The Scatterlings Of Africa

Johhny Clegg, Juluka and Savuka

I don't recall my first exposure to African music. Perhaps "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," a popular oldie that was a remake of an even older tune from South Africa. But more about that one in a future installment.

Juluka was a group I happened to run across once upon a time. The South African group got their start in the Seventies and came to my attention sometime in the early Eighties. Perhaps by way of the song "Scatterlings of Africa," one of their best known efforts. I thought I had that album on vinyl but when I went to the stacks, I found that memory had tricked me and there was a promotional vinyl copy of Stand Your Ground, from 1984.

Looking at Stand Your Ground, I have to admit that I don't recall much of it. The exception being "Kilimanjaro," which stuck with me over the years. The song holds up quite well, but the fashion sense and everything else about the first embedded video below...perhaps not so much. Also here, an updated version of the song, remixed by BreakDLaw. And a live version of "Scatterlings of Africa," by Suvuka, the band Johnny Clegg put together after Juluka broke up.

Both bands were integrated, which did not endear them to South Africa's apartheid regime, to say the least. Here's a in-depth Rolling Stone article about Clegg and the resistance he and his bands ran up against.