Gallo releases podcast about how apartheid shaped SA music

Gallo Vault Sessions is a six-part series that explores South Africa’s rich and complex musical history through the lens of the record label. Titled ‘Radio, Race & Genre in South Africa’, the latest episode is available for streaming and explores the impact that the SABC and in particular Radio Bantu had in shaping apartheid’s grand separate development vision.

The episode features veteran broadcaster Shado Twala and legendary musician Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, among others, and is accompanied by Vusi Hlatywayo’s vinyl mix exploring Radio Bantu and beyond.

“We should remember at that time, the SABC was the only existing medium of disseminating information,” Mabuse said. “So, if the SABC felt that the music was not desirable, they would immediately just ban it.” 

‘Radio, Race & Genre in South Africa’ moves from the launch of Radio Bantu led by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey, through to the popularisation of maskandi and its first major star Phuzushukela; and on to one of Gallo’s first major global hits, the tsaba-tsaba jazz standard ‘Skokiaan’ covered dozens of times by artists from around the world.

The documentary discusses the impact of US soul on South African music, including Jacob Mpharanyana’s seminal Sesotho cover of Percy Sledge’s ‘Take Time to Know Her’. It also explores the threat the apartheid regime saw in a new wave of politically minded and English-singing musicians.

“The SABC would not listen to a black rock ‘n roll band, because it was undesirable for African musicians to be influenced by English; unless we become bad influences of language within radio stations,” Mabuse said. “Certainly for us as a so-called black rock band, we were monitored sternly because most of the music would have been maskandi or mbaqanga or a capella. And so that kind of music they were more comfortable with.”

The remaining Gallo Vault Sessions episodes will be broadcast as follows:

• 25 May – Episode 3: The Cultural Project of Whiteness & Afrikanerdom
• 29 June – Episode 4: Talent Scouts & In-House Producers
• 27 July – Episode 5: South Africa Abroad/Beyond the Cultural Boycott
• 24 August – Episode 6: The Transition Years: ’90s and 2000s Club Scenes