Bright Blue is a sporadic South African band that was prominent on the progressive scene in the final years of apartheid. The band's name "reflected the paradox of being bright in a very blue time" but was also a tribute to Chelsea FC.
They are best known for the protest song "Weeping", written by keyboard-player Dan Heymann, that the band recorded incorporating strands of
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" , is part of the joint national anthem of South Africa since 1994, which was originally composed as a hymn by a Methodist mission school in Johannesburg teacher, Enoch Sontonga in 1897.-South Africa:...
at a time when public performance of the
ANCThe African National Congress has been South Africa's governing party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a "disciplined...
anthem could lead to summary arrest.
Bright Blue is a sporadic South African band that was prominent on the progressive scene in the final years of apartheid. The band's name "reflected the paradox of being bright in a very blue time" but was also a tribute to Chelsea FC.
They are best known for the protest song "Weeping", written by keyboard-player Dan Heymann, that the band recorded incorporating strands of
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" , is part of the joint national anthem of South Africa since 1994, which was originally composed as a hymn by a Methodist mission school in Johannesburg teacher, Enoch Sontonga in 1897.-South Africa:...
at a time when public performance of the
ANCThe African National Congress has been South Africa's governing party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a "disciplined...
anthem could lead to summary arrest. However the powers that be seemed to notice neither the reference to a banned tune nor that the song was an
allegoryAllegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. An allegory is a device that can be presented in literary form, such as a poem or novel, or in visual form, such as in painting or sculpture...
about then State President PW Botha and the state of emergency that he'd imposed.
In 1999,
Weeping was voted the "All-time favourite South African song" in a poll by SA Rock Digest/Amuzine. In 2000,
Weeping was voted the Radio 5 'song of the century'.
An early forerunner of the
Rainbow NationRainbow Nation is a term coined by the then Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa after apartheid rule officially ended after South Africa's first fully-democratic election in 1994, which was won by the African National Congress .The phrase was...
or crossover sound, that blends rock,
popPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
and
mbaqangaMbaqanga 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:...
with occasional lyrics in indigenous languages, they were contemporaries of
JulukaJuluka was a South African music band formed in 1969 by Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu. Juluka means "sweat", and was the name of a bull owned by Mchunu.- Biography :...
,
éVoidéVoid was a seminal 1980s rock band in South Africa.éVoid were formed in Brakpan in 1977. They had their first success in Zimbabwe where they had a residency during the dying days of Rhodesia and the birth of a new country...
,
Mango GrooveMango Groove is an 11 piece Afropop group formed in 1983 in Johannesburg, South Africa and fronted by lead singer Claire Johnston. They have sold more than 700,000 albums in South Africa alone, mostly with popular hits like "Dance Some More", "Special Star", "Hometalk" and "Nice To See You"...
,
Johannes KerkorrelJohannes Kerkorrel was an Afrikaner singer-songwriter, journalist and playwright from South Africa....
, and
Kalahari SurfersThe Kalahari Surfers is the moniker of South African composer and musician Warrick Sony. It began as a solo recording project in the early 1980s to subvert the total media and propaganda onslaught of P. W. Botha’s Apartheid South Africa...
.
Musicians
- Ian Cohen - bass, vocals
- Peter Cohen - drums, vocals
- Tom Fox - guitar, vocals
- Dan Heymann - keyboards
- Robin Levetan - vocals (first album only)
- Basil Coetzee
Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee was a South African musician, perhaps best known as a saxophonist.Mountain Records describes Basil thus: 'His distinctive raunchy tenor sound and the untiring commitment to his cultural roots made him one of the best known jazzmen to come out of South Africa...
- saxophone on 'Weeping'
- McCoy Mrubata - saxophone on 'Yesterday Night'
- Peter Barnett - percussion on first album
- Scorpion Madondo - saxophone on 'Time On My Own'
- Terri Cohen: backing vocals (1996, 2001)
- Tonia Selley: backing vocals (1996)
- Mark Goliath: keyboards (2001)
- Buddy Wells - saxophone on 'Madiba 1990'
Albums
- Bright Blue (1984)
- The Rising Tide (1988)
- Every Now And Then - The Best So Far... 1984-2001 (2001)