Makgona Tsohle Band
Encyclopedia
The Makgona Tsohle Band was a South Africa
n instrumental band that is noted for creating the mbaqanga
music style. The group was formed in 1964 at Mavuthela (the 'black music' division of Gallo Record Company
), and became the Mavuthela house band. It garnered success by backing fellow Mavuthela-Gallo stars, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
. It is often referred to as the South African equivalent to Motown's The Funk Brothers
.
s from Pretoria
. West Nkosi
, born in Nelspruit
in 1940, was sent to live with his grandfather in Pretoria at the age of 16 to find employment. Nkosi found work as a market porter, and then as a house servant, in 1957. During his off-hours, Nkosi played meticulous pennywhistle kwela
tunes outside sports centers or on the streets, in awe of his idol Spokes Mashiyane
, who at that time was a great kwela star. Two fellow domestic workers, Joseph Makwela and Lucky Monama, happened to see Nkosi playing. In awe of his music, Makwela and Monama persuaded Nkosi to teach them how to play rhythmic music. Not long afterwards, they formed their own group The Pretoria Tower Boys, with three more members. Nkosi was on pennywhistle (though he changed to saxophone in the early '60s), as was Monama, with Makwela on guitar. The Tower Boys sometimes encountered another pennywhistle group, led by talented guitarist Marks Mankwane, who hailed from the Warmbaths area. Nkosi said to his band members to look out for Mankwane, who was a very polished musician, having played guitar since he was 12 years old.
Eventually, Nkosi travelled to Johannesburg in 1962 with Monama and Makwela, all of them hoping to join the recording industry. They ended up as session musicians for Gallo Record Company
, playing in producer Reggie Msomi's line-up the Hollywood Jazz Band (Nkosi was now on saxophone, Monama was now on drums, whilst Makwela had made history by becoming the first black electric bassist in South Africa). In mid-1963, Msomi took them on a tour of Northern Rhodesia
, which was to become Zambia
; however, the tour ended up being a disaster, as political turmoil prevented the group's audiences attending their concerts. As a result they were stranded there for six months. When they returned to Gallo in Johannesburg, they found that it had been severely reorganised.
and Alexandra Black Mambazo in the 1950s, set up a new Gallo subsidiary devoted to black music - Mavuthela Music Company, in early 1964. When the Jazz Band returned, they found that Bopape had recruited two new migrant musicians - one of them was Vivian Ngubane, a rhythm guitarist, and the other was none other than Marks Mankwane, their old acquintance from Pretoria, who was now forging a completely new type of up-tempo electric guitar playing than different highly from the old kwela and marabi
jazz stylings. Makwela, Nkosi, and Monama were all audition for Mavuthela, and entered the studio in mid-1964. During a "jam" after a rigorous jazz recording session, the five musicians (Mankwane, Nkosi, Makwela, Monama, and Ngubane) ended up forming a brand new style of music - a style that combined marabi with kwela, and the modern (electric instruments) with the old (traditional Zulu
, Sotho
, and Xhosa
sounds). Bopape, having witnessed this, decided to reorganise the division and group the five men together into what he called the Makgona Tsohle Band, the band that can do anything. Their new music was named mbaqanga
, after a traditional snack made in the rural areas (this term was originally a derogatory name; it eventually became the genre's main name).
To promote them, he formed a new group of female vocalists and paired them with Makgona Tsohle. To front the act, he brought in a young, shy, deep-voiced, "groaner" called Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde. This pairing of mbaqanga with vocals became known as "mgqashiyo", meaning "to bounce", after the "bouncy" rhythms of the style. The female vocalists were released under different names, such as Izintombi Zomgqashiyo, The Dima Sisters, and the Mahotella Queens; the first two biggest selling Mavuthela singles had both been pressed with the same name, Mahotella Queens
, so that was the pseudonym that became etched in the public's memory as the group's name. Not long after, the combination of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
with the Makgona Tsohle Band was thrilling audiences around South Africa and even in neighbouring countries such as Botswana
and Zimbabwe
.
For the remainder of the '60s and most of the 1970s, the Queens and Makgona Tsohle remained extremely productive and popular, despite some large member changes in the Queens line-up. However, when Rupert Bopape suffered a stroke in 1977 and retired, his former charges – Marks Mankwane, West Nkosi, and Lucky Monama, all of them part-time Mavuthela producers – were ready to become full-time producers. This led to Makgona Tsohle disbanding, with a simultaneous faltering of the Mahotella Queens popularity, with disco
and soul
eclipsing local mbaqanga
sounds.
