 25155-1): Kilimanjaro; Look
into the mirror; December African rain; Mana lapho (stand
your ground); Work for all; Fever; Mantombana; Crazy woman;
Bullets for Bafazane; Walima'mabele.

_Work for All_ (MINC 1070): December African rain; Bullets
for Bafazane; Mana lapho; Baba nango; Walima'mabele; Work
for all; Gunship ghetto; Woza moya; Mdantsane (mud coloured
dusty blood); Mantombana.

_Ubuhle Bemvelo_ (MINC 1030): Umfazi omdala; Dumazile;
Bazothini; Zingane zami; Biza; Sonqoba; Umgane wami;
Inhliziyo yegwala; Soweto; Woza Friday. [This album has
lyrics entirely in Zulu, but it's one of my favorites.]

_African Litany_ (MINC 1020): Impi [this was their first big
hit in the RSA, a song about the battle of Isandlhwana, when
British soldiers with cannons and rifles were overrun by
Zulus with spears, as depicted in the movie ``Zulu''];
African sky blue; Jarusalema; African litany; Bull-man-free;
Giji'mbeke; Heart of the dancer; High country; Mama
shabalala; Thandiwe.

_Universal Men_ (CBS DNW 2429): Sky people; Universal men;
Thula 'mtanami; Deliwe; Unkosibomvu---the red king; Africa;
Uthando Luphelile; Old eyes; Inkunzi ayihlabi ngokumisa.
--
John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, NM/jo...@jupiter.nmt.edu
``Let's go outside and commiserate with nature.'' --Dave Farber

Nou Dadoun

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Apr 26, 1990, 7:57:58 PM4/26/90

(John Shipman) writes:

[Much stuff about Johnny Clegg, Juluka and Savuka]

I too have been a Clegg fan for a long time (although I prefer the energy
of Juluka to what I think is the over-produced sound of Savuka).

I have just something short to add, there was a BBC series produced around
1980 called Beats of the Heart, each hour long episode covering the
indigenous music of a different part of the world. The south African episode
is called Rhythms of Resistance and features Malathini and the Mahotella
Queens, Molombo and a short clip on Sipho and Johnny. The video is
now marketed by Shanachie and the soundtrack album is also called
Rhythms of Resistance (on Shanachie).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------> Nou

We are the scatterlings of Africa...

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