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In The Tradition This page is about supporting those musicians and
entertainers out there who have Rhodie connections. You may well
find a Rhodie or two in your neighbourhood. Many are BEDROCK (The Band In The Sand) - Namibia (Updated 04/03/08)
Currently gigging as a quintet, this outfit (led by a trio of "more mature" rockers!) formed in Oranjemund in Namibia in 1994, included two ex-Rhodies in their original line up in Charles Piggott (who was educated at Whitestones, Chaplin and Fort Victoria High before proceeding to the University of Cape Town) on lead/rhythm guitars and lead vocals, and Pete Shout (formerly of Bulawayo and educated at St Thomas Aquinas, Greenfield Junior and Hamilton before joining the BSAP) on bass and backing vocals. At a later stage the band were joined by a third Rhodie, Jenny Malherbe (maiden name Sharp) who was educated at Salisbury Convent before enjoying a career as an air hostess. Charles Piggott left the band in 1999 when he emigrated to Germany. Jenny Malherbe also departed the same year due to her husband being transferred. Since then a number of musicians have been members of the band's line-up for varying periods of time but their popularity has endured and their ability to generate a good party remains uncompromised! BEDROCK's rock sounds have thrived in an area more traditionally known as a "boeremusik" haven and have enjoyed fair success with their three releases to date. Their first CD release ("La Cantina"), something of a tribute to Charles & Jenny upon their departures from the band, contained only cover versions whereas, the second ("Recovery") and third ("So, Where's The Party?") releases featured solely music written by the band members themselves. The opening track of RECOVERY, the nostalgic "Rock 'n Roll Man", reached No. 14 on the SA Rock Digest Top 20 of South African music for three successive weeks in August/September 2000. Over three years later, and quite unexpectedly, this nostalgic ballad entered the SA mp3 Top Thirty on Monday, 8 December, 2003 at #30. The band has also been featured on SAFM's Bruce Miller show and have played gigs widely outside Oranjemund, including Luderitz, Kleinzee and Darling where they were probably the first - and oldest - outfit to ever rock Evita's Se Perron! In a Namibian "Battle Of The Bands" contest (sponsored by South African Breweries) held at Keetmanshoop in August, 2002, BEDROCK were the highest placed Namibian entrants, coming second overall. In March/April, 2003, one of the tracks off the band's most recent CD, "Crowd Invasion", entered the SA mp3 Top Thirty of SA songs. (See www.samp3.com). A second track, "What Crap is That?", was also subsequently listed for downloading. During the same month the band were filmed in rehearsal for a German television documentary on Namibia, the second such time that this has happened. In September, 2003, the band appeared at the Windhoek Rock Festival where they played alongside a number of professional South African and Namibian acts, establishing themselves strongly at the forefront of local leading amateur rock music exponents.
In the SA Rock Digest's (www.sarockdigest.com) review of local music for the year 2003, "Rock 'n Roll Man" was ranked at number 38 in the Top 50 of most popular songs for that period. During the course of 2005 the band enjoyed a resurgence of fortunes after many months of personnel joining, and leaving, the band at short notice. With the addition of aspiring, young, lead vocalist, Heiko Doedens, and Solange Heusdens on keyboards, the band has gone on to record and release their fourth album of original material (2008), further consolidating themselves on the local rock scene. In 2007, the band signed an agreement with Cape Town's Rhythm Records to make all their original material available as digital downloads via the Internet. Each track may now be individually purchased for a small fee from www.rhythmrecords.co.za Recordings to date: LA CANTINA - CD (No longer available) (2000)BEDROCK BOOTLEG - Cassette tape (No longer available) (2000) RECOVERY - CD (2001) "SO - WHERE'S THE PARTY?" CD (2003) SIMPLICITY (2008) The band's CD's are available through the band's entertaining website at: www.bedrockband.com or:
Also check out the band in space at: www.myspace.com/bandinthesand BILL MALKIN - Christleton, England
www.billmalkin.co.uk BUTCH COOK - Langebaan, South Africa (Added 04/03/08)
Butch Cook has been one of the most enduring musician of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's and his name is synonymous with the southern African music industry over those years!! There are few he hasn't played with and he is truly one who has "seen it all"! Butch was born in Bulawayo in May, 1951, the youngest of three children. He had an older brother, Ken, who sadly passed away in 2002 and a sister, Rose, who now resides in the United States. The family lived in Montrose and Butch attended the local junior school. As a six year old he taught himself harmonica and then, as an eight-year-old, took an interest in learning to play the drums. It was about this time that his desire was further fuelled by the influence of his sister's boyfriend of the time, Eddie Sierra. Eddie was a drummer for the RAMBLERS. Butch immediately showed a natural flair for the drums and, to this day, still considers himself to be a drummer at heart ahead of anything else. He adopted an unusual style of playing, left-handed and right-fotted a la Ian Paice of Deep Purple. Before his tenth birthday he formed his first band
with JOSEPH ROY on guitar and Joseph's In 1960 Butch moved with his parents to Lusaka in what-was-then Northern Rhodesia. Whilst there he was approached to play the drums in a theatre production adapted from the Cliff Richard film, Expresso Bongo. Shortly after this, his parents were on the move again, this time to Broken Hill (Kabwe) where he completed his secondary schooling at the King George VI High School. It was as a ten-year-old that his interest in guitar evolved, largely thanks to his brother, Ken, who was dabbling in the instrument at the time. He quickly learnt his way around this instrument to the point that he became fairly proficient in a reasonably short time. In 1962, whilst still at high school, he formed his first band, THE CHINCHILLAS. The line-up was:
Apart from their instruments their backline consisted of two Vox AC 10 amps! Charging an entry fee of 50 cents per head, the Chinchillas were a regular attraction at the local Moth club where they ruled the scene. Their hallmark song was a version of the Rolling Stones' "Get Off Of My Cloud".
