When white politicians started sensing “trouble” (as in blacks having concerts), they passed a series of laws that kept blacks from playing shows in concert halls in white Johannesburg. This meant that any black musician had to play shows in the Soweto Township, a poor and segregated neighborhood next to the city’s mining district.Various Artists: Next Stop…Soweto Vol. 2: Soultown. R&B, Funk & Psych Sounds from the Townships, 1969-1976 (Strut, 5/11/10)
Is there anything that apartheid didn’t fuck up? The disgusting policy of extreme segregation seeped through every aspect of South African life, even the music scene.
When white politicians started sensing “trouble” (as in blacks having concerts), they passed a series of laws that kept blacks from playing shows in concert halls in white Johannesburg. This meant that any black musician had to play shows in the Soweto Township, a poor and segregated neighborhood next to the city’s mining district.
As the album begins, you can hear the role that American soul and early psychedelic records played in the musical development of the Soweto style. I would have killed to be a fly on the wall during the Soweto record-exchange parties / jam sessions where most of these songs were born.
Many of the songs feature cascading organs that accent the schizophrenic mumbles of guitars, much in the way of The Zombies but with a sturdy polyrhythmic backbone. But it’s not a straight rip of the British and American strains; there’s an urgency present that white potheads didn’t have.
Psychedelic music of the West often was introspective, probing the depths of the mind using a plethora of indulgent guitar solos and piles of distortion. But the Soweto psychedelia was a communal experience. They were reflecting the confusion and disillusionment of the nation as a whole, acting as a loudspeaker to the mind of the people.
The brutality of apartheid led to an aggressive undertone in the music, despite the presence of funky bass lines and danceable rhythms. You can hear the frustration come to a boiling point during the chorus of “Intandane Pt. 1” by Phillip Malela & The Movers, when the entire band cries out “intandane” (Zulu for “orphan”) over a heated argument between the organ and guitar.
It’s hard not to see this as a prelude to the Soweto Uprising of 1976, where a group of students protested the mandate that required schools to teach in Afrikaans (the Dutch spoken by white South Africans) that lead to fatal shootings and the first international condemnations of apartheid.
Yet some tracks are decidedly optimistic. One of the standout tracks, “Come with Me” by The Heroes, evokes the beauty of Lake Malawi and the parties in Kinshasa over the most catchy tune on the disk. It feels like a prayer for African unity at a time when the Western world was desperately trying to hold onto its last colonial bastions by stripping Africans of their identity and replacing it with tribal registration cards.
All of these songs are executed with a confidence that can’t be rivaled by the music that influenced it. It doesn’t matter that the guitar on The Heroes’ “Funky Message” is out of tune; the guitarist covers it up by just playing the shit out of his instrument. The confidence comes through in the organ solos that pop up every couple of minutes in most of the songs, the players knowing that their band will keep up with their serpentine riffs.
The musicianship present on these recordings is astounding, obtaining the same quality on one or two takes that might take Pink Floyd months of time in lavish studios. I would challenge anyone to find a better example of early psychedelic jams than Electric Six’s instrumental slow groove “Lovey-Wami.”
It’s sad to know that it would still be a good 25 years before apartheid ended. It’s even sadder to know that there is still racial tension and violence in South Africa, now geared towards migrant workers from Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
But perhaps with this record, we can be proud as a global community to know that we have come a long way in the right direction. The music is a testament to the triumph of the Soweto spirit.
Track list:
1. J.K. Mayengar & The Singwedzi Sisters: “Khubani”
2. Mahotella Queens: “Wozani Mahipi”
3. The Heroes: “Come With Me”
4. The Monks: “Blockhead”
5. Bra Sello & His Band: “Soul Time Nzimande Go”
6. The Toreadors: “Gwinyitshe”
7. The Heroes: “Funky Message”
8. The Klooks: “Nkuli’s Shuffle”
9. The Soul Prophets: “Soul Imbaq”
10. Philip Malela: “Intandane (Part 1)”
11. Bazali Bam: “Bazali Bam”
12. Mgababa Queens: “Akulalwa Soweto”
13. Down Tones: “Short Man’s Soul”
14. The S.A. Move: “Skophom”
15. Heshoo Beshoo: “Wait and See”
16. Philip Malela: “Tiba Kamo”
17. The Grasshoppers: “I Am There”
18. Electric Six: “Lovey-Wami”
19. The Anchors: “Last Time”
20. Flaming Souls: “Mosquito”
21. Soul Throbs: “Little Girl”
22. Gibson Kente: “Saduva”
– Arthur Pascale
World in Stereo is a biweekly column that examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.