Monday 30 June 2014

The Tulips - Uskhandamayeza (1978)


Herewith a hefty dose of mbaqanga soul from The Tulips courtesy of electricjive follower Frank Tischer. Recorded and released in 1978 on the Ring Ring label this collection is rooted in the style made famous by the Soul Brothers and borrows a lot from dance floor sounds of disco. The album was produced by Roxy "Black Cat" Butelezi. Roxy Buthelezi was active in the late sixties with the Queue Sisters, the Black Spurs and the Ndoda Band before joining EMI Brigadiers in 1971. He later recorded as the Black Cat Trio and created his own Black Cat label. He was assaulted in his sleep in June 1981 and died as a result of injuries sustained.

Enjoy! Rapidshare / Mediafire

Tuesday 24 June 2014

The Best of NUMBER ONE [MILLION]



Yesterday Electric Jive reached a milestone of one million page views! And July 2014 marks the fifth year since Chris and Matt launched this blog... and so thank you all who have visited these pages over the last 60 months!!!

What better way to celebrate than with this elusive instrumental mbaqanga compilation: The Best of Number One Records (N 9000). Number One was developed in 1972 by EMI, South Africa as a budget label and this unique sampler disc features nearly one track from each of their first fifteen LPs (N 9001 - N 9015). The label is perhaps best known for re-issuing some of the most desirable SA LPs of the mid to late 1960s, including: Armitage Road by the Heshoo Beshoo Group, the 1964 Castle Lager Jazz Festival featuring the Malombo Jazz Men, Nomvula's Jazz Dance by the Jazz Ministers, and a number of albums by The Kings Messengers Quartet (which still leads EJ in the most page views).

Ironically (or typically) this album does not feature any artists names, even though it is labeled as a "Special Sample Record for the SABC" (South African Broadcasting Corporation). Most tracks are attributed to Tom Vuma and/or P. Manthata, but some of the albums have been featured here at EJ so we can extrapolate at least these four artists: Alfred Ndima (N 9005), The Black Eagles (N 9006). The Moon Stars (N 9009) and Abafana Basekhaya (N 9015). Of course there is the possibility that these are all the same session musicians, but if anyone is able to identify any of the other artists, please let us know.

The Best of Number One Records
Various Artists
1972
Number One (EMI)
N 9000

Tuesday 17 June 2014

The Sound of Motella (1966)


Sometimes I wonder if I run against the grain of most record collectors in having a deep attraction for particularly damaged records. The album featured today is no exception. From an absent corner that must have provided sustenance for some small creature, to the beautiful water stain that runs across the back and visually approximates the north-western coastline of Africa—the cover by most accounts would be considered severely compromised... or as it would be listed on eBay... "G" for "Good"!


The condition of the vinyl, thankfully, is not as dire. Issued in 1966 on the Motella label, this compilation is the second long playing record published by Gallo's iconic Mavuthela stable following the debut: Meet the Mahotella Queens (LMO 101). The album brings together an eclectic range of early instrumental sax and harmonica jives, save for one track—Mayoyo—featuring female vocalists (perhaps Nick Lotay can help us out with identification). What more can be said about this iconic company that has not already been covered by Nick in his excellent posts here at Electric Jive and Matsuli. Do check these out!

As with most LPs from this period, the compilation features tracks previously issued on 78 rpm. While the track listing, oddly, does not reveal the artists' names, the images of the Motella labels on the front cover do; and so I have listed the details below:

01) Mario and his Khaila Alto — Jive March Time
02) Hlathi & Mahlathini — Khonza Egagasini (MO 43)
03) Marks Mankwane & His Alto Sax — Kap Kap Jive
04) Anania Wa Mfolo — Khula Anania (MO 63)
05) Jazz Manikiniki — Raai Raai (MO 55)
06) Jazz Manikiniki — Mayoyo (MO 75)
07) Jazz Manikiniki — Welcome 1966 (MO 74)
08) D. Makhekhe & His Sax — Qhude Manikiniki (MO 81)
09) D. Makhekhe & His Sax — Ginyitshe
10) Pyjama Party Band — Fukuzela
11) David Khanyile & His Alto Sax — Tha Tha U Thu Thuke
12) Jazz Manikiniki — Meropa Morago
13) Marks and His Alto Sax — Phalaborwa
14) Mario and his Khaila Alto — Jive Smodern Jive No.4


The Sound Of Motella (Town and Country)
Various Artists
1966
Motella, LMO 102

Thursday 5 June 2014

R.I.P. Beatrice Ngcobo

Electric Jive has recently learnt of the tragic passing of one of the former members of the Mahotella Queens. We pay our respects to the late Beatrice Ngcobo today with a short post reflecting on her life and career.

