Dusting Off the Treasures of 70s South African Disco With Strut Records

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Dusting Off the Treasures of 70s South African Disco With Strut Records

Strut Records founder Quintin Scott leads us through a trove of South African disco created in spite of the oppressive apartheid government.

South African dance music is on fire.

Last month, the country hosted Ultra South Africa, which turned out to be the largest electronic music festival in African history. Local heroes like Black Coffee, Spoek Mathambo, and Spoek's Afro-Zulu dream team Fantasma are killing it both at home and abroad. Even Boiler Room headed to Johannesburg last January with an all-star lineup of Black Coffee, Black Motion, Shimza, Culoe De Song and Okmalumkoolkat. Oh, and it has the biggest house music market in the world.

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Watch Fantasma's surreal video for "Eye of the Sun"

Obviously, this didn't happen out of nowhere. House music might be the beating heart of today's South Africa, but peer into its history, and you'll find a rich tapestry spun from Afro-inflected disco, soul, rock, boogie and jazz. This week, that history is being dusted off by the UK-based afrobeat label Strut Records, with the fourth volume of their acclaimed Next Stop Soweto series.

The compilation gathers 15 tracks you've probably never heard of Zulu disco, afro-disco, and mbaqanga (a style of African-inflected jazz) from 1975 to 1985. This was a crucial era, says Strut Records founder Quinton Scott, because it directly led up to the explosion of "world" music in the mid-80s. (We'll get to why he hates that term later.) "Musically, it's a really fruitful period," Scott says. "There were some great fusions of township styles with soul, disco and rock. The recognizable township jive mbaqanga sound had moved into new territory…[giving] way to a more soulful lead vocal style."

It's also important to remember socio-political context: this music was made during the height of South Africa's oppressive apartheid government. Growing resistance boiled over on June 1976, when 20,000 students took to the streets in a protest called the Soweto Uprising. 176 were killed when armed authorities opened fire into the crowds.

"These were really dark days with no real hope in sight," Scott says. "The music of the period responded to the condition of the people with an explosion of innovative developments and shifts in style." On one hand, you had the rise of political anthems loaded with coded lyrics. Scott points to a thinly veiled message for the government on the track "1,2,3" by Saitana on Next Stop Soweto Vol. 4: "1,2,3 – your turn is over / 4,5,6 – our turn has started."

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On the other hand, you also had the ascent of everyone's favourite light-hearted and decisively apolitical genre: disco. "Disco was influential in many ways for both black and white audiences," says Scott. "Prolific producers like Mike Pilot released Hi-NRG tracks for predominantly white discotheques, while black artists took different influences."

Hamilton Nzimande at the controls

An important influence were the African-American soul stars from the United States, whose success carried an important socio-political message for South African musicians. The producer Hamilton Nzimande, an instrumental figure for bringing soul into South African music, helped to nurture a generation of local R&B bands. In 1969, Nzimande discovered The Movers, with whom he "developed an instrumental organ-led sound mixing the marabi township with R&B," explains Scott. Their track "Soweto Disco" is premiering exclusively below.

While 70s South African disco might not have the most direct influence on today's booming house scene—the sounds of 90s kwaito are a closer reference point, says Scott—they serve as an early example of South Africa's extraordinary capacity for infusing outside music influences with local flavors.

"Whether it's jazz, soul, Hammond organ trios, rock, disco or boogie, South African artists have consistently created unique fusions which are at least on par with anything created in the West. The same goes for the current crop of house and electronic producers," says Scott.

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But there are challenges ahead. The problematic label of "world music" continues pigeonhole South African artists when break into international markets. When we spoke to Black Coffee earlier this year, he shared the same concern, saying that e hoped to see South African musicians recognized in their own right—not reduced to the label of "African artists." "I'd like to be where everyone else is," he said.

Read more about Black Coffee

Leading the charge of bringing South African sounds to Western ears are labels are Strut, as well as reissue imprints like Soundway and Analog Africa, whom Scott gives props to for "changing the whole market." He also praises Sublime Frequencies for their "raw, lo-fi discoveries," Stones Throw's "mining [of] some great unheralded Zamrock," Honest Jon's "high class" sensibilities, and Glitterbeat's "fresh, progressive approach."

"There's a real confidence about the South African scene at the moment. There are also some great producers across Africa—guys like Tekno in Nigeria, and the multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah with his prolific studio in Accra, Ghana are really skilled," Scott concludes. "Hopefully, the South African success will become much more pan-African."

Next Stop Soweto Vol. 4 Zulu Disco, Afro-Disc & Mbaqanga 1975-1985 is out now on Strut Records. Buy it here.

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