A Musical Tour of the World: All Countries A-Z One Per Day

Thanks for all the music, everyone. Today we're in Somalia.

I'm going to start with a song Guurkii performed by four Somali singers Saado Cali, Hibo Nuura, Qamar Cabdilahi & Faynuus Sh. Daahir. However, I'll mention that Cali was assassinated by extremists. My notes say that two of the four singers were assassinated by extremists, but I haven't been able to confirm this while double checking.



There have been a lot of songs posted by expatriates from the country of the day. This is Aar Maanta with the song 'Dhadhami'. As is quite clear from the video, Maanta lives in the UK now, London, if the bus numbers are anything to go by. But, I think this song has a lot of Somalia in it, so post. It does help that it's a really enjoyable song, in my opinion.

Next up, here is Maryam Mursal featuring Peter Gabriel with 'Kufilaw'. The comment on the video says 'This one has Real World Records written all over it.' Mursal fled Somalia, taking her children, first to Djibouti, and now she lives in the UK. Wikipedia article here: Maryam Mursal - Wikipedia While we're still in covid-19 lockdown, there is an area in Leicester with many Somali run businesses and I wonder if there is music performed here. Mursal was banned from singing for two years after criticising a military government in Somalia and made her living as a taxi driver. Like most of the artists in this post, she now lives in the UK.

Here is some 70s funk featuring a wah-wah pedal from a time when the country was in less turmoil. Here is The Sharero Band with 'Sharero'. There's a biography of the band in the YouTube video description.

Tomorrow we're in South Africa.

 

Thanks for the excellent selection. I already had a couple of clips by Maryam Mursal on my YT long list. This is a live "Africa Calling" appearance which seems to be at the Eden Project in Cornwall UK and I presume it is from Live 8 day in 2005. - 'Heesteena'



I have to admit to being even less certain than usual of what I am doing today; I found a large number of Somali clips on YT, but a number of these may well be from the Somali Region of Ethiopia; and is Somaliland a separate country or is it not?

This is 'Magiigaan Jaceyl' by Khadra Daahir Cige "The Queen of Somali Art" - I'm not sure when this dates from; possibly the 1980s?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th5FGYwCJ-c&ab_channel=SomaliSwiss
Khadra Cige - Wikipedia

This clip boasts of twelve million views and in fact passed thirteen million yesterday . It is labelled as "Dhaanto Cusub Dirgaax - Jigjiga Dhaanto Party 2013" and I found it irresistible even if it does contain trace of autotune. The video definitely appears to be from the Somali Region of Ethiopia, but I couldn't discover where the singers Bashir Carab and Khadre Haybe are from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_sHXFpAIc8&ab_channel=WaqalWStudío

This is the Dur Dur Band and 'Is Yeelyel'; I believe the singer is Sahra Abukar Dawo. Again, possibly from the 1980s?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY8X4Mt3Suc&ab_channel=PÅL/SECAM
Dur-Dur Band - Wikipedia

'Hees' by Faadumo Qaasim "popularly known as Faynuustii Fanka (the candlelight of the art), one of the pioneers of Somali music, especially in Banadir region (Mogadishu and surrounding areas)" according to discogs. Another clip which may be from the 1980s? One comment has added "Somali music won't ever be this good again"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUyrQYMe4JU&ab_channel=OmarMohamed
Faadumo Qaasim
And here's a brief little clip of her father - "Somali Blues 1970s by the great Qasim Hilowle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdJHJd6IPtw&ab_channel=Bartamaha

I can't resist adding some more Dhaanto; in fact I believe this is Ali Dhaanto who appears to be a resident of Sweden, but here appearing in London in presumably 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fn4sb1tYAU&ab_channel=AbdirahmanSomali

 

Thanks for the selections so far. Somalia is a country that has for all practical purposes disintegrated. Somaliland, while de jure still part of Somalia is de facto independent, but not recognized as such by any other country as far as I know. Puntland is another part that has more or less separated. South-Central Somalia, where Mogadishu is, is in constant turmoil and humanitarian crisis and the Government's power doesn't go much beyond the city's boundaries. And then there is the Somali Ogaden region in Ethiopia and parts of Northern Kenya that have a large Somali population (mostly refuguees, but also indigenous ethnic Somali). So John has the right to be confused about what exactly constitutes Somalia. Aar Maanta, posted by HitAndRun, was also born in Ethiopia, not Somalia.

