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Mandela is 90

July 17th, 2008 7 comments

In the late “80s, the apartheid Security Branch raided my place a couple of times. That sounds more grandiose than it really was: my part in the destruction of the racist regime was minute. The fact that the SB was investigating at all me shows just how pervasive the bastards really were. I also hasten to point out that by the second raid, they had dispatched the intellectual rejects from the absolute bottom of their inbreds” gene pool. Captain Domgat”s line of interrogation included the question: “Are your friends European?”, employing the popular noun by which the racists liked to describe themselves. I could muster no greater wit than to reply that they were all born in South Africa. Captain Domgat was too feeble to rephrase his question. A fearsome interrogator he was not.

All the while a strong wind was blowing through the window, making the pages of my Marilyn Monroe calendar flutter. That made me nervous, because behind the calendar hung a picture of Nelson Mandela. That was contraband: it was illegal to own images or writings by banned persons, such as Mandela (especially Mandela), and illegal to publish these.

I got away with the pic, but had no such luck with a video film of Mandela”s life. Captain Domgat had instructed me to play all my videos. So by the time I got to the tape labelled something like Uncle Bert”s 60th Birthday Party, I knew I was in trouble. I remembered that last time I had stopped the video, it was at the scene of the Sharpville massacre. So I “accidentally” pressed the fast forward button, hoping to arrive at a non-descript scene, perhaps of Nelson and Winnie tasking a romantic stroll (without being stopped by a stupidly moustached cop like Captain Domgat demanding to see their passbooks). Of course, when I caught my “mistake” and pressed play, the film showed somebody building a bomb”¦ I never saw the video again. But I got off lightly. People were persecuted for lesser things.

All this is to mark the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, the greatest man alive, on Friday, July 18. I”ve been in close proximity to Mandela only twice. I”ve met many famous people, but none with an aura like that man. I could almost cut it.

I have written before about the day Mandela was released (link here). Now that he is frail and very old, I dread the day he dies. Not because I expect that his death will unleash a torrent of civil unrest, but because a world without Mandela will be a world diminished. Rarely have the traits of idealism, principle, pragmatism, intelligence, integrity, honour, courage, charisma, charm and generosity of spirit coalesced in one man to such degrees as it has with Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Whatever the man”s personal failings, and he certainly was no Gandhi, his peace building in South Africa was nothing less than heroic.

Sadly his legacy ““ a model democratic dispensation ““ is being distorted and wrecked by his successors in the ANC who display little by way idealism, principle, pragmatism, intelligence, integrity, honour, courage, charisma, charm or generosity of spirit. The current leadership, and that which it has replaced, is by and large morally tainted. What heritage of Mandela”s is being sustained when two leaders undertake to “kill for Zuma” should the presumptive future president of South Africa be made to answer charges of corruption and racketeering in court?

Still, even in this political climate, Mandela remains a hero. Everybody wants a piece of him. Every two-bit celebrity or slimy pol who comes to South Africa wants an audience with him. I suspect that these audiences are contingent on contributions being offered to the various foundations in Mandela”s name. If so, how much did it cost Gerri Halliwell to touch Mandela”s arse? And, speaking of fundraising, what sort of wankwit will shell out $17,000 for a platinum bangle bearing the numbers 46664, Mandela”s prison number which now is the name of his AIDS charity? Charity bling is just obscene. That is not to say that Mandelas”s foundations don”t do good work. But I am alarmed by the apparent commoditisation of Mandela (note that I don”t call him by his clan name Madiba, an overused name which at once indicates affection and lack of respect if not employed by those close to him). Oh, but Mandela has loads of pop pals. Ole Blue Shades is a good friend of Mandela”s too, the ingratiating tosser.

The world would be a poorer without Mandela, but a better place without those ghastly 46664 concerts. Before the first 46664 concert in Cape Town, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics pontificated about how South Africa must address its poverty problem. Of course, being thus put in place by this man of stature and relevance, the government lurched into immediate action. And at a more recent 46664 concert in Johannesburg, Stewart”s erstwhile sidekick, the ghastly Annie Lennox, positioned herself next to Mandela as he made a speech about sexual responsibility as a way to fight AIDS et cetera. All the while Lennox was emphatically nodding her head, as if her consent to Mandela”s words would persuade “the kids” to “listen to this man”. Did that delusional cow think that a sign of her dissent would in any way impair the reception of Mandela”s speech?

