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That explains things a bit better, OB. But from the film review I get the impression that we may not be any wiser re who knew what and when - according to Simon he wanted to go because he heard these faves' of that other PS (who all too seldom drops by for a visit these days.Originally Posted by Oddball
)
- it was their instrumental version of Gumboots that he heard apparently rather than this cracker - wouldn't mind hearing their go at Gumboots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoKQctrIv_E
Full Member
I suppose I am in the minority when I say that I tried with this album and gave up after about 18 months. I haven't played it for 23 years and six months!!!
Know your rights - all three of 'em
I am going to have another bite at the apple here. Nothing is intended personally. I usually agree with most other contributors on this thread. However, as Wikipedia explains, it was Sun City that was the focus of campaigning by musicians in the mid-1980s. Until that time, nearly all of the discussion of the cultural boycott had centred on sport, books and films. Steven Van Zandt formed Artists Against Apartheid (AAA) in 1985. His influences were rights issues linked to his own Native American background; new developments in regard to South Africa, including a state of emergency; and Live Aid which took place, funnily enough on my graduation day, in July 1985. Arguably, the many artists who signed up to the cause were almost exclusively focussed on Sun City, vowing never to play there. Their record on that theme was a Top 40 hit in the United States in December 1985. As far as I am aware, Sun City was never a feature of the emerging Graceland project. Paul Simon had taken an entirely different route.
The Boycott
The recording of Graceland commenced two months before the Sun City single was a hit. Almost certainly, it was an advanced concept many months before Live Aid and the formation of AAA. Unlike the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee which supported Paul Simon's project, the AAA was not a legal entity even in 1986, the year that Graceland was released. While then Graceland was in line with the UN, it didn't contravene other conventions or laws. Very shortly before it was released, I was among the 20,000 on Clapham Common for the Freedom Beat event which was held as a statement against apartheid. There musicians as diverse as Gary Kemp and Gil Scott-Heron performed to a multiracial crowd. At the time, that coming together was not considered to be in opposition to AAA objectives but rather complimentary. With hindsight, it had a more powerful impact than simply spurning a thoroughly revolting entertainment resort. Incidentally, it is worth bearing in mind that while Sun City was often described as exclusively white, it was actually multiracial and aimed purely at the well-heeled, most of whom quite obviously were white.
The Collaboration
That concert on the common in the summer of 1986 engaged artists of different backgrounds and proved very engaging to a diverse audience. It also led on to Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Event in 1988. By that time, the demands of the organisers of both events were broad and wholly in line with those of the ANC - sanctions against South Africa, the release of all political prisoners, and the end of all apartheid. While back in early 1985, Paul Simon had not set out to be overtly political - very few musicians had done - it was in many ways the Graceland project that helped to establish a collaborative approach. That approach was then placed at least on the same level as the cultural boycott. While all aspects of the cultural boycott had helped to put some pressure on the South African Government, it hadn't been a stunning success on its own. It had been attempted to varying degrees of success since the 1960s but sportsmen in particular had been very unreliable and the old regime was firmly in place.
Cultural Co-operation
Indeed, it had taken all of that time - two decades - for the music industry to come round to taking on board any of the major themes. Unlike their counterparts in other artistic fields, most musicians had really dragged their feet. As is well documented. all of the following artists played at least once at Sun City - Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Elaine Page, Frank Sinatra, Queen, Elton John, Sarah Brightman, Roxette, Julio Iglesias, The O'Jays, Boney M, Black Sabbath, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick and Laura Branigan. There were no doubt many more. Mildly I would like to suggest that we look there first for the "wilfully ignorant". And before we single out Paul Simon here, we might also note some of the other key strands in the history. Johnny Clegg, a white Lancastrian who had lived mainly in South Africa, had been performing in multiracial groups since 1969. The lyrics of those groups were frequently political, if understandably not always transparent. And of course in 1982 Womad had commenced in Britain. In a nebulous way, it too really set the scene for Graceland and similar events for what became termed "cultural co-operation".
The Broader Legacy
As for legacy, very soon after Graceland was released, we got to hear more of the Bhundu Boys and many other African artists. "World Music" as a term arrived in 1987. A new musical dynamic was fully established at that point. International collaboration has often been a key feature to this day. Admittedly, the Sun City project raised more than a million dollars for anti-apartheid projects and it later inspired Johnny Clegg to create a local organization similar to Van Zandt's. However, this really goes to show that in the 1980s there had been two musical flanks - boycott and cooperation - that, being largely complimentary, would inevitably merge. Both had some impact on Mandela's ultimate release amidst the wider politics of it all. If anything, the AAA came round to the idea of greater involvement. Ultimately, as most South Africans knew, that was the way forward and it surely was and is the Graceland way. I think I would argue that a few fringe members of today's ANC are overly influential in terms of international media coverage. They really need to address today's battles. Obviously it would be helpful if broadcasters and film makers didn't lazily mislead, possibly on their behalf, in the name of political correctness. The South Africa I see still badly needs positive assistance.