Keinan Abdi Warsame, better known by his stage name K'naan, is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, born in Mogadishu. Here is his song "Take A Minute". Pretty good actually:
blob:https://www.youtube.com/64ef5957-75f9-4b29-b38e-d263283d6174

Waayaha Cusub ("The New Era") is a Somali musical collective. It is led by singer Falis Abdi. In 2013, the ensemble organized the Reconciliation Music Festival in Mogadishu, the first international music festival to be held in Somalia's capital since the start of the civil war in the early 1990s. In October 2014, Abdi and her band applied for asylum in the Netherlands, where they had been performing a show in Amsterdam, after officials in Kenya revoked their immigration cards. So much for reconciliation... Anyway, here is Waayaha cusub Felis Cabdi hees garbaash "Carabtii ku gadatay" (sorry I can't quite separate the different words and their meaning). It is slightly autotuned, but it looks to me the video is shot in Rotterdam.


And here is a short documentary about Waayaha Cusub in the Spotify series "I'm With The Banned":
https://youtu.be/euZ7EHB9jKE

Mohammed Mooge Liibaan (1945-1984) was a prominent Somali instrumentalist and vocalist from Hargeisa, Somaliland. A member of the Waaberi musical ensemble, before starting his music career he worked as a school teacher then he started singing at an early age with his brother, Ahmed Mooge Liibaan. Mooge is regarded by many Somalis to be one of the greatest Somali musicians to have ever lived. He was very popular for his abilities on the oud, an instrument he would come to be associated with. Here is "Heestii Mahiigan":
https://youtu.be/pJsBZ6s5NR4

Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec (1941– 2014) was a Somali singer, songwriter and record producer, called the King of Voice. He was from the Berbera District of northern Somaliland. Here is "adduunyada":
https://youtu.be/Le1WWX5zCaU

Daoud Ali Masxaf is a Somali Oud player in the qaraami genre. Qaraami is also known as "Somali jazz", but it doesn't sound like jazz to me. Still, it is very nice music. Here is "Qaraami" with nice images of what I assume is Mogadishu in the old days:
https://youtu.be/HVatx5IzC1E?list=PLUGjLDTLB7WB62JC_NPwdyVPHzLIq3vb5

 

This appears to be a "blocked" link for me; I guess this video is the correct one.



Thanks for all the selections, plus the information about the present situation in the country.

 

Yes, that's the one. Thanks for posting, John!

 

Wow! Loads of music posted. I suspect that given my current pile of stuff to do, that I probably won't contribute more tonight. But, I will be watching and listening to everything. Well done everyone! Our cup runneth over.

 

If you think this is a lot, wait for tomorrow hehehe.

 

I'll just add a couple of things that are left over from this morning's posting, and then hand this thread back to Jamsterdammer.

This is labelled as "Somali Folk Dance" -



And this is a mini (4:22) "explainer" about the "Golden Age" of music in Somalia; the 1970s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmPBv7avws&ab_channel=OkayAfrica

Also I did notice these two YT postings, which may be of interest, but didn't get around to watching or listening to them -

"Somali Night Fever: the little known story of Somalia's disco era" (15:46)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjnRW6LQ0GM&t=8s&ab_channel=GuardianCulture

44 minutes of "Somali Funk & Disco of the 1970s & 1980s"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctual-DjZJM&ab_channel=ShaddyAFRO

 

After writing the above, I've decided to chuck some of the tasks I'm supposed to do and give myself more time.

