Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Sharpeville day and in seven days to come we shall remember the 30,000 man march to parliament led by a young man called Phillip Kgosana. Many in the house may ask of what relevance this is. Sacrifice, dedication and commitment. Our freedom came as a result of these attributes of the men, women who marched to change their unbearable circumstances. These attributes, including good relationships, are the guiding principles to which I have steadfastly held onto as a musician.
If I were to be asked, given a second life would I choose to be a musician? The answer would be a resounding yes, because then I would know even better how to become an even better musician. It is withpride andhumility that I stand before you to talk about this life as a musician. I seem to have added more to my CV as a music commentator lately! Martin, Tim, Peter and I were having dinner at Martin’s House and I asked why is that many a great South African musician especially white groups never seem to have the zeal to stick it out, for example Bright Blue, The Usual.etc? However I have been encouraged to learn that bands like Prime Circle and the Parlotones have been in existence for twenty five and ten years respectively.
South Africa never a country to inspire music successes because of the continuous neglect of the fundamentals of international trends in nurturing talent by record companies, promoters and many others are manifest in the industry. The proliferation of and investing in foreign product contributes to this perverse scenario.
Many a musician has either given up or migrated to other countries such as the UK or the US. These countries offer greater challenges but also tremendous opportunities. When I started as a musician I was a high school student who had a law degree in mind. It was through an appeal by the school’s headmaster for talented students to offer any performance in order to raise bursary funds for needy students put paid to my prospects of being a legal mind. Any regrets? I have always been ambivalent in my thoughts. A band called the Beaters to which I became the drummer, modelling itself on the Beatles was borne of this endeavour. Matric dances, Sunday concerts in the township halls, beautiful girls and money made from these, determined for me, a future in the music world. However apartheid laws did not make it easy though. Pass laws and labour systems which regulated the movement of the African majority diminished all the enthusiasm from many of the musicians. One night after a performance in an exclusively whites only club, in Johannesburg we were stop outside by a police patrol. The policemen, who were white and very young, inquired as to what we were doing in town at that time of the night and went on to consider us “nothing but Orang O tangs and to ..uck out of town” before they arrest us for trespass. The South African economy also, which invariably included the music industry, has always been driven by the need for the system to exclude the majority of the country from being active participants but passive observers. Why have I chosen to stay and continue to make music in South Africa therefore? The Beaters had different ideas though, our youthful zest, passion and perseverance ensured that we were not going to miss out on all the groupies and other perks the music industry offered, Lead by Selby Ntuli, an affable somewhat ambitious fellow who came from a middle class family and whose father was an educationist, the Beaters went on to tour nationally and other neighbouring countries, Yes the music industry has its treacherous paths, vagaries that would discourage the fickle. Selby who had lead with great aplomb and was loved, well respected by all and sundry died in his sleep in 1978, one of the band members decided to find a job with a glass manufacturing company, I was left with having to make a choice to either stick it out or find a job too, passion, sacrifice, dedication, commitment and perseverance dictated that I stick it out. I regrouped. Harari went on to become one of South Africa’s most successful bands, selling out major concerts and hundreds of thousands of records, within the whisker of an international breakthrough, with the song Party released as single in the U.S.
The band split, I was devastated, crushed, weakened, and momentarily insecure as I saw my whole dream deferred. However the kind of relationships we establish with others somewhat determine our destiny, A good manager, a committed record company, a pleasant media relationship an established fan base and continuously re inventing oneself by experimenting with divergent styles are characteristics that determines whether the music stays alive longer. Gallo as record company had a managing director in Peter Gallo and a staff that was committed to its roster of musicians, I am grateful for that. Of course history has been kind and generous. My song Burnout set me on a path of even greater success.
The release from prison of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, the return of compatriots from exile, ushering of a democratic South Africa presented us with renewed vigour, enthusiasm and new challenges. I continue to interact, learn from others, young and not so young on how to be forever thankful for this great gift – music. Did I hear someone ask if I was still hoping to pursue my legal studies?
