#497 Various Artists, 'The Indestructible Beat of Soweto' (1985)
Previously #388
I distinctly remember this album from the last list for a couple of reasons; one – I found it unusual that a compilation of traditional South African music would make it to the list and two – I listened to it the day I ran 10km for the first time. The pain of that run counterbalanced by the joy of this record. As mentioned previously, I only started reviewing last time from #300 onwards and so I never gave this another thought.
It’s appeared again and it’s piqued my interest again. Why is a record filled with Mbaqanga, maskanda, mqashiyo & isicathamiya on the list? Music that I grew up listening to. Music I would subsequently study at uni and be heavily exposed to in my formative years working in CD retail in South Africa. This time, forcing myself to think about the music thanks to the reviews, and not recovering from a run, a few things have become blatantly clear to me. I did a bit of research and my suspicions were confirmed. The album was commercially released in 1985 but it consists of recordings made between 1981 and 1984; songs that had been doing the rounds on bootleg cassettes. 1985 was one year before another seminal album. Also, the closing track on this compilation features international megastars, Ladysmith Black Mamzbazo. But wait a second… they weren’t international megastars in 1985 and would have been relatively unknown outside of South Africa.
1985 was one of the worst years of Apartheid. A State Of Emergency was declared due to the riots in the townships. The ANC aimed to make the townships ungovernable (AKA People’s Power). Apartheid had been official policy for 37 years and Black South Africans had had enough. There was a lot of violence and police brutality during this time. Media was censored and so were Black musicians.
Two ex-pats, conceived of releasing the music that had been doing the rounds as a compilation on British label, Earthworks. Meanwhile, acclaimed international musician, Paul Simon was reeling after the collapse of two major relationships in his life; Art Garfunkel and wife, Carrie Fisher. His 1983 album, ‘Hearts and Bones’ was a commercial failure and he was looking for inspiration. He found this compilation and became obsessed by it. He travelled to Johannesburg, landed up finding the artist that closed the compilation, and well, the rest is history, as they say. Ladysmith Black Mambazo became the major centrepiece of Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ (released 1986). Two of the biggest hits on the record, ‘Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes’ and ‘You Can Call Me Al’ featured LBM. The record also featured a cast of some of the most talented South African musicians of all time and we’ve got this album to thank for inspiring Paul Simon. Ladysmith Black Mambazo went on to become major international superstars following that album. They won 5 Grammys and were nominated for 13 more plus 1 Academy Award.
And that’s why this compilation is on the list.
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