Thanks for the information. Aar Maanta did slip through the net a bit. If I had noted his birthplace I still would have posted him, but would have pointed out his complex geographical history. Which seems very complex. It seems that he was born in Wardheer in Somali Ethiopia, but grew up living both there and in his family home in an unnamed (on Wikipedia and other sources) town in Somali.

Dhaanto Cusub Dirgaax is an early favourite. They very much look to be enjoying themselves, particularly the lady in the green chador. Dur Dur Band also catchy and with a great beat. And natty matching shirts.

I enjoyed all of the tracks. I though I'd search on something from Qasim Hilowle. Here he appears to be being interviewed on television. After a short while he starts singing in a delightfully gravelly voice I thought. And vocal impersonations of guitar riffs. I don't know what he's saying of course.

Labelled on YouTube as 'M.Qasim Hilowle"waxaan ahay fundi lakiin waxaan ku Biirayaa fanka'



Both K'naan and Waayaha Cusub are very catchy, in a good way. The documentary interesting too.

Both of the Mohammed/Mohamed's very good as well, though the last track with the oud stood out as a change of style.

I found a very poppy song from Puntland, but it was just too autotuned for me. So, from the 1980s (apparently) is 'Iftin' by Jacayl Iima Roona. Information such as this page say this is Somali, but I haven't found a birth city so there is risk of the country not quite being Somalia.

And, I thought I had caught up, but there is more

I've sampled at least John's new post. I had seem some of the videos on my trawl. and, I recognised some of the images in the 'explainer' of the golden age. E.g. one picture was the same photo as the cover of 'Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa'. I didn't enjoy what I sampled from that album as much as I expected, but did like 'Qaraami' by Xasan Diiriye. Though it's of similar style to some music that has been posted before.

And also, this track labelled as 'Somali African Traditional Music - Tribal War Chant (Part 1)'

For all of the above, I haven't been able to find solid sources that these tracks are Somali in nationality, not just Somali in culture.

 

Thanks, John. A few things to add:

Abdullahi Qarshe was a Somali musician, poet and playwright known as the "Father of Somali music". In 1957 he wrote and composed the Somali National Anthem, Qolobaa Calankeed. He passed away in 1994. This must have been one of his last performances. The song is called "Heestii Roonow":


And here is a song when he was in his prime. The video is simply called "Abdullahi Qarshe":
https://youtu.be/SaA_Z1xUpHs

Hasan Adan Samatar is a prominent Somali singer, guitarist and theatrical performer. Among the most influential and enduring of Somali singers, Samatar has a musical corpus of over 200 songs. Here is "Heesti Arbaca":
https://youtu.be/9CfY_djTGrw

 

Thanks for all the music, everyone.

Today we're in South Africa.

I'm going to start with something very modern, but it really works for me. I'm not sure what genre I'd put this in - or if it even fits into a widely known genre. This is 2point1 - Batho Bana by 2point1 featuring Butana, Phlyvocals & Berita M.



Another modern song, in a sung style, this is 'Jikeleza' by Bongeziwe Mabandla

Going a little bit jazzy, this is 'Iya Iyo' by Judith Sephum.

Here is something from earlier in Hugh Masekela's career - this is 'Afro Beat Blues' by Ojah and Hugh Masekela.

South Africa could easily be a country where I post two first posts, but I'll restrict myself to a fifth song. This is more what I immediately think of when I think of music from South Africa. I'd like to know what the woman is saying in the middle. This is 'Petiki' by Dikgalala Tsa Orange Farm.

Tomorrow we're in South Korea.

 

Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse - Burnout

I remember this was a huge hit in South Africa the 80's.

 

My favourite South African band.

Stimela - Zwakala (Come to me)

 

I loved this as a kid.

Evoid - Taximan

Great thread, HitandRun! Tx.

 

Thanks @Rubberpigg - I enjoyed those. If Stimela is your favourite South African band then we can definitely have another song. I quickly sampled songs from their 2018 album 'Catch the Train', and decided to include the title track.

