Seasonal Tsonga

For my last post before Christmas, we return to our neglected mission to spread the good word about Tsonga Disco. Here are two tracks each from three of the titans of the Tsonga disco scene: Penny Penny, Joe Shirimani and the late, great Peta Teanet.

Penny's tracks come from the album "Tamakhwaya No. 6", released in 2006, and Joe's from "Tambilu Yanga", released in 2008. Peta's come from a compilation called "King of Shangaan Disco", which is available for download on Amazon and highly recommended.

"3 In 1" - Penny Penny

"Aka Skikorokoro" - Penny Penny

"Basani" - Joe Shirimani

"Limpopo" - Joe Shirimani

"Andi Vileli" - Peta Teanet

"African Vibe (Part 2)" - Peta Teanet

A skorokoro (or skikorokoro as Penny Penny calls it) is a clapped out old car, hence the noise of a motor revving at the start. I don't know whether Penny was attempting to update this South African Afropop standard from the 1980s - musically they don't have a great deal in common apart from both being extremely infectious, and that revving sound.

"Skorokoro" - Condry Ziqubu

NEWSFLASH: Many thanks to my (now officially a hipster) friend Wills Glasspiegel for drawing my attention to this excellent article in the South African Mail & Guardian on all things Shangaan/Tsonga. Regular readers will spot familiar names like Thomas Chauke, and it is good to see them getting a bit of recognition in their own national media at last.

We'll leave you with more conventional Christmas fare, for which many, many apologies. Have a good one.



And watch out for Jerry Garcia's appearance 50 seconds into this one: