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

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Police interference in both punk concerts and those at which The
Usuals played most certainly occurred, and was usually in the
cause of curfew regulations. The manner in which curfews were
enforced, however, brings into question the real motive behind
police presence at concerts. Richard Ellis remembers ,an incident
when the band played three minutes over their midnight curfew on
a religious holiday, and were subjected to a number of police
entering the venue and kicking over drums and equipment in the
effort to enforce the curfew! This kind of abuse could only stem
from a deeper ideological conflict which, in a politically­
charged atmosphere, came to the surface. The fact that The
Usuals' music defied apartheid divisions, and spoke out blatantly
against the system was surely a better cause for police
interference than the petty violation of a curfew. Although such
a statement cannot be proven, it certainly has some merit.
The fact that reggae rhythms formed much of the basis for The
Usuals' sound, was not incidental. It is true that reggae was
enjoying worldwide popularity in the early 1980s, and therefore
it was not an entirely new sound in South Africa. The fact that
The Usuals were an all-white band, however, made their use of
reggae fairly unconventional, since most white bands at the time
were either punk, new wave or mainstream rock. Reggae was very
much a politicised music, one which represented a struggle for
freedom and a confirmation of black identity. Thus its use in a
apartheid-ridden South Africa by an all-white band could be
viewed as potentially explosive, and should be treated with
particular interest.
As has been mentioned, The Usuals superimposed many musical
layers on top of its reggae foundation, and thus created an Afro­
rock-reggae sound which was quite unique. An example is 'No Great
Shakes' off their Law of the Jungle album. 'No Great Shakes' has
an Afro-reggae feel with which one cannot help but link with the
urban black musician. His presence is communicated through the