 

Thanks for the initial selections from South Africa, 2point1 being my favourites (genre - modern pop music?) from HitandRun's first posting of the day . I suspect one day is going to seem insufficient for today's country, especially once Jamsterdammer arrives on the scene, and already there are some posts by Ruberpigg for me to catch up on, but I will add a few of the videos that I found during my YT travels

Brenda Fassie; "South Africa's first black pop star"; "The Black Madonna"; who died in 2004 aged just 39 after an eventful short life. A number of female singers now appear on YT performing her songs in tribute. This is Brenda's big 1990s hit 'Vulindlela' - the video has had 19.5 million views since being posted to YT in 2011

Obituary: Brenda Fassie
I see that she was named after Brenda Lee

This is 'Khona' by Mafikizolo (Nhlanhla Nciza and Theo Kgosinkwe) feat Uhuru (additional vocals) from 2013 (with 17 million YT views to date)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhk52GlkhVA&ab_channel=KalawaJazmeeTV
Khona - Wikipedia

Now something apparently about, or at least referring to, a professional wrestler 'John Cena' by Sho Madjozi (approaching 20 million YT views since August last year). This may possibly be what youngsters would describe as "banging"? Seeing her performance added to it for me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9bGITkIHmM&ab_channel=COLORS
Sho Madjozi - Wikipedia

The Q Twins (Viggy and Virginia Qwabe) were contestants on "Idols SA" but Viggy quit when her twin Virginia was eliminated - it does not appear to have hurt their careers. This is 'Hamba' feat DJ Tira from earlier this year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EePAHhTcrHU&ab_channel=EzaseAfro
Qwabe twins give South Africa The Gift of Love

Back to 1973/4 for the Mahotella Queens and 'Umculo Kawupheli' with some little clips of the Queens (and their backing group the Makgona Tsohle Band) in the 1970s - this appears to be from a time when several original members had left due to royalty disputes and had been replaced by other singers, but the YT posting indicates that the lead singer Hilda Tloubatla remained present.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFOLyjqb28&ab_channel=NickLotay
Mahotella Queens - Wikipedia

We can't leave out "Mama Africa" - this is a short clip of 'Oxgam' with Miriam Makeba click-singing, I imagine it is from the 1960s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVLn4-J8BqE&ab_channel=MiriamMakebaOfficialChannel

And although Hugh Masekela has already put in appearance, I will add one more thing as it will be the first time - and almost certainly the last - that I have posted any jazz on this thread. Also I now realise that men have been a little under represented in my other selections today - it's 'Vary-oo-vum', a track from "Jazz Epistle Verse One" which wikipedia informs me was the first album by a black South African band, recorded in 1959.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxtyJtl2Tuo&ab_channel=alkis09
The Jazz Epistles :- piano: Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim) / alto sax, clarinet: Kippie Moeketsi / trombone: Jonas Gwangwa / trumpet: Hugh Masekela / bass: Johnny Gertze /drums: Makaya Ntshoko
The Jazz Epistles - Wikipedia

 

Great selections today. South Africa is another powerhouse of African music. I used to visit and travel around South Africa frequently between 1992 and 1997 and have been able to witness up close the transition and the elections that formally ended apartheid in 1994. I was also an election monitor at a polling station for the SA elections in Mozambique. As I was working on the elections in Mozambique itself, planned for the end of that year, the outlook of which didn't look good, all eyes were on SA to see if they could pull it off in a peaceful manner. We all had our doubts, especially when Buthelezi started making common cause with the white supremacist African Resistance Movement (AWB). But they pulled it off and this gave a huge boost of confidence to the Mozambicans, which managed to have their own peaceful elections at he end of the year, formally ending 30 years of civil war. I consider it a privilege to have been a small part of these historic events. A lot of the music I will post today (but not all) will be from that era as it has a special emotional value for me.