I blame Mandela”s people who are obviously so clueless as to think that Annie Lennox or Sting are relevant. They probably are the kind of people who”ll profess a passion for soul music. You know, like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. How difficult is it to round up two dozen authentically relevant acts for those 46664 gigs (if one must have them in first place). I”d be happy to invite Mandela around to my place to give him some guidance on the matter. As long as I don”t have to give money to his behemoth, overstaffed charities.

Here is some music to celebrate Mandela”s birthday. Hugh Masekela”s urgent and danceable Bring Him Back is a live version of his 1987 song (which could not have anticipated that Nelson and Winnie would one day divorce). Brenda Fassie was the queen of South African pop, which did not prevent her from making political statements such as this excellent song about Mandela, released in 1989 when the regime was making its last bitter stand. I posted the Bright Blue track a year ago: Weeping, from 1987, was the first big hit by a white South African group to blantantly criticise the apartheid regime. It features strains of the struggle anthem Nkosi Sikel’ iAfrica, yet it was not banned on state-owned radio. Peter Tosh”s Apartheid, from 1977, probably does not express Mandela”s mind (“You in me land” sounds more like Mugabe”s gig), but it was a popular song among anti-apartheid activists during the struggle. I needn”t introduce 1984″s Free Nelson Mandela (also reposted) or Sun City from the following year.

Brenda Fassie – Black President.mp3
Hugh Masekela – Bring Him Back Home (live).mp3
Artists United Against Apartheid – Sun City.mp3
Peter Tosh – Apartheid.mp3
The Special A.K.A. – Free Nelson Mandela.mp3
Johnny Clegg & Savuka – Asimbonanga.mp3
Bright Blue – Weeping.mp3

The other files are of historical interest. Two files of Mandela speaking, on recorded during the Rivonia trial which sentenced him to life imprisonment, the other from his first speech as a free man in February 1990 (on this clip he restates his iconic manifesto from the Rivonia trial). The other spoken file is the judge, Quartus de Wet, sentencing Mandela and his co-accused (including the saintly Walter Sisusulu). Note his use of the word non-European; perhaps he was Captain Domgat”s uncle. Then there are sounds from the struggle: the freedom song Rolihlahla (Mandela”s Xhosa name), the full anthem (compare to the hybrid version of South Africa”s current national anthem), and a clip of chanting to the wardance-like toyi toyi.

(Links below updated on March 16, 2009)

Nelson Mandela – Demand for equal rights for African People (Rivonia Trial).mp3
Rivonia Trial – Sentencing (Judge Quartus de Wet).mp3
Nelson Mandela – Day of release from prison, Cape Town 1990.mp3

Struggle Songs – Nkosi Sikel’ iAfrica.mp3
Struggle Songs – Rolihlahla.mp3
Struggle Songs – Toyi Toyi Beat.mp3

Music for Bloggers Vol 2

August 7th, 2007 2 comments

Here is the second installment of my favourite blogs (and a couple of bloggish websites). Again, my apologies if someone feels ignored — they may well feature next time.

Fullundie
I might be easily impressed, but as a ’60s and ’70s soul fan, I am constantly blown away by Fullundie’s collection of soul albums from the era, many of which were already difficult to find when LPs could still be bought at record shops. Fullundie is a goldmine. Here’s one of my favourite ’70s soul songs (just noticed that I forgot to correct the filename. Sloppy! It’s correct in the ID tag):
The Five Stairsteps – Ooh Child.mp3

Mr Agreeable
British music writer David Stubbs is a genius. His site is not really a blog, but a collection of incisive articles and pure comedy. The Reaper is particularly brilliant, slaying sacred cows with asinine wit and knife-sharp logic. Also check out his Match Reports of England’s football games as written from the perspective of an old aristocratic xenophobe who believes that Britannia ruling the waves is the natural order as ordained by God (doubtlessly an Englishman of noble birth himself). Read a Mr Agreeable invective to make sense of my choice of song.
Martha Wainwright – Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole.mp3