In due course the Chinchillas lost some of their fur when Jack and George completed their schooling and relocated to Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia. As fate would have it, however, Butch's father was transferred back to Bulawayo by Rhodesia Railways in 1962. The family took up residence in the suburb of Greenhill, a stone's throw away from their original abode in Montrose. Butch's return to Bulawayo brought about a reunion with his former Chinchillas, Jack Thain and George Felton, who were by then members of a local band called the SILHOUETTES. It wasn't long before Butch also found himself a member of the band whose line-up was then:
The SILHOUETTES went on to enjoy considerable success as, initially, the SILHOUETTES and, later, LINCOLN. Please visit these entries under BANDS for the full details of this success. In 1981, after many years of gigging with numerous
bands, Butch moved to Cape Town and started to play solo gigs.
These initially were hosted by the Sportman's bar in Newlands Hotel
before he moved to Lady Di's in the Fairmead Hotel. Thereafter
he returned to the Sportman's for a spell before accepting gigs at
Wynberg's Chelsea Arms and the Woodstock Holiday Inn. At the
same time he established a home recording studio and produced
jingles and He was then offered a contract with Southern Sun hotels and travelled widely gigging at many of their establishments, including the Duke of York pub at Sunnyside Park in Johannesburg, the Oyster Bar at the Port Elizabeth Sun and Sportman's at Newlands (for the umpteenth time!). It was whilst playing at the Sunnyside Hotel that Butch met up with former Silhouettes' member, Trevor Ellis. Trevor offered him a job outside the music field which he accepted and, since then, he has kept himself busy in the chemicals and construction industries. The good news is, however, that Butch continues to gig part-time and is a regular attraction wherever he is which, presently, is Langebaan on the Cape West Coast.
CLIVE MILES - Brazil As a former CYCLONES member, Clive is still making serious music in South America where he resides and works. Clive, after many years "rest" musically, has returned to the scene and has released a number of CD's of "old favourites".
STILL TINKLING THE IVORIES AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! After leaving Rhodesia in 1959, Clive completed
his accountancy studies in South Africa before starting out on a
life's journey that was to taken him far and wide. After a
CLIVE In Session
DAN SHOUT - (Johnny Clegg) Cape Town (Updated 04/03/08)
Dan & Johnny Clegg - France - 2006 (Photographs used with kind permission of Olivier Hudner of www.juluka.fr) Dan, (the son of BEDROCK's Pete), was born in Bulawayo in 1981 before emigrating with his parents to Cape Town. He received his junior schooling in Fish Hoek, Somerset West and Oranjemund before attending high school at SACS. His elevation to the ranks of Johnny Clegg's band in the early part of 2006 was just reward for the many years he has dedicated to music, the highlights of which have been:
Recordings: "La Cantina" by Bedrock (played piano) - 2000 DVD Releases: "One Life" Concert - Johnny Clegg (2007) For more on Dan, see his websites at www.myspace.com/danielshout or www.shoutmc.com, as well as www.johnnyclegg.com
DAVE MONKS - Umhlanga Rocks Dave (see also LEPRECHAUN in the BANDS section) continues to perform his brand of Irish party music throughout South Africa and his services are in constant demand. Based in Umhlanga Rocks in Natal concentrates his activities on his own label, Monks Music.