Beatrice was born in Umbumbulu, Durban on 25 October 1944. Unlike so many other singers of her era, she was not born in a musical family, but she did sing in a school choir, developing a distinctly rich and smooth alto voice. Beatrice’s family was hit hard by the death of her father in 1955, and Beatrice was subsequently unable to complete her school studies because of the high costs involved. Her school had, however, helped to give Beatrice a great love for music. She started singing in her teens in and around Durban with various girl groups, and was eventually discovered by promoter Roxy Jila in the late 1960s. Beatrice was soon cast in his play Chief Mamba, performing on stage in an acting role for the first time in her career and without any prior training. She latterly recalled to Electric Jive the exciting buzz of performing for audiences every night.

Beatrice was still performing in Durban with Jila’s company when singer John Moriri and guitarist Marks Mankwane turned up at a showing of Chief Mamba in 1971. The two artists, both of them in-house musicians for Gallo Africa’s Mavuthela Music Company, had travelled from Johannesburg to Durban in search of female singers for Moriri’s then-backing group, Mthunzini Girls, which had recently split. Moriri and the Mthunzini Girls had a number of pending shows booked in Malawi, meaning replacement girls had to be found in time. Moriri and Mankwane were immediately taken with Beatrice’s performance and invited her to become the lead singer of the Mthunzini Girls. An excited Beatrice gladly accepted their offer and awaited the arrival of special transport from Durban to Johannesburg organised by Mavuthela bassist Joseph Makwela. In addition to Beatrice as lead singer and John Moriri as the male soloist, the other Mthunzini Girls were Olive Masinga, Whyte Mkhulisi, Julia Ngubane, Beauty Radebe and Phyllis Zwane.

Beatrice’s first composition as a recording artist was “Njomane”, a song that became something of an anthem for schoolchildren back home in Durban through constant airplay on Radio Zulu. Soon after recording the hit, Moriri and the Mthunzini Girls travelled to Malawi to perform. While there, Beatrice realised she was pregnant and decided to return home to her mother in Durban. She gave birth to her son Bongani in late 1971, spending a very short three months at home before rushing back to Johannesburg in the name of music, leaving Bongani in the care of her own mother. When Beatrice arrived back at the Gallo studios in March 1972, neither Moriri nor the Mthunzini Girls could be found. She discovered that when Moriri and the rest of the girls finished the Malawi tour and arrived back in Johannesburg, Mavuthela boss Rupert Bopape had refused to give them their wages, saying that he didn’t have the necessary money to pay them. Moriri and the rest of the girls resigned in protest. At the same time, Mahlathini and several of the Mahotella Queens quit in a similar dispute with Bopape over touring salaries. Bopape and Marks Mankwane decided to rebuild the Mahotella Queens and let the Mthunzini Girls name perish, simply because Mahotella was the more popular and well-known name. Beatrice found herself being recruited into the biggest female mbaqanga group of the day and was ecstatic. In 1973, she performed on stage for the first time as a Mahotella Queen when the group travelled a long distance to perform in Molepolole, Botswana. The line-up, then consisting of Hilda Tloubatla, Caroline Kapentar, Beatrice Ngcobo, Nancy Ngema, Thandi Nkosi and Thandi Radebe, performed in the local town hall as well as various other places including a chief’s kraal.

