Disco Soul Jive - Some More

In anticipation of year-end feel-good times, a selection of singles to warm you up. This offering continues the great groove set by Siemon and Nick in their very popular DiscoSoulJive and Disco Soul postings.

As a bonus, a different-style epilogue  of four tracks that Kabasa released as singles from their 1980 debut album "Kabasa". More on Kabasa's debut album at FlatInternational here. You can find Kabasa's second album here.

Looking at the EJ schedule two days ago I realised (a little belatedly) that my traditional Durban Office Party mix would have to be quickly brewed and appear in this post, or else the next slot for it might only be January. So, following a  rummage in my crates for singles I had not yet listened to, a pleasant evening was spent listening to and digitising. The result is a selection of tracks that stood out for me  - mixed and separated.

South Africa's blend of big-band disco-soul-jive produced some real crackers between 1975 and 1980 - tight vocals, banks of horns, funky key-boards, all held together by catchy, energetic and rubbery base-lines and rhythm guitars.

While The Movers played a strong genre-defining role for the South African scene, there was no shortage of very competent bands - some of them put together and given a name for a recording session only. The pool of musos came from mbaqanga, soul, rock and jazz to take the disco craze and make it their own.
The core of musicians were very often not credited as they would jump across labels and producers, being paid a cash fee per recording.

I had never heard of "The Suns of Thunder" before, and I am still not yet sure if they are the same band as the "Sons of Thunder" also featured. I was thrilled to find a really strong single by "The Sakie Special Band". Among these is a second mention for the Movie Movies  who recorded in Durban. There was even 'Shangaan Disco' with the Matanato Brothers and Gaza Queens' giving "Sporo Jive" its own twist.

All said and done - thanks for stopping by at Electric Jive this year. Despite a slow-down in post frequency, we continue to build on an archive of out-of-print and otherwise "lost" sounds.

Happy holidays!

Disco Soul Jive Some More

1. The Sakie Special Band:  Let Yourself - Atlantic ATS815 (1979)

2. The Suns of Thunder: Soweto Sporo -  Flash HS748 (1979)
3. The Movers: Onthekele Beer-  Disco Music Beat DMB 942 (1981)
4. The Sakie Special Band: Groovy Cats - Atlantic ATS815 (1979)
5. Lynette and The Soul Brothers: Groovy Time - Score SCO 160 (undated)
6. The Meritones: Soul Bump -  Lita Records LA 46 (undated)
7. Lynette and The Soul Brothers: Come On Baby - Score SCO 160 (undated)
8. Sons Of Thunder: Uzozizwela - Fire RE126 (1978)
9. Brand New Soul: Bumsie-Boogie -  Dice Dic 636 (undated)
10. Walter and The Beggers: Disco Jive - Disco Soul DCO 15 (1978)
11. Movie Movies: Inkosi Kala - C&G Records CAB504 (1980)

12. Walter and The Beggers: Sweet Miriam - Disco Soul DCO 15 (1978)
13. Movie Movies: Sene Lisiwe -  C&G Records CAB504 (1980)
14. Matanato Brothers & Gaza Queens: Sporo Jive - Motella MO 732 (1981)
15. Kabasa: Kabasa - Atlantic ATS 830 (1980)
16. Kabasa:  Burning Splinters - Atlantic ATS 830 (1980)
17. Kabasa:  Happy Together - Atlantic ATS 837 (1980)
18. Kabasa:  Uzozibona - Atlantic ATS 837 (1980)

Mixed-tape version download 

Separated tracks version download 

Everybody Say Yeh - Walter and The Beggers (1978)

“Like thunder on a bright and sunny day – that’s the only way you can describe the invasion of Walter and The Beggers into the record scene. And like lightning, they are already sweeping the boards. And like a brook, they are destined to go on … and on!”

The words of then-showbiz editor of the Sunday Post, Elliot Makhaya, grace the back cover of Everybody Say Yeh, the first LP from the soon-to-be hit group Walter and The Beggers. Produced by Marks Mankwane, the album was released on the Disco Soul label in 1978.

Walter Dlamini, 1978

Walter Dlamini was a singer whose repertoire, the veteran DJ Max Mojapelo suggests, was somewhere in between Jacob “Mpharanyana” Radebe and The Movers’ Philip Malela. Walter’s soulful singing oozes charm and sensitivity, and it glides across the melodies of the other musicians with incredible ease. A native of Wattville, a township close to the city of Benoni, Walter had joined the music industry somewhere in the mid-1970s and began recording material for the Fire label. His music formed a part of the quiet move from what might be termed “traditional mbaqanga” to the more organ-led, American soul-infused sound of the late 1970s. It was a sound that had its roots within mbaqanga music, but one that closely aligned itself more with Afro wigs, flares and platform shoes than skins and tribal costume. When Walter came to Gallo-Mavuthela in 1978, the sound was being replicated there already by producers West Nkosi and Marks Mankwane and groomed to replace the traditional mbaqanga sound that the company itself had popularised more than a decade previously.