DEREK 'BOKKIE' DE BEER - Toronto, Canada (Added 29/04/07) – Reminiscing with Rhodesia’s master drummer & percussionist - Derek “Bokkie” de Beer was born in Bulawayo on 2 May, 1949. Bokkie was one of four children, two boys and two girls – Brian, Merle and Lorraine. His parents, Lorna and Sonny, were clearly pondering a change of scenery for, a couple of years later, they relocated from their Hillside home to Shabani when Sonny obtained employment with the asbestos mine. It was 1951. Like all local youngsters, Bokkie attended junior school at Shabani Junior School and enjoyed an upbringing and youth “second to none”. He thrived in the carefree existence based on wide open spaces, a sense of adventure, close friendships and revelled in the peace and security of small town life. When it was time for high school, Bokkie became a boarder at one of the country’s most prestigious schools, Chaplin in Gwelo. Although Bokkie did not come a musical family and had not been exposed to any music coaching at junior school, he was forever “drumming” away at his desktop with, usually, a compass and ruler. As he got older he began to recognise in himself a sense of timing and rhythm. It would seem that around about this time, his mother saw this latent talent in him and duly took him shopping for a set of drums in Bulawayo. It was at Harry Gerber’s music shop that his eyes fell upon a sparkly, red, flashy set of of Roxy drums. The deal was done and Bokkie returned to school with the kit in his loving care! The acquisition of a drum kit was his “entry ticket” to the STRANGERS, a high school band made up, primarily, of Chaplin day scholars. The band’s full line-up was:
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Ryk de Kock – Guitar The band was very popular amongst its peers and played regularly around and about Gwelo, doing popular covers of the day. Sessions were the social “happenings” of the day and the STRANGERS played a feast of them! In 1964 it was time to move on from high school and Bokkie, without having any really clear idea of where he wanted to go in life, moved to Bulawayo where he quickly established contact with local musicians. The MERSEYS soon became the band that would allow him to showcase his talents on the Bulawayo circuit. The band were:
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Brian Powell – Vocals Eight months later the inevitable happened – Bokkie received his military call-up papers for National Service. His intake was one of the first to be conscripted for nine months, the length having been recently increased from four months. He was based at Lewellin Barracks which he found to be “a breeze after boarding school. I knew how to make my bed and fold my clothes”, recalls Derek with a smile. It was after one bush deployment that he returned to camp to be told that the Commanding Officer, Major Wells, wanted to see him. Fearing the worst Bokkie duly presented himself in full regalia, coming to attention and saluting with all the correctness and energy he could muster in a bid to stave off, or soften, whatever fate was about to be dealt out by the Major. He needn’t have worried because all the Major wanted to confirm was that he was de Beer – and that he had a band in Bulawayo! As soon as he confirmed that he had, he was instructed to get the members together as quickly as possible as they were required to play at a function. Although Derek was unlicenced to drive he implied to the Major that the opposite was the case and, with the keys to the Major’s transport, set off to town to round up the MERSEYS. Needless to say, apart from the MERSEYS’ wonderment at how Bokkie’s rise in the military had become as meteoric as it was – given that he had already “acquired” an Army staff car! - the dance was an unmitigated success! After completing his military service Derek joined Rhodesia Railways as a fireman. Apart from being a useful way to fill in time and earn a salary, it was also a convenient “out” from constant army call-ups as the railways was an essential service. As such, its employees were exempt from military camps. Some eight months later, however, Derek noticed that many of his friends in music were relocating to South Africa and decided to follow suit. In true Bokkie style, he hitch-hiked to Durban with “a toothbrush, one sock and half a shirt!”. Shortly after arriving in the city, and without any network as yet, he was ambling along the beachfront one day when he was hailed by a bunch of ex-Rhodies who recognised him. He was no longer a stranger in a strange city! Derek soon joined his first Durban-based band, SCRATBY HUD. Apart from himself, its members were:
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Dave Evans - Vocals After a period with this group he formed KORTA: Ø Peter Papa – GuitarØ John Kirsten – Bass Ø Dave Richards – Keys Ø Bokkie de Beer – Drums & percussion In due course KORTA gave way to PRELUDE:
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Peter Pappa – Guitar PRELUDE’s reputation soon started to spread and they starting gigging throughout the country in all the major centres – Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and East London. Chris Ghelakis later moved into production and will be best remembered, as a vocalist, and was the voice behind the phenomenally successful 60’s hit, “Mammy Blue”. On the production scene he gained notoriety as the producer of all-girl band, CLOUT, who scored a massive international hit with “Substitute”. In due course PRECLUDE was superceded by FANTASY:
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Peter Pappa – Guitars It was whilst doing session work for Hilton Rosenthal at SATBEL studios in Johannesburg that Derek’s career took a major step forward. At the time he was doing session work for a new band on the scene called Juluka. The band was the brainchild of Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu, with band members Gary Van Zyl on bass, Glenda Miller on keyboards and Zola Mtiya on drums. Whilst doing session work Derek was told by one of the sound engineers, Peter Thwaites, that Johnny Clegg was scouting around for a drummer. He suggested that Derek think of applying. Ironically enough, Clegg was unaware of the fact that Bokkie was actually the drummer doing session work for him on the band’s very first album, “African Litany”! After a period of reflection, he decided to go with it and so began his relationship with what was to become South Africa’s most successful internationally recognised musical export. Derek remained with Juluka, and then Savuka, until 1994 when he decided