New Tsonga Disco!!!

I mentioned in our first anniversary post a few weeks ago how pleased I was with the popularity of the Tsonga Disco tracks I have posted here. It suggests that we are slowly achieving our stated aim of bringing Tsonga Disco to the masses.

However, urgent action was needed to replenish my diminishing stocks. So, rather than wait until I go out to Cape Town at Easter, I have acquired a couple more CDs through the excellent One World Cyber Music Store. One is by an old friend, and we will feature that tomorrow. The other is by the younger brother of an old friend.

As regular readers will know, Peta Teanet reigned as the king of Tsonga Disco until his untimely death in 1996. But his spirit lives on through the recordings of his younger brother, Forsta Teanet, also known as The Black Force. He released his first album in 1990 at the age of 16, and is still recording today.

He is also conducting an ongoing campaign to protect his brother's legacy. According to the "Mopani News" (for all the news that is news in Tzaneen), Forsta has registered the title "King of Shangaan Disco Music" ("Shangaan Disco" being the name Tsonga Disco was previously known by) as a trademark. He is quoted as saying that "this will serve as a token that the title will also belong within the Teanet family", before going on to express the view that he would like others to establish themselves without trying to imperonate his brother. Hear! Hear! Let a thousand Tsongan flowers bloom!

His first album was called "Peta Teanet Presents The Black Force". Peta wrote and produced all the tracks on the album. Here are a couple of my favourites.

"Ba E Cheika" - The Black Force

"The Youth Days" - The Black Force

As with so many of the Tsonga musicians we have featured here, Forsta gets a mention in Max Thamagana Mojapelo's seminal book, "Beyond Memory: Recording the History, Moments and Memories of South African Music". As well as describing his recording career, Max tells us that "By 2007 when I paid the family a visit he was still an amateur polygamist with only two wives". So I suppose that, in a very real sense, Forsta is torn between two lovers.

I'm afraid so...