MAHOTELLA QUEENS, 1979
Clockwise from top left: Caroline Kapentar, Nomsa Njakazi,
Beatrice Ngcobo, Emily Zwane, Thandi Nkosi
Beatrice recorded and performed with the Queens throughout the 1970s and also composed a number of their hit songs. Most of her compositions were based on events that happened in her own life. She wrote “Uxoshisa Abanye” after rumours began spreading throughout Mavuthela that Ray Mkize (Abafana Baseqhudeni member and one of Mavuthela's Public Relations Officers) wanted to get Beatrice fired for no apparent reason. Lead singer Emily Zwane takes Beatrice’s song to a high plateau with her sweet soprano. Another composition, “Sengidlala Amakhehla”, told the story of Beatrice’s love affair with a much older gentleman who eventually broke her heart. Her song “Bongani Mntanami” was one very close to her heart. Beatrice would return home to Durban to care for her son Bongani as often as her bosses would allow, but while busy working in Johannesburg, her ageing mother would often complain over the phone to Beatrice about Bongani’s mischievousness and bad behaviour towards her. Beatrice decided to teach her son a lesson by writing a song for him, telling him through loving lyrics to respect his family and stop misbehaving. Although Emily Zwane sang lead on most of the Mahotella Queens recordings of the 1970s and 1980s, Beatrice was allowed to do the lead vocals on some of the hits including "Izinyembezi Zesuliwe", “Malume” and “Isidwaba”. Emily and Beatrice share the lead vocal duties on a track they wrote together - "Kobanini Ngihlupheka".

BEATRICE as seen in Jeremy Marre's
Rhythm of Resistance
Beatrice was still a prominent member of the Mahotella Queens line-up when English filmmakers visited South Africa hoping to film the group: first was Jeremy Marre in 1978, who filmed a Mahotella Queens stage performance for his documentary on black South African music, Rhythm of Resistance; and then a BBC team who were making a documentary about the music and influences of Hugh Masekela in 1984. In the latter documentary – broadcast only once on BBC2 in May 1985 – the Mahotella Queens (by now consisting only of Emily Zwane, Caroline Kapentar and Beatrice Ngcobo) performed their recent smash hit single “O Boshako” accompanied by accordionist Mzwandile David.

MAHOTELLA QUEENS performing
"O Boshako" in 1984
L to r: Emily Zwane, Caroline Kapentar,
Beatrice Ngcobo
Beatrice stuck with the Mahotella Queens even through a fallow period during the mid-1980s which saw the group leave the Gallo organisation for the first time in their career. A number of messy behind-the-scenes incidents led to Marks Mankwane, the producer of the Queens, resigning from Gallo and taking the group with him to a new independent label. The venture lasted for almost a year until they once again uprooted and moved over to local EMI subsidiary CCP. During this era, the popularity of the Queens declined significantly and Beatrice detected Marks Mankwane’s disillusionment with (and eventual resentment of) the group that had once sold out whole stadiums.

A number of musical projects during the early 1980s had increased international awareness of South African music. Some of these included Rhythm of Resistance, Malcolm McLaren’s Duck Rock, Duck Food, The Indestructible Beat of Soweto and Paul Simon’s Graceland. Marks Mankwane was persuaded by West Nkosi to rejoin Gallo and reunite Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens for overseas performances. Mankwane duly agreed and began conducting rehearsals between Mahlathini and three of the original Mahotella Queens (Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Shawe and Mildred Mangxola), neglecting to inform Beatrice, Emily and Caroline, who were still recording and performing under the Mahotella Queens name. Beatrice and her bandmates found out only after spotting Hilda’s crew in another rehearsal room and were hurt by Mankwane’s deception. While Mankwane now busied himself with preparations for the reunited Mahotella line-up to visit the US and Europe, Beatrice and her bandmates were left dealing with the stigma of being unceremoniously fired and deprived of the opportunity to perform for audiences abroad.

During the 1990s, Beatrice and some of the former Mahotella Queens regrouped to perform under the same name for South African audiences, appearing at several local traditional music festivals and community halls. In order to avoid misunderstandings, they eventually decided to make a distinction between their group and the one touring the world with Mahlathini, tweaking their group name slightly to become X-Mahotella Queens (the ‘X’ obviously referring to ‘ex-’, as in ‘former’).


ABOVE: A snippet from a new recording by the X-Mahotella Queens, "Badla Inqondo"

X-MAHOTELLA QUEENS in 2011
L to r: Emily Zwane, Beatrice Ngcobo,
Thandi Nkosi, Caroline Kapentar
In 2011, a grouping of now-forgotten stars from mbaqanga’s past – including X-Mahotella Queens – united to form a non-governmental organisation called Omama Besxaxa Foundation. The foundation has held a number of successful shows and workshops in township halls across Johannesburg over the last three years, most recently holding an all-day show at San Kopano Hall in Alexandra in March 2014. The show featured a galaxy of stars including X-Mahotella Queens, Izintombi Zesimanjemanje, Izingane Zoma, John Moriri and the Manzini Girls, Isigqi and others. The show had been in the pipeline for months and Beatrice was looking forward to performing for audiences after so long. X-Mahotella Queens lead singer Emily Zwane had recently retired from performing, leaving Beatrice to step into the spotlight as leader for the first time in her career.

