Search This Blog

Tuesday 19 November 2019

Retro Rockin' in Roodepoort

I got back yesterday from one of my regular trips to Cape Town. I'm afraid that musically it was slim pickings - my regular Tsonga Disco supplier closed a couple of years ago, and the chain stores now mostly sell games and DVDs (like chain stores everywhere it seems). However I managed to get a few goodies from Mabu Vinyl.

One of cheap CDs I got there turned out to be entirely blank, which was disappointing (but by no means the worst things I've ever bought).

The other was a 2006 sampler from Fresh Records featuring highlights of their RetroFresh series of reissues of South African rock albums from the late 1960s to mid-late 1980s. One of today's selections dates from 1970, the other from 1981. I think you'll probably be able to work out which is which.

"Out Of Tune" - Peach

"Blue Wednesday Speaks" - Abstract Truth

The biggest rock/pop band in South Africa in the 1970s was probably Rabbitt. The two main men went on to work with well-known British bands in the 1980s. One was Trevor Rabin, who gave Yes their biggest hit with  'Owner of a Lonely Heart'. The other was Duncan Faure, who took over as lead singer of a band that I know there is a lot of love for among some of our regular readers.

2 comments:

  1. Your first track is from 1981, the second from 1970. I am very taken with the Abstract Truth track. That Bay City song and video are totally preposterous

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How could any video that features Woody on the cludgie ever be described as preposterous?

      Delete