to retire from touring. During the intervening years Clegg’s bands had achieved international acclaim. In America they appeared no less then six times on the Johnny Carson show, three times on the Jay Leno show and appeared on Saturday and Sunday night “live” television programmes. They toured and played with some of the World’s greatest stars, including George Michael, Robert Palmer, Steve Winwood, Earth, Wind and Fire and Tracey Chapman, appearing at some of the biggest festivals and venues. Derek has been very happily resident and settled in Canada since 1997 and has two teenaged children. He lectures drums and percussion and is in great demand as a motivational speaker at schools and corporate functions. As a sideline he also manufactures wooden furniture. His drum site may be accessed at: www.debeer@magma.ca EDWARD (ED) O'DONNELL - Canada Ed started playing folk music in the 1960's and was influenced by a Scottish band known as the Corries. Moving to Rhodesia in 1971 he and a friend, Dave Cole, started a folk club in Redcliff. This concept became very popular in the area and Ed and Dave took their show on the road playing may venues, including the townships where they also had a following. Ed later relocated to Canada where he played with a Gospel group for more than ten years but proved his versatility with brief forays into reggae, for instance. During these years he developed a passion for Celta-Bluegrass which is what he currently concentrates on. He has completed a CD and plays with a group called TINKER'S BREW. FIONA TOZER (Added 16/07/06) Fiona was born in England and, as a young child, led something of a nomadic life as her parents travelled from place to place. Her first opportunity to realise her dream of learning a musical occurred when living in Rhodesia as a 14 year old. By working for extra money she was able to fund the purchase of a Bellini guitar for all of 15 Rhodesian dollars! Like some many embryonic guitarists and musicians of the era, Fiona was heavily influenced by the folk sound, especially of artists such as Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Marrying in 1975, she set off with her husband to explore the World. This led to her working in London for a year, taking all that that music scene had to offer whilst she played the occasional gig on the folk club circuit. After exploring the Middle East she eventually returned to South Africa where she settled in Pietermaritzburg in 1980. After three years there she relocated to Durban where she continues to live. In 1986 she co-founded the Durban Folk Club in order to resurrect the defunct folk scene and more than succeeded in this venture. Her involvement in this activity allowed her to meet a number of other prominent local musicians. With two of these fellow artists, WILL WALLACE and DAVE ATKINSON, they formed a trio called ODYSSEY which gained respect, not only for their collective musicianship, but also for their right three-part harmonies. The band later changed its name to BONA FIDE. The band later led to spin-offs which became prominent on the local scene, including the FIONA TOZER BAND and ALIEN.
In the early 90's an album by ODYSSEY was released. Of the twelve tracks on the recording, eight were original compositions of Fiona's. The album received modest acclaim and joined some airplay. In 1996 a second album was released, NEVERLAND. Fiona promoted this album at numerous musics "happenings" including the Maynardville Festival in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth's Mannville Festival and Splashy Fen. Once again it earned a reasonable amount of airplay. In 1998 a third album was recorded and released, LIGHT & SOUND. In 2001 Fiona started studying Music at the University of Natal and is, today, completing a Master's degree in composition at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In the interm she passed both his initial BA (Music) and BA (Honours) with distinction. Her classical composition TRIPTYCH FOR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA was performed by the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004. The latest band she has formed is called QUARK and features alongside her ANTON CAWTHORN-BLAZEBY on violin and LOGAN BYRNE on double bass. For more on this most interesting artist's past, present and future visit her extremely professional website at: www.fionatozer.com JERRY BARNARD/LATE FINAL/B & S STUDIOS - Cape Town
In 1981 Jerry started a company called B & S Studios (Pty) Ltd which went on to establish itself as one of - if not the - leading Cape Town recording facility. As a recording engineer Jerry was won many plaudits and was instrumental in the recording and production of the award winning David Kramer album "Die Royal Hotel". In the advertising field he has also won numerous international awards including the "International Radio Festival" award, "New York Grand Prix", the "London International Advertising Awards" and numerous "Loerie Grand Prix" awards. In 1982/83 Jerry formed LATE FINAL with Richard Black with Jerry switching to bas guitar. He produced the band's hit record "Lat Dat Dee Dat Daa" and played a major role in producing, and playing on, another well known Late Final cover song, "Who Loves You?". Web site: http://www.latefinal.co.za JIM DAWSON (NAKED ANGEL) - London, England Jim then met up with a husband and wife team, Wil and
Kat, who invited him to form a three-piece with them, an offer which he
duly accepted. This resulted in the creation of Naked Angel.
Lacking a bass player, this was addressed when Jim invited a friend of
his, Brian Jenking, to join the line-up. The band have released
two CD's in the United Kingdom. The band run their own club in Crouch Hill, North
London, called "The Chill On The Hill" which is gaining a
reputation as a showcase of new talent on the London scene. Naked
Angel follow a full gigging programme and, apart from their London based
activities, have appeared at festivals in Germany and Holland.
Away from Naked Angel, Jim is very active with Music In Hospitals which
is an organisation with a pool of musicians who play for hospitals,
retirement homes and institutions for the mentally ill. Check the band out at nakedangel.co.uk In his own words... "I was born in Rochford, Essex when I
still quite young and my parents moved to Zimbabwe when I was five. With
the help of a large scale A to Z of Africa I was soon able to track them
down much to their dismay. JOE KRIGE - RSA The son of PAUL KRIGE (See SOLO section), Joe has followed in his Father's footsteps and is fine voice is in consistent demand.