Tragically, Beatrice was knocked down and killed while visiting family in Durban in February 2014.

We at Electric Jive mourn the loss of a very special lady but give thanks that we were able to meet her and interview her at length about her wonderful career before her sudden passing. Life had dealt Beatrice some hard blows, including the sudden and untimely deaths of two of her four children and having to cope with extremely poor living conditions in her old age. But this was a woman who was blessed with enough strength to keep fighting in spite of the many obstacles in her way. Beatrice confirmed to us that she was happy and satisfied about the work she had done over four decades immersed in music, hoping that her life story would be valued in particular by the younger generation. We hope our humble tribute has done her proud.

Rest in peace, mam' Beatrice!

01) UXOSHISA ABANYE
02) DEMAZANA
03) ISIDWABA
04) MALUME
05) NGOTHINI NA?
06) BONGANI MNTANAMI
07) KETLARENG
08) SENGIDLALA AMAKHEHLA
09) KOBANINI NGIHLUPHEKA
10) IZINYEMBEZI ZESULIWE

My thanks to Matt for sharing two of the above songs, and a special acknowledgement to Norton Ramavhoya for giving so much of his time and efforts towards our mission - without his hard work, a tribute like this would simply not have been possible to compose. Thank you Norton!

Monday 2 June 2014

Sax Jive Special - Vol. 2

We're keeping this instrumental theme going for just a little bit longer here on Electric Jive. Why? Well, why not?! Sax jive happens to be one of the most peppy and sweet styles of instrumental dance music that has ever existed - and what better way of celebrating the genre than sharing with our readers another bumper collection of the very best sax jives? Following on from our last delve into the archives, we present to you Sax Jive Special - Vol. 2.

The Makgona Tsohle Band were the first guys on the scene in the 1960s to take the swing-style instrumental jive and reshape it into the more danceable, more electric and elastic mbaqanga beat which soared to amazing heights. If just one listen to real gems like "Umzinto", "Cowboy" or "Sithunyiwe Thokozile" doesn't at the very least get your foot tapping, then there's something truly wrong with your musical tastes. Under various recording pseudonyms, the men behind the Makgona Tsohle Band created the biggest instrumental hits of the day. That team - Marks Mankwane on lead guitar, Vivian Ngubane on rhythm guitar, Joseph Makwela on bass, Lucky Monama on drums and West Nkosi leading on alto saxophone - was the gold standard, the benchmark against which all other mbaqanga bands were measured.

The Makgona Tsohle Band didn't just back West - they were the Mavuthela house band who generally backed every one of the stable's saxophone players and vocal jive groups. Lemmy 'Special' Mabaso shot to fame as the child pennywhistler of the late 1950s - but by the 1960s, with kwela out and mbaqanga in, he turned to the alto sax and joined forces with Makgona Tsohle for a series of recordings that included "Sipho Special". You can clearly hear everyone in the studio feeding off each other's high spirits on this bouncy number.

Spokes Mashiyane, the man who brought sax jive to prominence, also joined forces with Mavuthela during the 1960s. It might be true to say that the great Mashiyane became sidelined and unappreciated as the style developed further and further into the more hard and bouncy mbaqanga, with the spotlight focusing instead on fresh young talent like West Nkosi, David Thekwane, Reggie Msomi, Boy Masaka and others. Mashiyane did continue to record sporadically though and did create some great sax jives with the Makgona Tsohle Band, such as "Kgwale". "Sediba" is also an enjoyable tune featuring Mashiyane on top form. The real star here though is Vivian Ngubane who bends the melody fantastically with his rhythm guitar. Ngubane, for some rather puzzling reason, seems to be generally forgotten compared to those he worked with such as Marks Mankwane and Joseph Makwela. This is all the more strange because Ngubane was nothing less than a trendsetter. His rhythm guitar, sandwiched between Mankwane's lead guitar and Makwela's bass, became the signature elastic bedrock of the music. Until Ngubane joined the Makgona Tsohle Band late in 1964, the rhythm guitar line was still being filled by an acoustic guitar player who strummed nothing more than simple chords. Ngubane's trademark sound opens "Umzinto", a good example of the staple instrumental mbaqanga that Makgona Tsohle pumped out of the Gallo studio every week.

