In this show we are touching on songs from different continents and kinds of people, with highs and lows. You will hear a blend of different genres through music history with popular tracks through the past decades.
| TITLE | ARTIST | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| In Zaire | Johnny Wakelin | This song commemorates the “Rumble In The Jungle”, the famous boxing match between world heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.). The fight took place on October 30, 1974, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The location in Kinshasa was “le Stade du 20 Mai” (originally known as Stade Roi Baudouin) and now known as “Stade Tata Raphaël”. You get to know much more about this event if you watch the American documentary film “We Were Kings” of 1996. |
| A.I.E. (A’mwana) | Black Blood | Believe it or not, this is a Belgian production. Black Blood with singer Steve Banda Kalenga from Lubumbashi in Zaire, was a Belgium-based, African group. They recorded « A. I. E. (A Mwana) », a cheerful family hymn, with a typical African disco rhythm, in 1975. The song was written by their creator and mentor Michel Jaspar, at that time a young airline pilot, born in Belgian Congo. Apart from the title, the lyrics are in Swahili. In 1981 it was covered by the London all-female trio Banarama. |
| Africa | TOTO | Toto keyboard player David Paich, at the beginning of the eighties, was deeply impressed by a TV documentary about the people in Africa suffering and dying. He tried to imagine how he would feel about if he was there and what he would do because he had never been in Africa when he wrote the song. |
| The Boy in the Bubble | Paul Simon | Forere Motloheloa an accordionist from Lesotho wrote the original song. Paul Simon recorded with his band at the Ovation Studios in Johannesburg in 1985. Simon wrote English lyrics and called it “The Boy In The Bubble” about his own observations that life is filled with so much potential (days of “miracle and wonder”) but also so many challenges. Forere Motloheloa, plays the piano accordion, which is an accordion with piano keys on one side. |
| Nelson Mandela | Special AKA | Written by Jerry Dammers, “Nelson Mandela” was the first hit song specifically about the imprisoned South African political leader and apartheid government he fought against. Jerry Dammers, founder and keyboard player of the Special A.K.A., also known as The Specials, was inspired by the spirit and positivity of that African music. “Nelson Mandela” was the first hit song specifically about the imprisoned South African political leader and apartheid government he fought against. He had been imprisoned by the South African government since 1962 on charges of sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government. Unsurprisingly this song couldn’t be played freely in South Africa, however it helped install optimism within the black community there. Prisoner no 46664 was finally released in February 1990 and became State President of South Africa in 1994. |
| Scatterlings of Africa | Johnny Clegg & Savuka | The original song is from the South African band Juluka and you listened to its successor band Savuka a multi-racial band formed in 1986 by Johnny Clegg (sometimes called “The White Zulu”). They mixed Zulu music with influences from rock and Celtic music. This song is “reflecting the myriad dislocations of South African society”. |
| Ebony And Ivory | Stevie Wonder | Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney was inspired by British TV comedian Spike Milligan playing on a TV show a segregated piano, on which the white and black keys were kept apart, in order to demonstrate how one couldn’t work without the other. Despite it’s huge US and UK hit success in 1982, it has been named worst duet ever by BBC 6 Music listeners in 2007. |
| Black and White | Three Dog Night | “Black and White” was co-written in 1954 by American folk singer Earl Robinson. It was inspired by a US Supreme Court ruling that segregation in public schools is illegal. Pete Seeger, an American folk singer and activist first recorded it two years later. The original lyrics opening line, in reference to the court: “Their robes were black, their heads were white” was omitted in later version like this one by Three Dog Night from 1972. |
| Khululuma | African Rhythm Travellers | ‘Khululuma’ meaning luxury in Zulu was released in 2003 by the African Rhythm Travellers |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