First up is Splash with "Khoma Khoma". Splash were a Soweto township band of the 1980s and 1990s led by Dan Tshanda:


The Dalom Kids were an ethnic Basotho band which had a massive hit with the very catchy "Sixolele" in the 80s. The Dalom Kids are the three girls in the picture:
https://youtu.be/KhIfkzMmIuU

Lucky Dube was a South African reggae musician and Rastafarian. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa's biggest-selling reggae artist. Dube was murdered in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville on the evening of 18 October 2007. Here is his song "Prisoner". The video leaves little to the imagination what the song is about:
https://youtu.be/1Z3sVa9SJkI

The Soul Brothers helped define and popularize Mbaqanga music, the township vibe with Zulu roots. They were massive in the 80s and 90s. Here is "Udliwe Zintaba":
https://youtu.be/TL6PbYgYcdY

The African Jazz Pioneers is a South African group that espouses the music of the 1950s, fusing big band jazz with township marabi sounds. Here is "Hellfire" which is indeed catchy as hell:
https://youtu.be/fcZymfdQq4M

 

But there were and are also some great white South African bands and musicians that are worth mentioning. Being from the Netherlands, I understand Afrikaans quite well are fascinated by it. So the first three are Afrikaner artists.

First up is Johannes Kerkorrel (born Ralph John Rabie). "Kerkorrel" means "church organ" and his first band was called "Die Gereformeerde Blues Band", with "gereformeerde" referring to the Dutch Reformed Church. You would think his music was inspired by religion, but quite the contrary. He mainly satirized and criticized Afrikaner society through his songs. Sadly, he hanged himself in 2002. Here is a live performance of the song "BMW". Pretty "out there", musically as well as lyrically:


Fokofpolisiekar (F*ckoffpolicecar) is an Afrikaans alternative rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa formed in 2003. Due to the obscenity in the name, they are also commonly known simply as Polisiekar or FPK. Here they are with "Antibiotika":
https://youtu.be/zsZbmeBUEAE

Gert Vlok Nel is a South African poet and singer-songwriter from Beaufort Wes, a predominantly white small town which has been a main inspiration for his songs. He came to prominance in The Netherlands in 2006 when the ever cutting edge broadcaster VPRO broadcast a documentary of him and a concert in the Bimhuis, Amsterdam. I immediately fell in love with the music, so the next day I went to a record store to buy his album "Beaufort Wes se beautiful woorde" (The beautiful words of Beaufort Wes). The guy behind the counter asked me who this singer was, as I was the 5th or 6th customer that day asking for Gert Vlok Nel. Anyway, I still have the album and do play it sometimes. Here is Gert Vlok Nel - Live in 2006 playing two songs. Just look at his face at the 4:08 mark when the first song ends. It is as if he is waking up from a deep trance:
https://youtu.be/y3o9SK_kS2g

Johnny Clegg was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African peoples. His band Juluka began as a duo with Sipho Mchunu, and was the first group in the South African apartheid-era with a white man and a black man. Later he formed another interracial band called Savuka. He died in 2019 from pancreatic cancer. Here is "Johnny Clegg And Savuka - Scatterlings Of Africa" from 1987:
https://youtu.be/qnYtcH4YS44

 

Thanks @John Hp.

Brenda Fassie's story is very interesting. While she experienced considerable difficulties, she raised herself from a deprived situation when young and certainly became influential in a number of ways.

Like other songs we've heard today we're hearing some chart orientated songs which have interesting and original (to my untrained years) arrangements. Not just cookie cutter songs as can often be found by searching for chart hits in some other countries. Khona being one such example. The video is also impressive visually, and as the Wikipedia page says, potentially makes a point. The song by Sho Madjozi also has an interesting and (to my ears) original style. It's not just aping generic international music. Now watching the Q Twins another enjoyable commercial track. The production values for both music and videos are good. When the rap comes in for the Q Twins track, it again has an interesting distinctive style. The track overall is a bit more generic but there's enough there for interest.

The Mahotella Queens takes us back in time. Mama Africa even more so. I really like her song, though the melody sounds vaguely familiar. Though, I think this is my favourite track from your excellent selection. Though, perhaps Sho Madjozi.... Hmmm. Difficult to choose.