JOHN EDWARDS (FASTLANE) - East London, South Africa John originally played bass in Bulawayo band CLASSIC FOUR (See BANDS) in the mid-70's. Leaving Rhodesia in 1975 he joined an outfit called MELODY FAIR in East London but "retired" from music when he left this band. Recently he has rediscovered his taste for music and entertainment and is now in a four piece called FASTLANE. JOHN MILLER - Musician & Journalist - London, England (Added 09/05/06) John was born in Salisbury in January 1951 and was blinded in a shotgun accident as a 10 year old. This traumatic event drastically changed his life and he went on to attend King George VI primary school in Bulawayo for 3 years before continuing his secondary education at the School for the Blind in Worcester, South Africa. He matriculated in 1969. John's interest in musician took hold shortly after he lost his sight. His first experience of a live gig came in 1961 when his grandmother, who was far more "cool" and adventurous than his disapproving mother!, accepted an invitation from Mickie Most to attend a couple of sessions in Salisbury. Like so many aspiring musicians of the era, John fell under the spell of the Shadows and later, thanks to the kindness of the Cyclones' lead vocalist Dyllis Stevenson, he met Cliff Richard and the Shadows, as well as Carole Gray, the Bulawayo actress who starred opposite Cliff in the Young Ones. John's path of introductions to the rich and famous (probably more famous than rich, truth be known!) continued when he met Jeremy Taylor of "Ag Pleez Daddy" fame. Jeremy had occasion to visit the Miller home and sat for a while with John who was learning his way about the guitar. John was inspired by Jeremy's enthusiastic support and encouragement, spurring him on to persevere with his guitar playing ambitions. After working as a personnel consultant in Salisbury for a couple of years, John returned to South Africa. Relocating to Pietermaritzburg in Natal via Johannesburg he joined a band formed by old school mates in 1974. John made his debut with As You Like It on rhythm guitar. The leader of the band was a Northern Rhodesian, Ian Farrington. About a year later John formed his own semi-professional outfit and called it Choice. This quartet played nurmeous gigs throughout Natal for the next 4 years, a highlight of which was playing at a Rhodie bash at the Durban City Hall and backing Graham Boyle, formerly lead singer of the Gentle People. Choice also made appearances at Bretts and Club Tomorrow in Johannesburg. John then left the music scene and, in 1980, was offered a job as a journalist on the Johannesburg based Rand Daily Mail. Whilst working as a court reporter he managed to ease himself back into the music scene. With the assistance of the editor of Express Beat, Suzanne Brenner, he began freelance entertainment writing for the Express, as well as the Mail on occasion. The Express Beat was part of the Sunday Express newspaper. In his role of music journalist, John was able to attend many concerts and shows with his press pass and he fully exploited these opportunities. During this period he interviewed virtually all South Africa's leading artists, entertainers, record producers and executives, including Clout, Ballyhoo, Juluka, Patric van Blerk, Hilton Rosenthal and Emil Zoghby. He was a frequent visitor to local recording studios although, for most of the time, he was supposed to be writing up the details of some gory court case or another. One of his biggest scoops was breaking the news that Queen would be playing at Sun City, as well as being the first to report the break up of Juluka. The latter article appeared on the front page of the last ever edition of the Rand Daily Mail newspaper published on 30 April, 1985. Shortly before the closure of the newspaper, John also financed and produced a concept rugby album with English lyrics on one side and Afrikaans on the other. In the early 80's he teamed up with Suzanne Brenner and they wrote and published the first South African Country & Western booklet called "Surprisingly Enough" (SA Country Music). John attributes most of his success as an entertainment writer to Suzanne Brenner. In 1984 John was offered the position as Southern African correspondent with Billboard Magazine. Again, Suzanne hand had played a role in this offer being made. He took up the post and filled it for 7 years until a shift in editorial policy unsettled him and decided to leave the position. It was at this stage that John decided to leave South Africa and he settled in England in 1997. During the interceding years he worked as a consumer journalist on the Star newspaper. John continues to have deep links with the continent of his birth and has visited South Africa, the last occasion being shortly before the death of his close friend and renowned musician, Kevin Mason. John has recently considered getting a band together again so, if there are any ex-Rhodies in the London or Sussex areas who are interest in country and western, let your webmaster know about it so that you may be connected to John! JULIAN PELLATT - Chester, England Since emigrating to colder English climes in the 1990's, Julian has continued to follow the music scene very closely, albeit it hasn't, himself, been musically active throughout these years. He has, however, met up with another Beverley Rocks motel stalwart, Dave Walmsley who has established himself on the Manchester music scene. In 1998 Julian, a huge James Taylor fan, had the pleasure of organising a James Taylor open air concert at Tatton Park in Cheshire. Not only did 9000 people turn up for the occasion, but Julian also got to shake the hand of the man who had had such an influence on his own taste in music. Julian is hoping to repeat this experience in 2004. In 2002 Julian re-ignited his musical activities for a time by investing in a Martin D35 Dreadnought guitar and quickly landed a residency at Alexander's Jazz Bar in Chester. He performed there for many months and his song list included Clem Tholet's "Song For Johnny". In 2000 and 2001 Julian accepted an invitation from English music professional, Mark Reeder, and