), was launched in 1982. This led to West Nkosi, Mavuthela's top producer, forming a partnership with local studio Trilion Entertainment, in the hope of producing a new TV series about the still-famous Makgona Tsohle Band. Eventually, in 1983, the project came to fruition: Mathaka, a brand-new soap opera/musical comedy featuring the members playing characters who worked in a garage, playing their music during breaks. The series was massively popular with black audiences, who tuned in by the dozens. Nkosi organised the release of two LPs to coincide with the series, Mathaka Vol 1
and Kotopo Vol 2.
Despite the Mathaka series' popularity, the band members complained about insufficient pay. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled in 1984. However, another phase was in store for Makgona Tsohle: Marks Mankwane, for years the Mahotella Queens' sole producer, regrouped the original Mahotella Queens (Hilda Tloubatla
, Nobesuthu Mbadu
, Mildred Mangxola
, Ethel Mngomezulu, and Juliet Mazamisa) with Mahlathini. This reunion resulted in the Mahlathini-Queens-Makgona Tsohle comeback album Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo
, which sold highly.
Paul Simon
's collaborations with South African artists in 1986 for his Graceland
album led to a worldwide interest in African music, leading to artists such as the world-famous Ladysmith Black Mambazo
as well as Miriam Makeba
and Hugh Masekela
gaining huge popularity abroad. To fulfil the growing demand, West Nkosi organised a new album between Mahlathini, three of the Queens (Tloubatla, Mbadu, and Mangxola), and Makgona Tsohle. The result was the 1987 Thokozile
, which saw the group's popularity escalate out of South Africa, leading to countless world tours, television appearances, and several requests for personal appearances.
In August 1998, still producing influential acts, West Nkosi was caught in a large car accident whilst driving home from the studios. He was left paralyzed in hospital before dying in October that year. On the very day of his funeral, Marks Mankwane died due to complications with sugar diabetes. The following year, groaner Mahlathini also died, thus ending the Makgona Tsohle Band's existence.
The Mahotella Queens were left in mourning following the deaths of their close friends and bandmates. However, they decided to relaunch their act with newer backing musicians, hoping to keep Nkosi, Mankwane, and Mahlathini's spirits alive. They have been praised for their albums post-Mahlathini, which include Sebai Bai (2000), Bazobuya (2004), Kazet (2006), and Siyadumisa (Songs Of Praise)
(2007). The Queens' backing now includes Victor Mkize (lead guitar), James Nkosi (drums), and Arnold Jackie Mokoatlo (keyboards).
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n instrumental band that is noted for creating the mbaqanga
Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.-History:...
music style. The group was formed in 1964 at Mavuthela (the 'black music' division of Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company is the largest record label in Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Avusa Limited . The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two rival South African record labels between the '40s and '80s: the original Gallo Africa and G.R.C...
), and became the Mavuthela house band. It garnered success by backing fellow Mavuthela-Gallo stars, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens was a South African mbaqanga supergroup composed of:...
. It is often referred to as the South African equivalent to Motown's The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
.
Origins: 1956 - 1964
The individual band members were all domestic workerDomestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
s from Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. West Nkosi
West Nkosi
West Nkosi was a South African music producer, saxophonist and songwriter.Nkosi was born in Nelspruit, South Africa. He was an original member of the Makgona Tsohle Band which backed Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens...
, born in Nelspruit
Nelspruit
Nelspruit is a city of more than 500,000 people situated in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province . Located on the Crocodile River, Nelspruit lies about west of the Mozambique border and east of Johannesburg. The towns of Nelspruit are Kanyamazane and Pienaar...
in 1940, was sent to live with his grandfather in Pretoria at the age of 16 to find employment. Nkosi found work as a market porter, and then as a house servant, in 1957. During his off-hours, Nkosi played meticulous pennywhistle kwela
Kwela
Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle-based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s....
tunes outside sports centers or on the streets, in awe of his idol Spokes Mashiyane
Spokes Mashiyane
Born Vlakfontein , Pretoria 20th January, 1933. Died Baragwanath Hospital, cirrhosis of liver 9th February, 1972. Johannes "Spokes" Mashiyane was regarded as one of the greatest pennywhistle artists who graced the South African kwela music scene from the 1950s to the 1970s....
, who at that time was a great kwela star. Two fellow domestic workers, Joseph Makwela and Lucky Monama, happened to see Nkosi playing. In awe of his music, Makwela and Monama persuaded Nkosi to teach them how to play rhythmic music. Not long afterwards, they formed their own group The Pretoria Tower Boys, with three more members. Nkosi was on pennywhistle (though he changed to saxophone in the early '60s), as was Monama, with Makwela on guitar. The Tower Boys sometimes encountered another pennywhistle group, led by talented guitarist Marks Mankwane, who hailed from the Warmbaths area. Nkosi said to his band members to look out for Mankwane, who was a very polished musician, having played guitar since he was 12 years old.
