Mahlathini
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Mahlathini | |
---|---|
Natal, Union of South Africa | |
Died | 27 July 1999 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | (aged 62)
Genres | Mbaqanga |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 1964-1999 |
Labels | Mavuthela Music Company, Satbel Record Company |
Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde (1937 or 1938 – 27 July 1999) was a South African
Early career and life
Nkabinde was born in
Professional career
In 1964, Rupert Bopape was lured away from EMI to
The 1960s and 1970s were the salad days for Nkabinde and his associated acts. He scored hits on Mavuthela's Motella and Gumba Gumba with very popular numbers including "Sithunyiwe" ("We Have Been Sent", later recorded as "Thokozile" in 1986), "Umoya" ("The Wind"), "Imbodlomane" ("Groaner"), and "Bantwanyana" ("Children", later recorded as "Nina Majuba" in 1986). Nkabinde's success was represented by his national nickname, "Indoda Mahlathini" ("Mahlathini the main man"), and he made thousands upon thousands of concert appearances alongside the Mahotella Queens and the Makgona Tsohle Band.
In 1971, Nkabinde fell out with Bopape and left Gallo-Mavuthela, joining Satbel Record Company under producer Cambridge Matiwane. He recorded with a new female troupe called "The Mahlathini Queens" and a new backing band, "The Mahlathini Guitar Band" (also known as "Indlondlo Bashise"). He scored equal success at Satbel, mostly due to his already-famous moniker and impressive stage presence, and remained very popular throughout the 1970s. However, towards the latter 1970s, soul and disco styles were beginning to take over from mbaqanga as the most popular form of music. Nkabinde continued to churn out mbaqanga material but saw his popularity decline. Mbaqanga-soul became the preferred format, but Nkabinde refused to commercialise and scored little success.
Comeback and international success
By 1983, mbaqanga was being slowly revived after having almost fallen out of favour. This was due to the addition of a more modern drum beat and the highly publicised reunion of the Makgona Tsohle Band, which had disbanded in the late '70s due to the new producer responsibilities of its members (see Makgona Tsohle Band article, reunion section for more info). Nkabinde and the original five Mahotella Queens – Hilda Tloubatla, Juliet Mazamisa, Ethel Mngomezulu, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola – were reunited with the Makgona Tsohle Band. Their comeback album, Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo, sold very well, but the Queens line-up disintegrated after only a few more reunion releases. In their absence, Nkabinde managed, under various pseudonyms including "Mahlathini Nabo", to record a multitude of successful releases with the male vocal trio Amaswazi Emvelo. Many of his tracks also appeared on the groundbreaking British compilation The Indestructible Beat of Soweto.
By the early 1980s, Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu's band Juluka had taken mbaqanga to a new audience with performances in the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town.
In 1986, Paul Simon's influential album and tour Graceland, in which he collaborated with several well-known black South African musicians including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, took place and proved to be the launching pad for a worldwide demand for what was later known as "world music". West Nkosi, by now Gallo-Mavuthela's top producer and the most musically-astute of the Makgona Tsohle Band, regrouped Nkabinde with three of the Mahotella Queens (Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola) to fulfil the demand for African music overseas.
The band recorded their comeback release
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens celebrated their 30th anniversary in 1994 with the album Stoki Stoki, issued internationally on Shanachie Records in 1996.
Later years and death
The group performed their last live concert in 1997 due to Nkabinde's failing health, which had grown rapidly worse since the early 1990s. The team was struck a blow when West Nkosi, their saxophonist and producer until 1991, was killed in a car accident in late 1998. On the very day of Nkosi's funeral, their long-serving guitarist Marks Mankwane died as a result of complications from diabetes. At the start of 1999, the ailing Nkabinde and Mahotella Queens recorded what was to be their last album together, Umuntu, dedicated to Nkosi and Mankwane. Nkabinde's health deteriorated further during the course of the album's production (he appears on only five or six of the twelve songs of the album) and the future of the Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens act was put in doubt. Nkabinde died in Johannesburg on 27 July 1999 due to complications from diabetes.[2][3]
The three Mahotella Queens decided to return to the stage to help keep the music that Nkabinde had popularized alive. Forming a new backing band, the Queens paid tribute to Nkabinde and the Makgona Tsohle Band on their critically acclaimed album Sebai Bai (2001). The Queens have since released successful releases such as Bazobuya (2004), Reign & Shine (2005) and Siyadumisa (Songs of Praise) (2007), and continued to make concert appearances across the globe, particularly in Europe, to massive success.
Legacy
In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Mahlathini at number 153 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[4]
Discography
See also
References
- ^ Denselow, Robin (31 July 1999). "Mahlathini". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Sweeney, Philip (22 October 2011). "Obituary: Mahlathini". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Last Chorus: hitSimon 'hitMahlathini' hitNkabinde". Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine. 44 (1): 29, 31. Fall 1999.
- ^ "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
Sources
- Mbaqanga – Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
- Amuzine – African Music Magazine – 31 October 2000