participated in concerts he had a hand in organising in the Macclesfield, Cheshire, area. It is reported that Julian and Mark's rendition of "Orange Blossom Special" could relied upon to get the audiences going! Currently not active in the public eye as a performer, he continues to take an avid interest in the music scene. (See also SOLOS - Julian Fortune) JULIET GREEN (LOCO MUNDO) - Warwickshire, England Juliet initially took up recorder whilst a pupil at Blakiston Junior and later progressed to clarinet, although her heart was really set on learning the saxophone. Her parents duly relented and she acquired her sax. In due course she moved to England where she joined a community band before going for sax jazz tuition. This led to her successfully applying to join a band called THIS WAY UP. Juliet then diverged from THIS WAY UP and formed LOCO MUNDO where she was able to play more latin, funk and African-influenced material. LOCO MUNDO gig regularly and a popular entertainers. You can read more about their activities at their comprehensive website:
LOCO MUNDO Juliet Green on the saxophone KEITH AUSTIN (BULAWAYO BOYS/LEPRECHAUN) - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Keith also runs a business known as the MIDI WORKSHOP and will assist aspiring musicians - and anyone else who has an interest in this field - with their midi files. At the mid-week price of R50.00 per hour, this is an offer which would be extremely hard to match, never mind beat! Keith may be contacted at: Telephones: 031 - 7673255 or 072 -4255736 MARTIN COETZER (Ex- GATE) Martin continues to gig on the local Durban scene as a One Man Band doing, primarily, corporate gigs although he may also be found at some of the popular restaurants on occasions, as well. NICK MATZUKIS (ANTIOCH/HELICOPTERS) ~ Johannesburg, South Africa. (Added 06/03/08) Nick's passion for drumming manifested itself at an
early age when, as a youngster in Salisbury, he armed himself with a
pair of coat hangers and started belting the hell out of his
mother's cake tins!! As far as he can recall, this
demonstration followed a television programme in which he
His first band was ANTIOCH (see BANDS) which he formed with a bunch of mates, none of whom had received any formal music training or education. After this band dissolved, he moved to Johannesburg and joined TANGIER (1979 - 1982) along with Carol Welsh on vocals, Martin Yeats on bass and vocals, Jorge Arrigone on guitar, vocals and keyboards. TANGIER gigged the local Johannesburg circuit in the main. One of their more notable achievements was winning the Casio Battle Of The Bands competition in 1981.
THE HELICOPTERS - Powering Up! In 1983 Nick joined the band which was to enjoy the
greatest acclaim of his career , the Helicopters. The rest of
its members were Bernard Binns (vocals and guitars), Paul Hughes
(guitar and vocals), Alistair Broadhead/Bert Askes (bass) and Jon
Mason (keyboards). The Helicopters quickly established
themselves at the very top of South Africa's rock music pile and
appeared on television on at least forty occasions and had five No 1
hits on the South African charts. In addition to this,
they recorded four albums and as SA's white rock act of the 80's the
were pretty much second only to Rabbitt in terms of success.
They headlined several major Nick, however, wasn't about to stop playing and did session work, and toured, with acts such as Steve Hofmeyr and Patricia Lewis. In 1990 he joined Flash Harry with Keith Bereal and Dieter Enderling. This was followed by a couple of years with Carte Blanche (not the television programme!) and Stryder. It was with the Diamond Dogs that he was to again get a taste of high profile success. The band produced two commercial hit records and enjoyed plenty of radio and television exposure. Highlights were backing Jethro Tull on their tour of South Africa and meeting Bruce Springsteen. Nick's time with the Dogs ended in 2002 and he then found himself with Jump Start who, as he describes it, morphed with Red Flash. The band are still active and are a favourite at bike rallies.
JUMP START/RED FLASH NIGEL DAMS - (ANTIOCH & others) - United Kingdom (Added 06/03/08) Nigel's music career began as a youngster with the Salisbury band, Antioch, amongst whose other members was Nick Matzukis who was later to achieve stardom on the South African rock scene. After the demise of Antioch and the departure of various members from Zimbabwe, Nigel stayed on to play a role in a number of local bands for many years. These included the well known outfits, GUTTER, the BANNED and the PROOF. Nigel eventually relocated to England where he was a founding member of the No-Name Band. The band was formed on a whim to play a British Telecom staff party in 1995 in Fleet, Hampshire. The following year they played at The Underground in Leeds and the Frimley Green Working Men's Club in Hampshire. The following year saw them gigging at the Telecom Tower in London! The gigs at Leeds and Frimley left many memories. For a start, due to Anton's unavailability, a drummer had to be found at very short notice. Nigel got onto the telephone and call his old Antioch mate in Jo'burg, Nick Matzukis, a call and offered him the stand-in gig. Nick leapt at the offer and boarded a plane for London, arriving on a Thursday. The next day was spent rehearsing at Guildford, followed the next day by the road trip to Leeds for the gig that same night. Sunday was used to recover before their return road trip to London where they played the Frimley Green gig the following night. The gig was a blinder, all on the back of one day's rehearsing. For the Telecom Tower gig, the band played right on the very top on the revolving floor which houses a restaurant. They have indeed had London at their feet!
ROB (RUSSELL) DAVIES (FLAGSHIP/WIZARD)(Added 18/07/06) Although hailing originally from
Durban, Rob spent quite a period of time in Rhodesia after playing
residencies with a couple of bands at CLUB TOMORROW
Salisbury. The first of these bands was FLAGSHIP and,
later, WIZARD. Both bands were quick to establish
themselves on the local scene and well very popular with clubbers.
