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100 place in townships surrounding the city.5 Furthermore, many of the early rock bands were playing covers rather than writing their own material, and therefore, little politically-conscious music was written. Instead, bands based their repertoire on the British charts and sought to emulate the British rock scene in every way possible. Why was this the case? Why did the majority of rock bands in Durban ignore the political climate in which they found themselves? In some part, this was due to the successful censorship of the press and the physical separation of race groups (which prevented interaction). Very few of the early white rock bands made little if any conscious attempt to address or confront the apartheid system through their music. (There are, of course, exceptions to this trend. Bands which did confront apartheid will be discussed later in the chapter). When asked whether this was a conscious decision, the general consensus of those interviewed was that their music was more a hobby at that stage. Another possible explanation for the obsession with British trends by Durban youth has to do with a poor self-image. The emulation of the British scene could be an indication of the extent to which the white youth of Durban looked elsewhere for models with which to identify, rather than forging their own in the light of their existence in a newly formed Republic based on principles very different from Britain. It could be ventured that the lack of a distinctive local identity was a consequence of the isolation young people in Durban felt. It should be remembered that Natalians voted against the republicanisation of South Africa in the 1960 referendum. Thus, with South Africa having recently become independent of 5 Craig Ross (The Genks) , Mervyn Gershanov (The Mods), Robbie Pavid (The Mods), Dawn Selby (The Third Eye) were some of the.musicians who indicated that they had little or no knowledge of the violent and inhumane manner in which the apartheid state carried out their policies.
101 Britain, Durban youngsters strove even harder to maintain links with Britain, and what better way than identifying with a youth culture which emanated from Britain? Perhaps white musicians felt that looking too deeply into the South African political situation would have isolated them more, and would have emphasised the worldwide rej ection of South Africa which was beginning to be felt in the mid-1960s, and brought to fruition by the United Nations cultural boycott in 1983. The quote from Kramer in Chapter One bears witness to the negativity and shame associated with being South African during the apartheid era, and supports my assertion that identifying with British (and at times American) models was perhaps a way of rejecting the stigma of being South African: ... A lot of us are trying to escape being identified with South Africa because South Africa has all sorts of connotations -- negative connotations 6 This issue of identity is dealt with in more detail in Chapter Five. Discrimination Experienced by Musicians Although white rock musicians in Durban were not at the mercy of the discriminatory laws, they certainly were restricted to a large extent from exploring cross-cultural styles since creative interaction between race groups was neither encouraged nor made easy. Black rock musicians in Durban, however, were directly subject to discriminatory legislation, and found themselves in an increasingly restrictive environment. Non-white bands were not allowed to compete for popular music awards (e. g. The Sarie Awards), and their generally greater degree of impoverishment meant that it was even harder to make a living out of music than their white counterparts. Furthermore, most of the non-white bands did not have any access to recording facilities, which I means that today, their forays into rock music are difficult to 6 Music Scene, April 1982.
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Lindy van der Meulen FROM ROCK 'N '
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ABSTRACT This thesis introduces the
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INTRODUCTION Reasons for Research T
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Thus, my twenty year period spans a
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Theoretical Perspectives Broad Theo
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13 rock musicians. Although I never
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18 a culture not different from my
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Chapter 5 20 Chapter Five addresses
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22 The line-up of the band went thr
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24 Africa. Although South Africa (o
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28 venues opened up in Durban which
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31 'sessions', and therefore were i
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33 bills. The separation of populat
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36 a 'golden decade' of opportuniti
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38 would give to South African pop
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49 have caused Durban rock bands to
Page 59: 52 During this period, the scope fo
Page 64: 43 57 If you make a jigsaw puzzle,
Page 69: 62 members. This did not seem to af
Page 78: 71 Durban Rag concert in early 1984
Page 82: 75 Usuals played mainly reggae and
Page 85 and 86: 78 The streetrockers played a comme
Page 87: 80 greatest gift to song - the orga
Page 90 and 91: Figure 3. 83 The Mods From left to
Page 92: Figure 5. 85 Young Fan in a Paper F
Page 95: Figure 8 (please turn over). 88 Cro
Page 98 and 99: Figure 10. 90 Wild Youth and Fans i
Page 101 and 102: Figure 13. 93 Powerage From left to
Page 103: 95 CHAPTER 3 ROCK MUSIC IN DURBAN I
Page 107: 99 government and big business were
Page 114 and 115: 106 changing. We were lucky. We cam
Page 118: 110 Nothing really changed I'm glad
Page 123: 11 5 The Workers' resistance moveme
Page 127 and 128: 11 9 a final attempt to regain cont
Page 129: 121 Another song entitled 'System'
Page 133 and 134: 125 use of a maskanda-like guitar r
Page 138 and 139: 130 CHAPTER 4 WOMEN AND ROCK IN DUR
Page 140 and 141: 132 relationship of women to the ge
Page 142: 134 in the workplace [or band] .dO
Page 145: 137 family and band life. In practi
Page 153 and 154: 145 music and bitterly resented the
Page 156 and 157: 148 participate more actively in ro
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..' 151 played by men (bass, electr
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Conclusion 153 This chapter has exp
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and when 156 less formally organize
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159 South Africa). Durban record co
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161 of Warner Brothers) and EMI. Th
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163 Independent Record Companies an
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165 local rock was inferior. Accord
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170 strike one as particularly ente
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CONCLUSION 173 CHAPTER 6 This thesi
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2 Cullen, J. 'Bruce Springstein's A
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4 Martin, D. (tiansl V. Morrison),
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Newspapers and Magazines The Daily
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8 ________• 'Love You A Little Mo
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Interviews 11 Baney, Brian, A Stiff
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13 11. Leopard, 'Underestimator', f
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