Johnny Clegg
Born: June 7, 1953
Died: July 16, 2019
in Bacup, Lancashire, England, UK
Died: July 16, 2019
in Bacup, Lancashire, England, UK
Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 1953 – 16 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist.
He first performed as part of a duo - Johnny & Sipho - with Sipho Mchunu which released its first single, Woza Friday in 1976. The two then went on to form the band Juluka which released its debut album in 1979. In 1986, Clegg founded the band Savuka, and also recorded as a solo act, occasionally reuniting with his earlier band partners. Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc, (for "The White Zulu"), he was an important figure in South African popular music and a prominent white figure in the resistance to apartheid, becoming for a period the subject of investigation by the security branch of the South African Police. His songs mixed English with Zulu lyrics, and also combined idioms of traditional African music with those of modern Western styles.
Clegg was born on 7 June 1953 in Bacup, Lancashire, to an English father of Scottish descent, Dennis Clegg, and a Rhodesian mother, Muriel (Braudo). Clegg's mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, and Clegg had a secular Jewish upbringing, learning about the Ten Commandments but refusing to have a bar mitzvah or even associate with other Jewish children at school. He moved with his mother to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at age 6 months, and his parents divorced soon afterwards. At age six, he moved to South Africa with his mother, also spending part of a year in Israel during his childhood.
As an adolescent in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, he encountered the demi-monde of the city's Zulu migrant workers' music and dance. Under the tutelage of Charlie Mzila, a flat cleaner by day and musician by night, Clegg mastered both the Zulu language and the maskandi guitar and the isishameni dance styles of the migrants. Clegg's involvement with black musicians often led to arrests for trespassing on government property and for contravening the Group Areas Act. He was first arrested at the age of 15 for violating apartheid-era laws in South Africa banning people of different races from congregating together after curfew hours.
At the age of 16, he met Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker with whom he began performing music. The partnership, which they named Juluka, began in 1969, and was profiled in the 1970s television documentary Beats of the Heart: Rhythm of Resistance.
After graduating with a BA(Hons) in Social Anthropology from the University of Witwatersrand, Clegg pursued an academic career for four years where he lectured and wrote several seminal scholarly papers on Zulu music and dance. In the early stages of his musical career, Clegg combined his music with the study of anthropology at Wits, where he was influenced by the work of David Webster, a social anthropologist who was later assassinated in 1989.
He preceded each song with snippets of Zulu culture, information, commentary, humor and personal anecdotes relevant and unique to that song, occasionally also incorporating aspects of his Jewish roots in songs such as "Jericho", "Jarusalema" and "Warsaw 1943". ...
Source: Article "Johnny Clegg" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
He first performed as part of a duo - Johnny & Sipho - with Sipho Mchunu which released its first single, Woza Friday in 1976. The two then went on to form the band Juluka which released its debut album in 1979. In 1986, Clegg founded the band Savuka, and also recorded as a solo act, occasionally reuniting with his earlier band partners. Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc, (for "The White Zulu"), he was an important figure in South African popular music and a prominent white figure in the resistance to apartheid, becoming for a period the subject of investigation by the security branch of the South African Police. His songs mixed English with Zulu lyrics, and also combined idioms of traditional African music with those of modern Western styles.
Clegg was born on 7 June 1953 in Bacup, Lancashire, to an English father of Scottish descent, Dennis Clegg, and a Rhodesian mother, Muriel (Braudo). Clegg's mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, and Clegg had a secular Jewish upbringing, learning about the Ten Commandments but refusing to have a bar mitzvah or even associate with other Jewish children at school. He moved with his mother to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at age 6 months, and his parents divorced soon afterwards. At age six, he moved to South Africa with his mother, also spending part of a year in Israel during his childhood.
As an adolescent in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, he encountered the demi-monde of the city's Zulu migrant workers' music and dance. Under the tutelage of Charlie Mzila, a flat cleaner by day and musician by night, Clegg mastered both the Zulu language and the maskandi guitar and the isishameni dance styles of the migrants. Clegg's involvement with black musicians often led to arrests for trespassing on government property and for contravening the Group Areas Act. He was first arrested at the age of 15 for violating apartheid-era laws in South Africa banning people of different races from congregating together after curfew hours.
At the age of 16, he met Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker with whom he began performing music. The partnership, which they named Juluka, began in 1969, and was profiled in the 1970s television documentary Beats of the Heart: Rhythm of Resistance.
After graduating with a BA(Hons) in Social Anthropology from the University of Witwatersrand, Clegg pursued an academic career for four years where he lectured and wrote several seminal scholarly papers on Zulu music and dance. In the early stages of his musical career, Clegg combined his music with the study of anthropology at Wits, where he was influenced by the work of David Webster, a social anthropologist who was later assassinated in 1989.
He preceded each song with snippets of Zulu culture, information, commentary, humor and personal anecdotes relevant and unique to that song, occasionally also incorporating aspects of his Jewish roots in songs such as "Jericho", "Jarusalema" and "Warsaw 1943". ...
Source: Article "Johnny Clegg" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Movies for Johnny Clegg...
Title: Johnny Clegg, le Zoulou blanc
Character: Johnny Clegg
Released: June 14, 2019
Type: Movie
Title: Johnny Clegg - Live At The Nelson Mandela Theatre
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 2007
Type: Movie
Bo-hum! The Zoulou Blanc keeps his hand in with his take on Zulu style. A friendly, sing-along 16 track collection, this local story features songs composed by his early friend and sidekick Sipho Mchunu (on Gijimbeke), as well as his own handiwork (such as Bullets For Bafazana and Great Heart). Tracklist
1 December African Rain 2 Africa (What Made You So Strong) 3 Thamela - Die Son Trek Water 4 African Sky Blue 5 Utshani Obulele (Zulu Version) 6 I Call Your Name (Ngibiza Igama Lakho) 7 The Crossing (O Siyeza) 8 Jongosi 9 Impi 10 The Revolution Will Eat Its Children (Anthem For Uncle Bob) 11 Tough Enough 12 Great Heart 13 Scatterlings Of Africa 14 Cruel Crazy Beautiful World 15 Asimbonanga (Mandela) 16 Dela (I Know Why The Dog Howls At The Moon)
Title: One World, One Voice
Character: Self
Released: December 9, 1990
Type: Movie
An extraordinary music special is the climax to One World week. The brainchild of ex-10cc drummer Kevin Godley, it features the first true global composition involving rock stars, classical musicians and artists from all over the world. Godley and a film crew toured the globe in just 44 days with a 'chain tape', asking musicians to add a new theme or idea. Artists include Sting, Dave Stewart, Peter Gabriel, Clannad, Lou Reed, Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, Afrika Bambaata and the Kodo Drummers.
Title: Songololo: Voices of Change
Released: October 1, 1990
Type: Movie
Songololo: Voices of Change is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Marianne Kaplan and released in 1990.An examination of South Africa in the earliest days of the transition from apartheid to democracy, the film explores the power of music and art as tools of activism and social change, focusing primarily on writer Gcina Mhlophe and musician Mzwakhe Mbuli.
Title: Saturday Night Live
Character: Self - Musical Guest
Released: October 11, 1975
Type: TV
A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.
Title: Celebrating 30 Years of Johnny Clegg: Spirit is the Journey
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
Jonathan Paul Clegg, was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist. He was a close friend of Nelson Mandela and brought his unique fusion of European Pop/Rock and traditional South African music to the rest of the world. This short (one hour) film showcases a number of his favourite Zulu street guitar songs and the distinctive and unusual way the guitar is played in traditional music in South Africa.
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