Mahotella Queens

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Mahotella Queens
Mahotella Queens, 2010 Left to right: Nobesuthu Mbadu, Hilda Tloubatla, Mildred Mangxola
Background information
Origin	Johannesburg, South Africa
Genres	Mbaqanga, mgqashiyo
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Gallo, AS Entertainment
Members	Hilda Tloubatla Amanda Nkosi
Past members	Mildred Mangxola Nobesuthu Mbadu

The Mahotella Queens is a South African female band formed in 1964 by music producer Rupert Bopape, consisting of Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu, and Amanda Nkosi. The group is noted for their distinct vocal harmony sound, guitar-led mbaqanga music, and fast stage dancing.

Bopape was a talent scout and producer at the independent Gallo Africa's subsidiary dedicated to black music, Mavuthela Music Company. He formed the Mahotella Queens as the company's resident girl group and the ensemble, often led by the deep-voiced male vocals of Simon 'Mahlathini' Nkabinde, went on to have many hit records during the 1960s. The Queens line-up during this period usually comprised Hilda Tloubatla, Juliet Mazamisa, Ethel Mngomezulu, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola. The Queens and Mahlathini were backed by Mavuthela's house band, the Makgona Tsohle Band (including Marks Mankwane on lead guitar and West Nkosi on alto saxophone). In 1972 the line-up of the Mahotella Queens disintegrated after royalty disagreements with Bopape; Mahlathini left the company in a similar dispute with the producer. However, with a change of membership, the Queens remained productive and popular into the 1970s and 1980s. In 1987, following the explosion of interest in South African music, the Queens line-up was rejigged and three of its original singers – Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola – returned to the group. In combination with Mahlathini, the group forged a successful international touring career that lasts to this day.

In spite of the deaths of Mahlathini, Marks Mankwane and West Nkosi during the late 1990s, the Mahotella Queens continue to perform and record in the 21st century. In 2013, long-serving member Mildred Mangxola retired from the group. She was replaced by a new recruit, Amanda Nkosi. Nobesuthu Mbadu died in 2021.

History

1964 – 1972

Initially, Rupert Bopape formed a team of female singers that would record songs under various group pseudonyms.^[1] Some of the most successful early recordings had been issued with the same name, Mahotella Queens, and it was this name that became the most recognisable to listeners. The line-up of the group would consist of five singers taken from a larger pool of vocalists that included Hilda Tloubatla, Juliet Mazamisa, Ethel and Francisca Mngomezulu, Mildred Mangxola, Nobesuthu Mbadu, Windy Sibeko, Mary Rabotapi (formerly of vocal group The Skylarks) and Nunu Maseko.^[1]

The music produced by the combination of Mahlathini, the Mahotella Queens and the Makgona Tsohle Band developed heavily on the familiar mbaqanga sound, a type of jive music that fused traditional and modern elements together and played on electric instrumentation. Their take on this music evolved into a unique style referred to as "mgqashiyo", featuring up-tempo female harmony combined with powerful male bass vocal. Mahlathini became well known in his own right as a groaner, the name given to male lead singers with particularly deep and "groaning" vocals.

The group would have hit singles throughout the 1960s, including "Thoko", "Sithunyiwe", "Pitsa Tse Kgolo", "Ngikhala Ngiyabaleka" and "Izulu Liyaduduma". Some of their most successful singles were compiled onto albums such as Meet the Mahotella Queens (their first LP), Indoda Mahlathini, Marena, Marks Umthakathi and Umculo Kawupheli.

1972 – 1987

In 1972, Mahlathini and several of the Queens members departed the group following royalty disputes with Rupert Bopape. Many of the members joined rival groups such as Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje.^[1] Mahlathini moved to another record company where he recorded with a new group of vocalists, titled simply The Queens, and backed by a new instrumental band. Bopape worked with the members of the Makgona Tsohle Band to replace the members of the Mahotella Queens who had departed. The newer line-up consisted of Emily Zwane, Beatrice Ngcobo, Thandi Radebe, Thandi Nkosi and Caroline Kapentar. In 1972, West Nkosi was promoted by Bopape to a producing role. One of his early productions was a then-unknown choir, Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

The Mahotella Queens continued to record and perform successfully throughout the 1970s, on many occasions in combination with groaner Robert 'Mbazo' Mkhize, who was also the lead vocalist of Mavuthela's successful male group Abafana Baseqhudeni. Guitarist Marks Mankwane became the producer of the Queens following the retirement of Rupert Bopape in the late 1970s. The group's material included albums like Izibani Zomgqashiyo, Tsamaya Moratuoa, Thatha Izimpahla Zakho, Ezesimanje and Tsa Lebowa. During the 1980s, the Queens' popularity dipped as a result of changing musical tastes, and mbaqanga was eventually usurped as the favoured music of the townships by styles such as soul and disco.^[1]

1987 – 1999

In 1983, Mankwane reunited Mahlathini with five of the original Mahotella Queens for a spin-off group titled Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo. However, the decline of mbaqanga music meant that the project lasted only a year. Mankwane continued to produce the Mahotella Queens while Mahlathini decided to join forces with the West Nkosi-produced trio

After a period of mourning, the Mahotella Queens decided to return to the music industry. They recorded a new album in 2000 titled