Author: dpelser

During the 1980s a war was waged on pop and rock music in South Africa. A report that was compiled by the General Synod of the NG Church found that music by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Queen and Kiss were examples of Satanistic music. But the main person involved in taking on the evils of rock music and alerting school… Read more →

Tonia Selley , Wilhelm Saayman,  Peni Flascas,  Sheree Harrison and Steven Howells made up the band Khaki Monitor, whose song, “Warrelwind” was included on the Voëlvry compilation album. Prior to joining Khaki Monitor in 1988, Steve Howells had been in the band Asylum Kids who enjoyed a relatively brief but blistering run as one of South Africa’s premier hard rock bands.… Read more →

I had a very memorable trip to South Africa in December/January. The primary reason for my visit was to do research for the Johannes Kerkorrel biography. The first archive that I visited was The Barn Theatre in Mossel Bay to see fokofpolisiekar. The tagline of this website is “from sit dit af to fokof” and that is because I see… Read more →

A number of the musicians that were active around the Voëlvry scene in the 1980s died before their time. Three notable examples that spring to mind are Johannes Kerkorrel, James Phillips and Neil Goedhals, but there are more. In this post I would like to share the results of some studies done by Prof Dianna Kenny of Sydney University. The… Read more →

Thirteen years ago today, on the 12th November 2002, Ralph Rabie died. That day began in a mundane way, filled with domestic and shopping chores for Rabie and his partner, Demetrios Demetriou, but took a tragic turn when a passerby discovered an abandoned car, the keys still in the ignition, on an isolated road near the village of Kleinmond. Police… Read more →

The Shifty Records Heritage Voëlvry Festival took place on the 24th September 2015 at the Spier winery. It was a fantastic concert that featured a number of the artists from the Voëlvry tour. The Concert began with a performance by Chris Letcher and Matthew van der Want. It was great to see Gary Herselman perform some songs from his recent,… Read more →

In 1988 when Piekniek By Dingaan was first performed, South African society was closed and conservative. Music that did not meet the SABC’s standards would not make the radio playlists and the Government Censor had the power to ban any material, including music, which it felt was unacceptable. As a result, some music (perhaps understandably) fell foul of the censors.… Read more →

Randy Rambo and the Rough Riders was a side project of journalist and music critic, Theunis Engelbrecht. One song by Randy Rambo, “Jong Dames Dinamiek” was included on the Voëlvry compilation album. The Rough Riders were the first Afrikaans band to have an album banned for possession and distribution in South Africa by the Publications Control Board. The album that… Read more →

Koos was formed in 1986 by artist Neil Goedhals and actor Marcel van Heerden. People came and went from the band, but the core members (apart from Goedhals and van Heerden) were Gys de Villiers, Megan Kruskal, Kendall Geers and Velile Nxazonke. Although they were included on the Voëlvry compilation album and performed at Die Eerste Afrikaanse Rockfees, Koos performed… Read more →

In March 1988 an event which would later be recognized as the start of the alternative Afrikaans music movement, took place at the Pool Club in Johannesburg. The concert was organised by Dagga-Dirk Uys, who was the manager of Koos Kombuis and the Gereformeerde Blues Band at the time. Uys planned the concert in an attempt to showcase all the… Read more →