#Sowetan40xNetflix | 1980s a decade rich with talent that re-shaped our world

The 1980s were a golden age of SA pop and an exciting era in sport, TV shows, radio, fashion, theatre and other cultural spaces. In athletics it was the era of three sensational runners who shared the same name – Matthews "Loop En Val" Motshwarateu, Matthews Temane, fondly known as the "Hammanskraal Express", and Matthews Batswadi, the first black athlete to receive Springbok colours. 

Bruce Fordyce ruled the Everest of long-distance running, the Comrades Marathon. But the darling of township folks was Zola Budd, the unassuming but fleet-footed teenager from Bloemfontein who preferred to run without shoes. She lent her name to the then sleek and trendy minibus Toyota Hiace taxi that inspired a Brenda Fassie evergreen hit of the same name. 

Released in 1987 as one of the tracks on her self-titled and fifth studio album, Zola Budd was a dancefloor anthem and now a pop classic, a befitting tribute to an iconic mode of transport for the majority of SA commuters. 

The diminutive singing dynamo arrived in the City of Gold in 1980 from Kwa-Langa, Cape Town, and after a short stint at the Gibson Kente academy of actors in Dube Village, Soweto, eventually charted her own path as the quintessential pop star of our times following the release of her debut album Weekend Special in 1983 with five exceptionally gifted instrumentalists named The Big Dudes – Sammy Klaas (guitar), Desmond Malotana (keyboards), Fats Mlangeni (drums), David Mabaso (bass) and Dumisani Ngubeni, another keyboardist and father of her only child, Bongani Fassie. They were a peerless act. 

As the undisputed queen of pop, Fassie defined the era and Weekend Special was a seminal tune that set the tone for the mainstream music of its times. Famously crowned the Madonna of the Townships in a 1991 Time magazine article, it's an apt title for an artist and social commentator who poignantly captured the spirit of township life. 

Her favourite haunts were Prince's and Banda's places in Meadowlands Zone 10. These and other popular spots like Irene's in Orlando East and Rowena's in Rockville were social spaces where new releases were first played and tested for their hit potential. Chicco Twala recalled how his first album flopped before it could be released because the patrons at Stadig, a Diepkloof shebeen, didn't like it. 

Dubbed the king of township disco, Twala was one of the defining voices of the period. As a producer and songwriter, he would play a pivotal role in the revival of Fassie's career in the early '90s. Ten years after her premature death at 39, her closest rival and friend Yvonne Chaka Chaka lamented, "The environment is dead. South Africa is a damn boring place without MaBrrr."

The Princess of Africa was the maid of honour at Fassie's lavish wedding in 1989 to Nhlanhla Mbambo, the high-flying socialite and son of a Durban tycoon. When she got on the charts in 1985 with her debut single, I'm In Love With a DJ, comparisons with Fassie were inevitable and confirmed her arrival in the big time. It was the beginning of a long-standing, highly publicised and much-hyped rivalry on the local music scene.

While the 1980s produced magnificent musical talent on a grand scale, they were also exceptional as fashion fundis. Acts like Harari, Umoja, Image, Cheek To Cheek, Brenda Fassie and The Big Dudes, and others too numerous to mention, were the sultans of style. The perm hairstyle was the in-thing but the queen of pop created her own trademark image of loose-beaded braids known as singles. 

"It was about the image," says Sipho Mabuse, erstwhile drummer and leader of the Afro-rock super group Harari. "How you looked on stage was very important." Silky, bright and colourful designs with pan-African themes, hot leather pants and cowboy boots were part of their trademark wear.

Hotstix, so nicknamed by Harari fellow member Condry Ziqubu due to his prowess on drums, went solo in 1983 after an acrimonious split. His debut Rise sold an incredible 132,000 copies but it was Burn Out (1984) that would confirm his status as one of the brightest stars of the '80s. It achieved recording history with an unprecedented 275,000 units in sales, ruled the hit parade for weeks on SABC ethnic stations but most significantly as a crossover hit it also made an impact on the charts of white commercial stations.

The 1980s were also notable for festivals. The biggest and grandest of them all was Concert In The Park, organised by 702 and held on January 12 1985 at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg as a benefit musical extravaganza with Operation Hunger.

With Mabuse as one of the headline acts, the festival was an eclectic line-up that included Brenda and The Big Dudes, Marah Louw, Juluka, Stimela, Petit Cheval, Face To Face, Neville Nash, The Rockets, Umoja, Stimela, Supafrika, Blondie, Via Afrika, Steve Kekana, Hotline and Paul Ndlovu.

With the incomparable Cocky "Two Bull" Tlhotlhalemaje as compere, Concert In The Park brought together over 100,000 revellers from various backgrounds.

The historic concert illustrated the power of music to promote unity and harmony among people on different sides of the tracks. PJ Powers and Johnny Clegg were among the few white artists who envisioned a true non-racial future before it became mere political rhetoric. Through their crossover hits like Woza Friday and Jabulani, they became bridge builders and fearless rebels who dared to give apartheid the middle finger and fraternised with the other side. 

Memories made of this | Dance styles and protest plays

Sipho Mabuse was another rebel who dared to record a song with the banned Miriam Makeba. He introduced Paul Simon to Soweto and Stimela members Ray Chikapa Phiri, Isaac "Mnca" Mtshali and the likes of Bakithi Kumalo, Tony Cedras, Vusi Khumalo, Barney Rachabane and the late saxophonist Mike Makhalemele for the Graceland album, a 1986 landmark project that catapulted South African rhythms onto the international scene. It's thanks to this historic recording and multi-Grammy winner that Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a scathamiya (Zulu a capella) choral ensemble established in 1964, is still a global sensation. 