Keen guitarist Marks Mankwane had began his career in the late 1950s as part of the session team at Troubadour Records. He had already started to perfect a brand new style of guitar playing, shifting the familiar ‘ukupika’ sound of maskanda onto the electric guitar and fusing it with a “pop music” twist. However, it was not until he joined Gallo-Mavuthela in 1964 that he was allowed to exploit it to the full extent. He was the bedrock of the company’s new popular session team the Makgona Tsohle Band, and his guitar playing became a trademark of the sound of Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens. In 1972, executive head Rupert Bopape promoted West Nkosi – one of the company’s big sax jive stars and another key member of Makgona Tsohle – to producer. Nkosi’s fresh and varied roster of stars added greatly to his prestige at Gallo. Mankwane, who by now had become the main arranger of the Queens, was promoted to producer in 1976 and (like Nkosi) continued to play on numerous recording sessions at the same time. In 1977 Bopape suffered a mild heart attack and decided to step down as head of Mavuthela. Makgona Tsohle, who had until now backed the company’s top mbaqanga groups, was disbanded so that the members could jointly fulfill the role Bopape had left. It was Nkosi who beat the others to the position of executive head, and immediately fell out with friend Mankwane. Nkosi considered the Queens to be an act that was long past its sell-by date, even though their popularity was still very strong. Mankwane continued to produce the group and all but stopped speaking to Nkosi for some years.

By the point, the preferred sound of the townships was the soul-infused mbaqanga as mentioned above. Mankwane decided to form a new backing team for his own artists (including the Queens) and gave it a distinct name – The Beggers. The pool of musicians that comprised The Beggers included: himself (guitar/producer), Mike Nyembe (guitar), Marubini Jagome (guitar), Mzwandile David (bass/organ), Thamie Xongwana (organ), Mike Stoffel (drums) and Elias Lerole (saxophone). The Beggers were also aided by composer-vocalist Irene Mawela, as well as Rupert Bopape who now focused his attentions on songwriting and arranging. When Walter Dlamini arrived at the company, it was at the right time. Mankwane immediately signed him up and Elias Lerole penned two English numbers – “Everybody Say Yeh” and “I Told You” – for Walter to sing, backed by a trio of girls (Thandi Radebe, Emily Zwane and Irene Mawela) and the instrumentation of The Beggers. This particular 45-rpm became an unexpected smash hit, and before long, Walter and The Beggers was ruling the local music scene with their wonderful brand of “disco jive”. The songs were simple tunes that called upon the usual things – love, relationships and partying. Notably, all the material recorded by the group was in English, perhaps intentionally targeting the post-1976 youth audience who so dogmatically rejected the tribal nature and apparent political subtext of traditional mbaqanga music. What is quite ironic is that the songs produced by groups like this one are merely English-language mbaqanga songs - the same topics are explored, the same lyrics are sung (albeit in a language other than Zulu or Sotho). Although the English lyrics may sound awkward, they will give you an idea of what the musical intention was.

Walter and The Beggers continued to be successful and popular for three or more years, until the singers fell apart and brought an abrupt end to the act. Walter himself was recruited under West Nkosi’s wing, recording as part of a new group called Kataki. Nkosi and Mankwane were reunited when the Makgona Tsohle Band came back together for their own television show Mathaka. The Beggers continued to back Mankwane’s own artists until he left Gallo-Mavuthela in late 1984, when the Mathaka series fell through. He set up his own eponymous independent label, Mankwane, which saw Walter return to his former producer in a new disco-funk male trio entitled Wataja (Walter was the "wa" of the group name; Thapelo Khomo and Jack Tsatsimpe were the other two). Walter later left the music business, returning only to make a one-off album in 1992, once again under Nkosi’s production. And, as fate would have it, Nkosi and Mankwane reunited once more in 1987, with a rejuvenated Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens spreading their music round the globe.

Everybody Say Yeh provides an insight into what was a very popular sound of its day... and as with everything we share, it helps to contribute to the vast and growing understanding of South African music of the past. Can you dig it? Enjoy!

EVERYBODY SAY YEH (Walter and The Beggers)

Disco Soul BL 156

1978

1. EVERYBODY SAY YEH

2. I LOVE YOU BABY

3. HAPPY DAY

4. DON’T MISS MY LOVE

5. YOU’VE BEEN GONE

6. YOU’LL NEVER KNOW

7. LET’S GO TO THE DISCO

8. JUDY

9. I MUST GO HOME

10. DISCO JIVE

11. SWEET MIRIAM

12. I TOLD YOU

RS / MF