Eventually, Nkosi travelled to Johannesburg in 1962 with Monama and Makwela, all of them hoping to join the recording industry. They ended up as session musicians for Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company is the largest record label in Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Avusa Limited . The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two rival South African record labels between the '40s and '80s: the original Gallo Africa and G.R.C...
, playing in producer Reggie Msomi's line-up the Hollywood Jazz Band (Nkosi was now on saxophone, Monama was now on drums, whilst Makwela had made history by becoming the first black electric bassist in South Africa). In mid-1963, Msomi took them on a tour of Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
, which was to become Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
; however, the tour ended up being a disaster, as political turmoil prevented the group's audiences attending their concerts. As a result they were stranded there for six months. When they returned to Gallo in Johannesburg, they found that it had been severely reorganised.
The salad days: 1964 - 1977
Whilst Msomi and the Jazz Band had been in Zambia, Gallo management took it as an opportunity to replace him and bring sales in (what was then called) their 'black music' production higher. They enticed the massively successful EMI South Africa producer/talent scout Rupert Bopape to take over Msomi's role. Bopape, who had successes with the high-selling acts the Dark City SistersDark City Sisters
The Dark City Sisters were a South African female vocal group, who formed in 1958 and recorded several hit records in the 1960s, helping usher in a new style of South African music later brought to global prominence by the Mahotella Queens....
and Alexandra Black Mambazo in the 1950s, set up a new Gallo subsidiary devoted to black music - Mavuthela Music Company, in early 1964. When the Jazz Band returned, they found that Bopape had recruited two new migrant musicians - one of them was Vivian Ngubane, a rhythm guitarist, and the other was none other than Marks Mankwane, their old acquintance from Pretoria, who was now forging a completely new type of up-tempo electric guitar playing than different highly from the old kwela and marabi
Marabi
Marabi is an indigenous music that evolved in South Africa over the last century.The early part of the 20th century saw the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans in mining centres such as the gold mining area around Johannesburg - the Witwatersrand...
jazz stylings. Makwela, Nkosi, and Monama were all audition for Mavuthela, and entered the studio in mid-1964. During a "jam" after a rigorous jazz recording session, the five musicians (Mankwane, Nkosi, Makwela, Monama, and Ngubane) ended up forming a brand new style of music - a style that combined marabi with kwela, and the modern (electric instruments) with the old (traditional Zulu
Zulu music
The Zulu are a South African ethnic group. Many Zulu musicians have become a major part of South African music. A number of Zulu-folk derived styles have also become well-known across South Africa and abroad.-Mbube and Isicathamiya:...
, Sotho
Sotho
Sotho may refer to:*The Sotho people , an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa and Lesotho.*The Sotho language , a Bantu Language spoken in southern Africa, an official language of both South Africa and Lesotho.*The Northern Sotho language , a group of related Bantu dialects...
, and Xhosa
Xhosa music
Xhosa music has long been a major part of the music of South Africa, especially in the field of jazz. There are many Xhosa clans, each with their own styles of drumming and dialects....
sounds). Bopape, having witnessed this, decided to reorganise the division and group the five men together into what he called the Makgona Tsohle Band, the band that can do anything. Their new music was named mbaqanga
Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.-History:...
, after a traditional snack made in the rural areas (this term was originally a derogatory name; it eventually became the genre's main name).
To promote them, he formed a new group of female vocalists and paired them with Makgona Tsohle. To front the act, he brought in a young, shy, deep-voiced, "groaner" called Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde. This pairing of mbaqanga with vocals became known as "mgqashiyo", meaning "to bounce", after the "bouncy" rhythms of the style. The female vocalists were released under different names, such as Izintombi Zomgqashiyo, The Dima Sisters, and the Mahotella Queens; the first two biggest selling Mavuthela singles had both been pressed with the same name, Mahotella Queens
Mahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
, so that was the pseudonym that became etched in the public's memory as the group's name. Not long after, the combination of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens was a South African mbaqanga supergroup composed of:...
with the Makgona Tsohle Band was thrilling audiences around South Africa and even in neighbouring countries such as Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
For the remainder of the '60s and most of the 1970s, the Queens and Makgona Tsohle remained extremely productive and popular, despite some large member changes in the Queens line-up. However, when Rupert Bopape suffered a stroke in 1977 and retired, his former charges – Marks Mankwane, West Nkosi, and Lucky Monama, all of them part-time Mavuthela producers – were ready to become full-time producers. This led to Makgona Tsohle disbanding, with a simultaneous faltering of the Mahotella Queens popularity, with disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
eclipsing local mbaqanga
Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.-History:...
sounds.
