78s fRom HeLL: The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - In The Mood (1954)
In 1947, when the nation of Zimbabwe was still known as Southern Rhodesia, musician August Msarurgwa first recorded his instrumental composition Skokiaan.
(the title refers to a kind of local moonshine)
By 1954, Msarurgwa and The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band had released a version of it on the London label.
It then became a huge worldwide hit (perhaps the first international hit record to come out of Africa), and spawned many cover versions recorded in a variety of styles by many artists over the years.
*** BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FLIP SIDE ?? ***
I absolutely love this. Glenn Miller's slick and classic big band number is turned on it's head and given new life by a small African dance combo. I'll assume the vocals are in Shona, the language of the area. Is it Msarurgwa singing? Who knows...
Enjoy!!
Listen to: Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - In The Mood (click for audio)
Listen to: Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - Skokiaan (click for audio)
⬇ ADDENDUM, 10/31/07: The small story below delves just a bit into the 'Skokiaan phenomenon', as the record first became popular and begat it's numerous cover versions.
I recently found this article in an old copy of Downbeat magazine, dated September 8th, 1954.
7 comments:
I can't thank you enough for your learning to share. My father and I have been looking for the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band ever since we found that his original London 45 had been broken.
When we gave my parents their first computer ten years ago, one of the first things that we searched for on the net was this 45. At that time there was nothing. Through the years I have found occasional mention of the song, usually by someone else.
Today my parents were visiting, and I was showing them how to use the iPod we had given them. At 82, they are remarkably techno-savvy, but it still takes some instructions to explain such radical paradigm shifts as digital recordings. Today's revelation was "Make playlist from selection..." However, when I mentioned browsing for something in the iTunes store, he instantly thought of "Skokiaan," and I knew what he was going to say even before he said it. Lo and behold, this time Apple has about thirty versions of the song. Unfortunately, they did not have the original, which clearly outshines all other versions (including marimba, steel drum, steel guitar versions, etc.). So, I tried one more time on the internet and there you were. We now have beautiful versions of both songs from the original 45.
We simply can't thank you enough for your quriky collection and your willigness to share. Keep up the good work.
Tim McMullen
TIM!
THANK YOU. I'm hoping you'll see this response to your kind comment. You've made my day! I see a comment like this, and I think 'mission accomplished'.
That it is for this particular record makes it all the more sweet.
Your story of your father and the ongoing search for it rings a bell. I have my own saga of seeking this record out for *years*, after having heard it once long ago.
Finally stumbling on to my 78 copy completely by chance (back in pre-internet, pre-eBay days, when tales of 'the hunt' could be fraught with drama for record geeks like me).
Spending more years searching in vain for a better copy, a re-release, an easy way to clean up the sound quality of the version I had...
Thanks again for sharing your story. I'm printing out your comment, to post on my bulletin board next to my computer.
Stop by any time, and give my best wishes to your parents!
I'd just like to send out a huge THANK YOU for putting this recording online. I actually own the original 45 of the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band version, but I wanted a digital version so I could listen on my computer and iPod. Like the previous commenter, I searched and searched in vain for it online for quite some time. The search produced no fewer than 20 other versions of Skokiaan, some quite interesting -- but nothing compares to the original, which remains far and away the best version. Imagine my glee when I tried one more search and -- bingo bango bingo! -- you had it. Yes, I know I could have learned how to make an mp3 off of my antiquated turntable, but that's beyond my technical capabilities, frankly. You've done a great service to humanity. Rare recordings like this need to be preserved digitally forever. Thanks!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
I've been looking for these recordings ever since my 45 "disappeared" decades ago. It's the BEST version!! Screw the covers!!
The lyrics to "In the mood" are sung in Isindebele, a derivative of the Zulu language. (as it says under the title on the 45)
Thy translate as something like:
"You, (older) brother, you sleep here"
repeated
also (older) sister,mother and everyone, in place of brother.
And "kulungile", translates to "it is good"(or right)
What a pair of awesome songs.
Thank you for posting Skokiaan. I had given up searching for it. That recording came out just after I hit puberty; and it and a host of covers were playing on juke boxes that year. It changed my narrow view of music and got me interested in jazz, pop, and world music forms. Last night I watched a Santa Cruz street marimba band playing (Kuzanga) and was inspired to search the Internet again. This time Wikipedia's article was greatly expanded and more informative. Their link led me to you and I am most grateful to be able to hear the original again!
Thank you,
Ken Parker
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