Finally your rare posting of Jazz definitely fits in my with tastes.

@Jamsterdammer has posted while I'm still going through John's tracks. (Yes, I've been snatching minutes here and there.) I'll listen and respond, but later

I don't have anything to reply with which resembles anything that has gone so far. Here, more or less randomly, is South Africa's hardest working Reggae band. 'Rapolotiki' by Tidal Waves. This is probably the most normal song on this page.

 

I will be a bit busy this afternoon so forgive me for doing another post so early. Yes, the Mahotella Queens song that John posted is great. My favorite is when they teamed up with Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde, who was a South African mbaqanga singer. Known as the "Lion of Soweto", Nkabinde is the acknowledged exponent of the deep-voiced, basso profundo "groaning" style that came to symbolize mbaqanga music in the 1960s. My favorite track of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens is "Kazet":


Sipho Mabuse from Soweteo was already posted by Rubberpig. My favorite song by him is the smash hit "Jive Soweto":
https://youtu.be/GDJAeW2HeVo

From the excellent compilation "The Indestructable Beat of Soweto" comes Udokotela Shange Namajaha with "Awungilobolele":
https://youtu.be/WRPCMOu1G5A

For some more Afrikaner music, you could do worse than listen to Van Coke Kartel, established in 2007 by former members (including Francois "van Coke" Badenhorst) of Fokofpolisiekar. Here they are with "Sweef" (glide), with a video that has some male nudity:
https://youtu.be/U8feV8bk2kY

Finally, Koos Kombuis (born André le Roux du Toit) is a singer-songwriter who became famous as part of a group of anti-establishment maverick Afrikaans musicians, who, under the collective name of Voëlvry (directly translated meaning "Free as a bird", but which in Afrikaans also means "outlaw"), toured campuses across South Africa in the 1980s to "liberate Afrikaans from the shackles of its past". Fellow musicians of this movement were Johannes Kerkorrel and Bernoldus Niemand. Here is Koos Kombuis with "Lisa se Klavier":
https://youtu.be/eSNZar71U0A

 

Onto @Jamsterdammer's first batch of songs.

First - wow! An election observer for the South African elections in 1994. Seeing history in motion.

We're getting quite a lot of pop music today, but excellent quality pop music such as The Dalom Kids. Lucky Dube was mentioned by some Reggae bands in the Solomon islands in that Masters thesis I mentioned. They saw his trucks full of gear and heard his concerts, and this was very influential. I wonder how many other Island nations Lucky Dube visited. I wonder how many other island nations he visited and how responsible he is (in a good way) for the popularity of reggae there. Sad to be reminded of his death. The Soul Brothers really know how to make a great video (and great music) in an empty room.

I thought that African Jazz Pioneers might be a supergroup given the list of names, but it seems not. Their music is certainly very accessible. And, that there might be solo work, but I didn't immediately find any. However, I read of their history on their Wikipedia page. And in particular the role of Dorkay House, where it is said (on Wiki) that "On any single day it was the place that one could bump into Dollar Brand, Kippie Moeketsi, Miriam Makeba, Ntemi Piliso, Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa — the list is endless."

Dollar Brand now uses his real name Abdullah Ibrahim, and here is a soft and melodic piano piece of his: 'Maraba Blue'

 

Thanks for all the South African music, the Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens clip, and the African Jazz Pioneers track being amongst my favourites.

