Juluka

Juluka was a South African music band formed in 1969 by Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu. Juluka means "sweat", and was the name of a bull owned by Mchunu.

Biography

At 14, Clegg met Zulu street musician Charlie Mzila, who taught him Zulu music and dancing over the following two years. In 1969 Clegg and Mchunu met in Johannesburg when the latter went there to find work. The 18 year-old Mchunu challenged the 16 year-old Clegg to a guitar contest, and the two became friends. Soon, they were performing together on the streets and in what few other unofficial venues a multi-racial band could safely play in under apartheid. They were forced to keep a low profile and their success came from word of mouth instead of through traditional publicity. Clegg himself was arrested and beaten up by the police on several occasions for his activities and also for the band's lyrics.

In 1976, they released their debut single, "Woza Friday", followed three years later by a critically acclaimed album, "Universal Men". [ [http://www.talkingleaves.com/pithouse.html Article published on the 21st anniversary of the album's release] ] The album's poetic lyrics were strongly influenced by John Berger's "A Seventh Man" [ [http://abahlali.org/node/240 Online extract from 'A Seventh Man' published in 'Race & Class', 1975] ] as well as Pablo Neruda and Jean-Paul Sartre. Expanding to a quartet, they released a second album, "African Litany", in late 1981. The album's lead single, "Impi", with its pointedly political lyrics about a defeat of the colonial British army by the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana, was banned by South African radio but became an underground hit. (In contemporary South Africa it is often associated with national sports teams.) The album garnered them their first international attention, and they were able to successfully tour Europe and North America in 1982 and 1983.

The group disbanded in 1985 when Mchunu moved back to the farm where he was born in Natal in order to take care of his family. Clegg went on to form a new band, Savuka, with whom he achieved even greater international success. In 1997, however, the two friends came back for a final album together. It did not receive the critical acclaim of early Juluka albums like "Universal Men", "African Litany", "Work for All" and "Scatterlings."

Music

The styles incorporated into Juluka's music are maskanda and mbaqanga, popular musics native to South Africa, and western folk and rock. The band employed various instruments besides the guitar and traditional Zulu instruments, such as the saxophone and, later, synthesizers.

Discography

* "Woza Friday" - 1976 (debut single)
* "Universal Men" - 1979
* "African Litany" - 1981
* "Ubuhle Bemvelo" - 1982
* "Scatterlings" - 1982
* "Work For All" - 1983
* "The International Tracks" - 1984
* "Stand Your Ground" - 1984
* "Musa Ukungilandela" - 1985
* "The Good Hope Concerts" - 1986
* "Le Rock Zoulou de Johnny Clegg & Sipho Mchunu" - 1988 (consisting of most of the tracks from "Ubuhle Bemvelo" and "Musa Ukungilandela")
* "Crocodile Love" - 1997 (released in South Africa as "Ya Vuka Inkunzi")

Members (1983-1985)

*Sipho Mchunu - vocals, guitar, percussion (b. 1951, Kranskop, South Africa)
*Johnny Clegg - guitar, vocals (b. 31 Oct 1953, Rochdale, England)
*Cyril Mnculwane - keyboards (b. South Africa)
*Glenda Millar - keyboards (b. South Africa)
*Scorpion Madondo - saxophone, flute (b. South Africa)
*Gary Van Zyl - bass (b. Riversdale, South Africa)
*Derek De Beer - drums (b. 1954, Johannesburg, South Africa)

References