Greatest Films
Not a blog, but possibly my all-time favourite non-music site. I discovered it a decade or so ago, when it was still in its infancy, and delighted in the detailed scene-by-scene synopses, with liberal quotes from dialogue, of the classic movies I loved “” and many I had not yet seen. And all that illustrated with the relevant movie posters. Today the site is legendary, as it deserves to be, with even Roger Ebert bigging it up (pity about the pop-ups though). I e-mailed webmaster Tim Dirks a few times back in the day, and he was very friendly indeed. And from my joint favourite film of all time, Singing In The Rain:
Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor & Debbie Reynolds – Good Morning.mp3

Peanut’s Playground
The Peanut and I like much of the same kind of music. That means that when I check out Peanut’s Playground, I find that I already have most of the music on offer (which is just as well, because the Peanut puts it all on Rapidshare, which hates me). The fun is in reading the blog, with all sorts of diverting features, such as the Top 25 Albums of all time kind of lists and the new “The Movie of My Life”s Soundtrack“ gig. And I really like the design. The Playground pals have voted their 25 top albums of all time, getting some things terribly wrong (I mean, is Arcade Fire’s Funeral really the best album ever?). Each to their own, of course. In my view, Pet Sounds, Abbey Road and The Queen Is Dead are the only albums which would even have a sniff at the top 100. Since everybody ought to own Abbey Road already, here’s a cover version of a track from that album.
Peter Tosh – Here Come The Sun.mp3

Just Good Tunes
I love the eclectic, sticking-it-to-the-taste-police attitude of this album blog. The man doesn’t say much, but lets the music speak for itself. Look at the collection on page 1: Steely Dan, Bjork, Dr Seuss, Journey, Miles Davis, Cindy Lauper, and later a character called Slim Dusty, who seems to be a C&W singer. JGT likes Donovan, as do I. Therefore, here’s my favourite song by the Glaswegian troubadour.
Donovan – Atlantis.mp3

Csíkszereda Musings
Andy H is an Englishman who lives in Csíkszereda, on the fringes of Romania, as one does. His blog reflects on life in Csíkszereda, where broccoli is a recent addition to culinary delights, but where Dijon mustard remains conspicuously absent from the deli shelves. Sounds mundane? Not as Andy introduces us to life in Csíkszereda. I doubt that Andy is a massive Lisa Loeb fan, but he does support Sheffield Wednesday, so…
Lisa Loeb – Waiting For Wednesday.mp3

Mulberry Panda 96
There are movie sites I which read for the essential information “” did a movie receive good reviews; who’s in it etc “” and there are movie sites I read to be entertained. I have found few of the latter that have hit the spot, but Mulberry Panda 96 strikes the right note, with a bit of a light touch and lack of pretension. Here is the greatest song from a movie in this decade (or, indeed, many others), by Stephen Trask.
Hedwig & the Angry Inch – Wig In A Box.mp3

The Black Hole
Liz will not speak to me ever again if I don’t show her blog some love. Not a blog for grand manifestos, yet in its totally The Black Hole amounts to a grand manifesto via smart Oceanian slogans at the end of most posts. I imagine that every morning, Liz’s computer asks: “So, Liz, what are we going to do today?” And Liz replies: “Same as we do every day…” Liz loves U2 and hates ABBA (a deplorable inversion of good taste), so what better dedication than this:
U2 – Dancing Queen (live).mp3

SecretLove
Pure dude got it bad, falling in love with someone he shouldn’t have (ha, no, I won’t put up that song). So he guides us through his emotions through the medium of song lyrics and poetry. Even if not every lyric and all the poems are a Shakespeare sonnet, they express SLs emotions sincerely. And all of us who have had their hearts broken by love hat couldn’t or wouldn’t be can totally empathise. This song breaks my heart:
Jem – Flying High.mp3

Hot Chicks With Douchebags
I follow this blog, guiltily, for stuff like the pic on the right, with the Oompa Prompa in pink (who I’m sure is a lovely guy, but if he walked down your road, how would you react?). It’s a pretty mean spirited site, really, but some of these guys”¦what are these girls doing with them (unlike the hapless Oompa Prompa, there are some proper sleazeballs on that site)? At the same time, look at some of the girls, and wonder what the douchebags are doing with them. Anyway, for a bit of vindictive laughter at douchebags who pull beautiful girls like we nice guys couldn’t, this blog is sweet, and often very funny, revenge.
Joe Jackson – Is She Really Going Out With Him.mp3