Graceland was released at the height of apartheid state repression and increasing militant political resistance in the townships. It was greeted with anger and hostility by young anti-apartheid activists who accused Simon and the artists involved of violating the cultural boycott. In 1980 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution with member states to "prevent all cultural, academic, sports and other exchanges with South Africa". 

However, this stance didn't discourage then exiles Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba from joining Simon and other artists on the Graceland in Africa tour (1987) which was a spectacular success in Zimbabwe.

Back home the authorities had banned their consciousness raising music, but thanks to Radio Bop – "the station with a mind of its own" – and Moribo Wa Afrika presenter Mogale Mafatshe, they and fellow exiles like Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu could be heard.

One of the songs performed at the historic concert that was attended by over 20,000 revellers at Rufaro Stadium in Hararie, Zimbabwe, was Masekela's Bring Him Back Home. Calls for the release of Nelson Mandela grew louder in the '80s. Twala and Fassie – a dynamic singer-producer partnership – were at the forefront of these calls with their pop brand of protest music. But the censorship regulations meant that the SABC couldn't play songs like We Miss You Mandela and Black President without breaking the law. 

The former was changed to We Miss You Manelow while Black President only enjoyed airplay after 1990. The release Mandela calls culminated in 1988 with the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert at Wembley Stadium, London. The majority of performers were from the West but South Africa was fairly represented by artists of global stature like Jonathan Butler, Jonas Gwangwa, Amampondo as well as Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. Mama Africa and Hugh Masekela sang Soweto Blues, a lament for the children of Soweto who perished in a hail of bullets on that fateful Wednesday, June 16 1976.

Jerry Dammers and Simple Minds aptly captured the message of the moment when they belted out Free Nelson Mandela. So did Derek B with Free Mandela while Peter Gabriel and Youssou N'dour memorably reminded everyone of a great South African martyr with an emotional rendition of Biko.

And of course, who can forget Tracy Chapman's majestic performance of Talking 'Bout The Revolution at the same event? This revolution was not televised. It was the era of American shows like The A-Team, The Cosby Show and Knight Rider - which starred a talking car. The black channels were a novelty, having been launched in 1982 and greeted by the target audiences with a combination of excitement and scepticism. The state broadcaster couldn't be trusted to air unbiased information about the black condition but for newsreaders and the acting fraternity an industry was growing. Shows were being produced. 

Joe Mafela would emerge as the most successful and popular comic actor of his generation. Having launched his  career in the '60s as a stage and screen actor on skop-skiet-en-donner films such as uDeliwe (1974) and Inkedama (1975) and Inyakanyaka (1978), by the '80s Mafela was the face of entertainment as S'dumo, the star of the cult sitcom, S'gudi S'naysi (1986-1993) and Chicken Licken commercials.

Thembi Nyandeni began her career as a dancer and stage performer in the globe-trotting 1974 musical Ipi Tombi before launching a TV career in the '80eighties. Her portrayal of the vain and headstrong Beauty in Kwakhala Nyonini (1989), wife of the polygamous Mfaniseni (Magic Hlatshwayo) is still a favourite topic among those who loved the hilarious isiZulu drama series. She's remembered with fondness and nostalgia as umfazi wephepha – the modern woman with a wedding ring and a marriage certificate. 

Umoja – The Spirit of Togetherness was a musical that celebrated the beauty and diversity of the country's dance traditions. She launched it in 2001 with childhood friend and fellow dancer, Todd Twala. One of the longest-running shows, Umoja became a significant platform to groom new dance talent.

Dance styles were the in-thing in the '80s. The decade started with 18-year-old Ga-Rankuwa lad, Godfrey Raseroka, beating 32 other international contestants in London to walk away with first prize at the World Disco Dancing Championship. There were break dancers and ballroom types  but the pantsulas were the most popular, especially on the TV variety show Lapologa. They even had a queen – singer Mercy Pakela of Ayashisa Amateki fame and inspired the award-winning anti-apartheid film, Mapantsula (1988), starring the late Thomas Mogotlane, Thembi Mtshali, Peter Sephuma and blues queen Dolly Rathebe.

Shell Road To Fame was a peerless talent show that helped to unearth some of the finest musical talent in the country. One of them was a shy 18-year-old farm girl from Nelspruit, in the then Eastern Transvaal. Her name was Batsogile Lovederia Malope. The year was 1987 and she walked away with first prize as a solo act for her stunning performance of Shine On, a powerful gospel song written by her producer and mentor, Sizwe Zako. Rebecca Malope, the queen of African gospel, was born on that day. 

Lucky Philip Dube was born in the same part of the country as Rebecca Malope. After a promising start as a mbaqanga singer, he followed in the footsteps of his hero Peter Tosh to emerge as the most influential voice of reggae and a truly global superstar who performed in every corner of the world ranging from remote islands to cosmopolitan cities – Africa's own king of reggae. 

The Market Theatre was a vibrant and defiant space for multiracial audiences and protest plays. In 1987, the iconic playhouse brought The Bard himself to trumpet the cause against apartheid injustice. The Market's Othello was the country's first professional production with a black actor. In this role John Kani lived up to his reputation as the native who caused all the trouble when he provoked half of the white audience to walk out of the theatre in anger and disgust. This was after the kissing scene between Othello (Kani) and Desdemona (Joanna Weinberg).

"When I see Othello and Desdemona, I see a noble attempt to get two people together in a marriage designed in heaven. And then I see Iago - the Bothas and Treurnichts - who try not to let it happen," the Tony Award winning actor told the Washington Post after the racial incident. "In Othello the tragedy is inevitable. In South Africa the tragedy is not inevitable, but the way it's going now, it's going to blow." The situation would  have blown into a civil war had it not being for Nelson Mandela's spirit and policy of reconciliation. The 1980s. What a time! What a decade! Thank you for the fine music and the fond memories.