Reunion and international popularity: 1983 - 1999
South Africa's first television station aimed at blacks, TV3 (now known as SABC 1SABC 1
South African Broadcasting Corporation public service television channel that carries programming in English and Nguni languages.It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels...
), was launched in 1982. This led to West Nkosi, Mavuthela's top producer, forming a partnership with local studio Trilion Entertainment, in the hope of producing a new TV series about the still-famous Makgona Tsohle Band. Eventually, in 1983, the project came to fruition: Mathaka, a brand-new soap opera/musical comedy featuring the members playing characters who worked in a garage, playing their music during breaks. The series was massively popular with black audiences, who tuned in by the dozens. Nkosi organised the release of two LPs to coincide with the series, Mathaka Vol 1
Mathaka Vol 1
Mathaka Vol 1 is a 1983 album by the Makgona Tsohle Band, the instrumental backing group for Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, all of whom were based as musicians in the Mavuthela Music subsidiary of Gallo Africa....
and Kotopo Vol 2.
Despite the Mathaka series' popularity, the band members complained about insufficient pay. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled in 1984. However, another phase was in store for Makgona Tsohle: Marks Mankwane, for years the Mahotella Queens' sole producer, regrouped the original Mahotella Queens (Hilda Tloubatla
Hilda Tloubatla
Hilda Semola Tloubatla is a South African mbaqanga singer, and the lead singer of the acclaimed group the Mahotella Queens. Tloubatla was born in Payneville, Springs in South Africa before moving to kwaThema township in 1951 as a result of the apartheid government's 'Group Areas Act' in the...
, Nobesuthu Mbadu
Nobesuthu Mbadu
Nobesuthu Gertrude Mbadu Shawe is a South African mbaqanga singer, and a singer in the acclaimed group the Mahotella Queens...
, Mildred Mangxola
Mildred Mangxola
Nontsomi Mildred Mangxola is a South African mbaqanga singer, and a singer in the acclaimed group the Mahotella Queens. Mangxola was born in Benoni, Johannesburg, in South Africa, and loved singing from a young age...
, Ethel Mngomezulu, and Juliet Mazamisa) with Mahlathini. This reunion resulted in the Mahlathini-Queens-Makgona Tsohle comeback album Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo
Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo
Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo was the first release by Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens after their comeback in 1983. The group was reunited by Marks Mankwane...
, which sold highly.
Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
's collaborations with South African artists in 1986 for his Graceland
Graceland (album)
Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...
album led to a worldwide interest in African music, leading to artists such as the world-famous Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
as well as Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
and Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
gaining huge popularity abroad. To fulfil the growing demand, West Nkosi organised a new album between Mahlathini, three of the Queens (Tloubatla, Mbadu, and Mangxola), and Makgona Tsohle. The result was the 1987 Thokozile
Thokozile
Thokozile is a 1986 hit by the South African mbaqanga group Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. The album was a reunion of Mahlathini with the backing Makgona Tsohle Band and three of the original Queens, Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
, which saw the group's popularity escalate out of South Africa, leading to countless world tours, television appearances, and several requests for personal appearances.
In August 1998, still producing influential acts, West Nkosi was caught in a large car accident whilst driving home from the studios. He was left paralyzed in hospital before dying in October that year. On the very day of his funeral, Marks Mankwane died due to complications with sugar diabetes. The following year, groaner Mahlathini also died, thus ending the Makgona Tsohle Band's existence.
The Mahotella Queens were left in mourning following the deaths of their close friends and bandmates. However, they decided to relaunch their act with newer backing musicians, hoping to keep Nkosi, Mankwane, and Mahlathini's spirits alive. They have been praised for their albums post-Mahlathini, which include Sebai Bai (2000), Bazobuya (2004), Kazet (2006), and Siyadumisa (Songs Of Praise)
Siyadumisa (Songs of Praise)
Siyadumisa is a 2007 album by the South African mbaqanga group the Mahotella Queens. The album is the first gospel-orientated album by the Queens, and features the voice of lead singer Hilda Tloubatla's son, Alfred "Ali" Temo...
(2007). The Queens' backing now includes Victor Mkize (lead guitar), James Nkosi (drums), and Arnold Jackie Mokoatlo (keyboards).
See also
- Mahlathini and the Mahotella QueensMahlathini and the Mahotella QueensMahlathini and the Mahotella Queens was a South African mbaqanga supergroup composed of:...
- Ladysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
- Sweet Honey in the RockSweet Honey in the RockSweet Honey in the Rock is an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an American Grammy Award-winning troupe who express their history as women of color through song, while entertaining their audience. They have together worked from four women to the difficult five-part harmony...