FROM ROCK 'N 'ROLL TO HARD CORE PUNK - UKZN ...

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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.