Throughout his life Rob has had a passion for music and his interest
has taken him into many
Out of this liaison was born WOZANI, a Zulu word meaning "come and join". The band produced produced music which Rob describes as being a meeting of "African rock and British pop". George and Graham penned most of the band's material. Much of their songs' content related to the injustices of Apartheid, stories of life in Africa and were politically relevant. The band toured and played extensively, recording an album in London. The "big break", however, never came for reasons still being debated by the band's former members. The band later regrouped in South Africa - without Rob who had remained in the United Kingdom - and achieved modest success. Rob's next "band" was a duo with TIM DELANEY called SAMPLE THIS. Inspired by being in full control of his creations in SAMPLE THIS he stepped into the world of stage musicals and wrote the script for a show called THE GARDEN OF EDEN which was set in South Africa. He returned to South Africa to promote this work and witnessed its premiere at the Durban Playhouse in 1995. After returning to the UK Rob joined a rock 'n roll band called BLONDIN before going out solo under the name of ROB RUSSELL. He chose to use this name as there was already a Rob Davies on the scene who had been a member of the 70's band, MUD. Since then Rob has continued to build his skills, particularly in the songwriting sphere, and has steadily consolidated his career and build a reputation for himself. He maintains a very interesting and entertaining website at: www.robrusmusic.com (With acknowledgements to Rob Davies and his website for the content appearing here.)
TONY WHITAKER-WILSON (MOJO/DELROY WILLIAMS SOUL SHOW/CAUGHT IN THE ACT) - England/Scotland After leaving The Livin' End (See BANDS), Tony relocated to England where he met up with another ex-Rhodie, Tim Elliott. Tim Elliot is a highly competent vocalist and blues harp player. Tim and Tony then joined two Scottish musicians and formed the band. MOJO. The group enjoyed moderate success in the Edinburgh area playing roots blues. Tony later returned to England where he secured a place in the Delroy Williams Soul Show. This line-up was essentially made up of musicians from Jamaica and the type of music played was a mixture of R & B and reggae. The highlight of Tony's time with the Show was performing at Brockwell Park in south London to a crowd of 15 000 people. Tony recalls his apprehension at being the only White person in the line-up, as well as originating from southern Africa where apartheid was still in place - was completely misplaced as he was totally accepted by the organisers, musicians and audience without reserve. His experience in this regard was a total variance to some of the racially-based intolerance he had experienced in, both, Rhodesia and South Africa in his time as a musician there. In 1980 Tony immigrated to Canada and decided that he needed to improve his technique and, in pursuit of this, linked up with a World Class bass player in Rene Worst. Worst was from the renowned jazz fusion band, SKYWALK. Since that time Tony has co-written and recorded a children's album at Ocean Sound Studios in Vancouver. He has also returned to the live gigging scene and has, for the past seven years, performed with a band called CAUGHT IN THE ACT. The band play a mix of classic rock covers and originals. PAUL BENNETT - England
RIKI CAROLYN ARMSTRONG (TIMI) - Johannesburg Riki has a wonderful Rhodesian music hereditary in that both her parents (Sheila Armstrong (nee Botha) and Rory McKenzie) were members of the highly acclaimed group, SHALIMA. With a background like that it would have been amazing if Riki hadn't inherited any of those genes! That she has is evidenced in the fact that she has a budding career in music taking shape with her band, TIMI. TIMI are heavily into original material with Riki penning most of their works. The band have their own website at: http://timi.co.za so pop along and check it out. Better still, if you're anywhere near any of their gigs get along to support these young group of music talent. TONY SMITH - Australia (See also THE SINDICATE in the BANDS section) (Added 15/01/06) After immigrating to Perth in Australia, Tony got on to the local circuit and gigged frequently during the years 1982 - 1989. His gear compromised an Ovation "Legend" guitar (1973), SM 58, Dynachord PA, a "pitch shifter" and a Boss DR 55, a combination which allowed him to more than hold his own. He still plays acoustically on special occasions.
VAUGHAN FRANSCH - Cape Town
Vaughan & His Magical Horn Vaughan, who still has close business and family interests in Bulawayo, is a graduate in jazz music from the University of Cape Town's SA College of Music. Vaughan, a pharmacist by qualification, decided to fulfill one of his life's ambitions by tackling a music degree at an older stage of life! He is a trumpeter of undoubted skill and talent and features regularly throughout Cape Town and South Africa as a member of various bands. You can check Vaughan's skills out with - amongst others - the Darryl Andrews and KGB bands in Cape Town. TERRY WHELAN - COLD SHOT, Germany (See also A Vacant Lot & Claxton Mood)
COLD SHOT
TEXAS RADIO - Australia Pete Bennet - |
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sister, VERONICA, on vocals. Despite their tender years they
even played a Sunday lunchtime gig at the Carlton Hotel!
independent material, often for church groups.
brief
return to Rhodesia in 1960, he moved on to London before seeing
his career unfold in such diverse places as Peurto Rico and
Korea. In 2004 Clive retired to his apartment in Curitiba,
Brazil, and it wasn't long before the "music bug" well
and truly bit him again. It had been a break of forty years
since he actively associated with the art and, having realised
that his passion had been re-ignited, Clive - with the assistance
of two close friends - built a recording studio in his
apartment. Initially his intention was merely to improve his
guitar and piano playing. This investment has led to his,
with a collection of talented pals, recording a handful of CD's
which Clive has made available to those who are interested.