But I think I’m going back …. to the 1960s once again … Sharon Tandy was born in the suburbs of Johannesburg but moved to the UK in 1964 with her manager Frank Fenter who would become the managing director of Atlantic Records in Europe. She was the first European based singer to record for Stax Records in Memphis with the MGs, and appeared on some of the dates on the 1967 Stax-Volt Tour of Europe with Otis Redding. Here she was filmed by French TV at the Speakeasy Club in London in 1967 backed by the English group the Fleur de Lys singing Stevie Wonder’s ‘’Uptight (Everything’s Alright)’



and here on TV’s “Beat Club” from the same year, this time lip-syncing the classic ‘Hold On’ with its superbly over the top guitar solo by her then partner Bryn Haworth of the Fleur de Lys (of course he's not South African, but I couldn't resist adding this)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4O-gKNiDXA&ab_channel=Beat-Club
Ace Records

The Velvettes (not to be confused with Motown’s Velvelettes) came to London with the South African musical “King Kong” and remained in the UK afterwards, singing with Cyril Davies’ R&B All Stars, including on the 1963 TV show “Hullabaloo” (the complete series of which has incidentally recently been released on a 2DVD set). They also recorded a 1964 single ‘He’s the One I Want’ in a British version of the Phil Spector girl group sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC3pjaQ1KiI&ab_channel=AnthonyReichardt
and I believe they sang backing vocals on the single ‘She’s Fallen in Love with the Monster Man’ by an artist whose photograph very frequently can be seen in the left hand column of this thread.
https://carlolittle.wixsite.com/carlolittle/rb-years

Now here's a beat group, the Flames from Durban who released four LPs in South Africa during 1965-8; the early ones appear to consist mainly of cover versions; ‘Don’t Ask Me What I Say’ is a Paul Jones song from “The Five Faces of Manfred Mann” LP. The Flames even copy the whistles and shouts from the original version, but it’s not at all a bad effort. (btw. Manfred was also born in South Africa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX7pHMpQo9g&ab_channel=MikePapas
But ‘Solitude’ from their 1968 LP “Soulfire!!” is an original written by one of the Fataar family members in the group, and it’s very different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp5EhJcZ-cc&ab_channel=TheFlames-Topic
The Flames (6) - Soulfire!!
They later recorded an LP as The Flame, produced by Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys; and after the group broke up two of them, Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, became members of the Beach Boys for a few years. Fataar was also Stig O’Hara, the “silent one” of the Rutles; and Chaplin appears to have become an auxiliary member of the Rolling Stones.
The Flames - Wikipedia

Finally from me today, back a lot further to 1939 for ‘Mbube’ aka ‘Wimoweh’ aka ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ by Solomon Lindo’s Original Evening Birds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrrQT4WkbNE&ab_channel=FLORENCOM
Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds - Mbube / Ngi Hambiki
Cover versions of Mbube [Wimoweh] written by Solomon Linda | SecondHandSongs
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Wikipedia

 

Onto @Jamsterdammer's later postings. ... (long time passes) and I listened to them all. Completely. There were so many styles, and great music all around. I'm not sure which was my favourite - all were different and great in their own way.

I'm not sure what to post in response. So, I'll post just one random track. Looking at what we've covered so far, I think we haven't had any electronica. So, from this page on electronica and dance acts, here are Kid Fonque & D-Malice (Feat. Ruby White) with 'Life Is Real (Punk Mbedzi Remix)'.



Oh, just when I think I'm finished, another post has arrived ... Thanks @John Hp. I'll listen to your tracks from now

 

On SHF nothing will ever stay hidden. I didn't know that. LOL. Great selections btw John.

For something more lighthearted, the band Clout was, originally, an all-female South African rock group formed in Johannesburg in 1977, best known for their hit single, "Substitute". They peformed in the most popular pop music show in The Netherlands, called TopPop and as boys we were fascinated with how the singer held her guitar and managed to comfortably accomodate a certain body part... I'm not suggesting that the video contributed to the song becoming a hit, but it didn't hurt either.

 

Thanks for the music. I got through it all at ... 20 to midnight!

As a final post, I was tempted to post the NPR Tiny Desk Concert by the Soweto Gospel Choir. There's also a Tiny Desk Concert by classical guitarist Derek Gripper.

But, I decided that the day couldn't pass without a video from Ladysmith Black Mambazo. So, here they are with 'Homeless'.



So, today the Ladysmith boys get (possibly?) the last word, not the Soweto girls.