Last edited by Lateralthinking1; 23-05-12 at 00:16.
Host
Absolutely - this is the World Music forum, the place for that kind of discussion is Platform 3, a knockabout area kindly provided by FF for just such activity, although on this thread a thoughtful, heartfelt and well-researched post from Lat has brought this thread to a graceful conclusion..
From my experience and as perhaps you know,Flosshilde, there are 3 topics guaranteed to cause heated & pointless debate on any forum - politics is one.
Full Member
Indeed - once again I am fascinated by your response Lat - in days to come somebody will gather a 'Best of Lat - musings on an MB in music, Latlife and footie' (better not mention the P word).
But I am still thinking about something the other PS said on Today yesterday, which was that Malcolm McLaren was there in Soweto just ahead of him and nobody seemed to mind - do you think that McLaren got away with it because folk thought,'Well he doesn't give a damn anyway, whereas PS should know better!'Just wondering!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLUYhREEDM0
Last edited by johncorrigan; 23-05-12 at 08:06. Reason: Latlife - that's the working title!
Gawd, what a fraught trip that was around Tescos today. I need to study for a postgraduate degree in shopping vouchers. Thanks for the comments. For a moment I thought Latlife was the title of a New Order album, then I realised that was Lowlife.
Paul Simon was known for his sensitivity from early on - Old Friends, April Come She Will, My Little Town etc - whereas McLaren was expected to do outrage. Both their futures in the early 1980s though were uncertain. McLaren was being seen as increasingly tame. "Hearts and Bones" (1983), Simon's only original album between 1975 and 1986, had only reached number 35. It is difficult to assess McLaren's main fan base. Even if some of those who sent Buffalo Gals into the charts had been Pistols' fans, they were with him for the entertainment rather than the politics. While a few odd musos and politicos might have had sleepless nights about elements of Puleng in Double Dutch, what remained of the masses only revolted later over the punk negator Madam Butterfly.
I rather like the varied self-indulgent twists and turns of McLaren's eighties' output. For someone so fiery, his music never quite triggered internal emotions in the way that he thought. His emotion was always largely directed towards posturing. However, he was highly attuned to the zeitgeist and went to great lengths to bring new sounds to a wider public. While heavily crafted, his records could either be energetic or things of icy beauty. Cynicism's a funny thing. He was the epitome of it in his aptitude for promotion and the very opposite when it came to having a genuine enthusiasm and not simply churning out the obvious.
Anyhow, he was on the wane. As it turned out, Simon wasn't. Graceland was not merely a huge success but an international phenomenon. I do think that some of the bitterness is about that success. Don't forget that sixties' folkies were supposed to have been working anonymously in offices long before 1980. Recording until 70 and beyond wasn't a part of the new generation's game plan. And then, as far as the journalists born in the 1980s are concerned, I think any shortfall in knowledge is countered by modern day prejudices. South Africa isn't quite the promised land the international community wanted it to be. Someone has to be blamed for it. The easiest target is probably an old white Jewish American millionaire who is only just over five feet tall.
Last edited by Lateralthinking1; 23-05-12 at 22:24.
........A Latlist - South Africa beyond Graceland -
South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...WzGnczIRBXmQfZ
But what of the other countries?
Those are here. Obviously they are only draft documents at present.
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinee and Cape Verde -
http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...Xd5hh7I4yJsvPl
Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo and Nigeria -
http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...TrbeNCDy5Ve3eC
Congos, Cameroon and Gabon -
http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...qwUuyDECY3BbNf
Last edited by Lateralthinking1; 05-07-12 at 18:27. Reason: Struggling over the Comoros Islands
..............Oh alright then, if you insist.-
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Rwanda, Angola, Burundi and Malawi -
http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...2yRh7X1nHYsCnw
Mali - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...gOoywOri6h1u3M
Senegal - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...f5GyXo9DTWBzsx
Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...8SWcU3Kd89kkTb
(but the fourth is very poppy and I don't like it so much)
Last edited by Lateralthinking1; 05-07-12 at 18:26.
Full Member
As a very, very, great fan of Paul Simon I feel we must all remember he is a very prickly interviewee - I don't know if anybody remembers a Sue Lawley (standing in for Wogan I think) interview when she made the, seeming, mistake of mentioning his age. Or the interview after Glastonbury when he seemed perplexed that not everyone there was familiar with his latest album.
But nonetheless to me he was and if fact continues to be quite brilliant - all strength to his grumpiness!
Full Member
Johnnie Walker on rollickin' radio 2 has a Bank Holiday special on 'Graceland' for tomorrow midday complete with P Simon interview.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hpkh4
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