Sipho Bhengu, before joining the famous Mango Groove and lending them his wonderful talents, was a supreme sax jive star of the 1970s. His "Welani Imifula" opens with a boisterous spoken word from Mavuthela's boss Rupert Bopape and then gives way to the musical backing of the Jets and Sipho's great sax rhythms. Another sax jive star was Selby Mmutung - better known to you and me as Bra Sello. Sello made his name playing with Abafana Bentuthuko and later joined Mavuthela, working with the late genius Mzwandile David to produce sax-accordion jives under the name Mathwalimbuzi. "Umsuzo" rather bizarrely refers to someone breaking wind and Sello certainly creates the right impression during the opening of the tune. Reggie Msomi was also a talented somebody. During the 1960s, Msomi and his Hollywood Jazz Band (usually comprising Reggie on sax backed by the talented Makgona Tsohle Band!) produced some rather adventurous instrumental hits - taking sax jive and mixing it with various other styles such as soul, ska or reggae. "Chumba" is a great tune with some hints of Congo rumba. Aaron Jack Lerole also turned and twisted sax jive and took it to newer heights. "Space Age" is simply amazing - just listen and hear for yourself.

The marvellous Zwino Zwino Boys, led by bass guitarist James Mukwevho, bring our compilation to a fitting close with the excellent "Thala Thala". This has to be one of my favourite sax jives of all time. Sam Jagome effortlessly kicks everything off with a few calm strums of his electric lead guitar. The rest of the band joins in and this combined force works up some truly magical rhythms. The late Sam has to be one of the forgotten geniuses of mbaqanga music. He followed Marks Mankwane's unique innovations and ended up creating a signature style all of his own. Sam's beautiful lead guitar strains could be heard not only in the Zwino Zwino Boys but also behind the spirited vocals of Izintombi Zomoya.

Our thanks to Laurent Dalmasso for contributing two wonderful tracks to this compilation from the original 78 rpm discs - "Sediba" and "Sipho Special". All you need to do now is download this mix and get yourself ready for some serious jiving until you drop.

ENJOY!

SAX JIVE SPECIAL - VOL. 2

01) PAKU PAKU - MAKHOLOKHOLO (1965)
02) SEDIBA - SPOKES AND HIS GOLDEN SAX (1966)
03) UMZINTO - LUCKY MONAMA AND HIS PARTNERS (1968)
04) CHUMBA - REGGIE MSOMI AND HIS HOLLYWOOD JAZZ BAND (1969)
05) SIPHO SPECIAL - LEMMY MABASO AND HIS SAX (1965)
06) JIVE SMODERN JIVE - MAKHOLOKHOLO (1965)
07) COWBOY - WEST NKOSI AND HIS SAX (1967)
08) TADIMA TADIMA - ZWINO ZWINO BOYS (1971)
09) WELANI IMIFULA - SIPHO BHENGU AND HIS JETS (1973)
10) MANYANE JIVE PART TWO - POPS AND SONS (1976)
11) PULL MAN NO. 2 - MARKS AND THE SHALUZA BOYS (1976)
12) UMSUZO - MATHWALIMBUZI (1976)
13) BATHATHE GEORGE - ABAKHWENYANA (1973)
14) KIT BAG - MAMBAZA NABAFANA BOMSHOSHOLOZO (1971)
15) FOUR MABONE - WEST NKOSI NABASHOKOBEZI (1973)
16) AMANZI AMANCANE NO. 5 - LUCKY MONAMA AND HIS PARTNERS (1971)
17) SITHUNYIWE THOKOZILE - MAKGOLOKGOLO (1967)
18) KGWALE - SPOKES AND HIS GOLDEN SAX (1967)
19) SPACE AGE - BIG VOICE JACK (1971)
20) THALA THALA - ZWINO ZWINO BOYS (1971)