Incidentally, at the good age of 65, Clive still handles the
singing on the recordings himself! 
After
leaving high school she dabbled in various music ventures and even
made an appearance on television! She also started to compose
her own music and explored a variety of finger playing styles as
well as alternative guitar tunings. Proceeding to the
University of Cape Town to study her musical horizons were expanded
by the influences about her. She joined a band again and,
after gigging for a time around Cape Town, decided to return to
Bulawayo where she gained "daytime employment" as a computer
programmer. Throughout this period she continued to ply her
music trade in the various clubs and venues outside office hours.
Jerry
was born in Manchester, England, and moved to Zimbabwe with his parents
at the age of 7. During his days of schooling he spent many an
hour developing his guitar playing skills having decided that he would
pursue a career in music once out of school. It was in Salisbury
that he built his first recording studio. Around about this time
he also formed THE DRIFTERS, a band which was to achieve major
success on the local scene leading to acclaimed tours of the South
African club circuit. During 1973 and 1974 Jerry landed the
starring role of Jesus Christ in the play "Jesus Christ
Superstar" with the six week season at REPS theatre in Salisbury
featuring THE DRIFTERS as the backing band! The band then
collectively made the decision to relocate to Australia where they
performed regularly in Sydney and Brisbane. During this time the
band changed its name to HOLY BLACK and was fronted by the well
known South African female singer, UNA VALLI. Upon
returning to South Africa the band featured a new drummer, Shane
Mahoney, who went on to become a member of the successful group,
Ballyhoo. A highlight of HOLY BLACK'S time of existence was
touring South Africa as the support act for the Albert Hammond tour.
Jim
spent much of his youth in the Fort Victoria area where he was involved
in well known local bands, Nocturnal Creatures, Beserk, Thatch and
Anvil. In the mid-70's Jim relocated from Zimbabwe to England
hoping to continue his music career, however, he was initially
unsuccessful and left the music field. Twenty years later, in
1996, his enthusiasm and determination fired up again, Jim resigned from
his IT job and started to work the club circuit again. This led to
him doing session work as well which encouraged him to start playing his
own compositions. To his surprise, these were well
received.
saw
footage of Buddy Rich. Such was his determination that he
literally built his first drum kit, including the pedals and all the
frills. With a set of headphones on his head he would try to
emulate the drummers of his favourite bands of the day, including
Deep Purple, Led Zep, Yes, Genesis, Kansas and Wishbone Ash.
His mother tried to divert this interest to violin but gave it up
after two years as a bad job. Nick would come home and
immediately get back to practicing...on the drumkit!
tours and filled venues such as Cape Town's Good Hope Centre.
And the band lived the rock lifestyle to the full, indulging in the
full array of antics from destroying hotel rooms, getting drenched
with fire extinguishers on stage, drum risers falling over during
performances and dealing with stage bombs exploding in their faces!
All good things come to an end they say, and so it was that the band
called it quits in 1990 after a phenomenally successful tenure.
musical
spheres, from participation in rock bands and duets to theatre
musicals. His earliest influences came from ELP
(Emerson, Lake & Palmer) with Emerson's skills on the keyboard
appealing deeply to Rob's music instincts. So much so that he
launched himself with a single-minded determination into the world
of keyboards! His first band was FLAGSHIP which, in turn, gave
way to WIZARD. Rob then formed the duo, ANTHEM,
with another former WIZARD member, GEORG VOROS. After
a year of gigs Rob and Georg decided to relocate to Leeds in the
United Kingdom where they linked up with two friends,
GEORGE VAN DYK and GRAHAM CLIFFORD.
In
the mid-60's Paul was a member of the Rhodesian bands, the VAGRANTS and
the EXPERIMENTAL BEARD BAND. Leaving Zimbabwe in 1968
he moved to London where he did a two year stint with Island records as
a sound engineer. Following that he did eight years on the road as
a front-of-house mixing engineer and toured with bands and artists such
as GENESIS and MILES DAVIS. In 1977 he moved to South Africa and,
after working for RPM Records, joined Colloseum Acoustics in
Johannesburg and toured with CLIFF RICHARD, CHRIS DE BURGH and
WILSON PICKETT, amongst others. In 1981 he moved to Cape Town
where he remained for fourteen years building studios and producing
corporate videos. He had his own band during this period called
ELECTRO-GENIE, later changing the name to WYRED and, finally, FEEL
21. This band featured the well known and highly respected
drummer, MALCOLM POSTLETHWAITE (a regular member of bands at places like
Bretts and Le Coq D'Or in the years preceding). Paul then
left South Africa and, after four years in Australia, returned to
England where he continues to play guitar and compose his own
music. He has recorded three CD's and works at the Bournemouth
& Pool College teaching Music Technology.
