By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — One of the things that doesn't vary much from country to country is the speeches record company executives make at album launches. There they stand amongst the music journalists and photographers and musicians, looking totally out of place in their suits and ties and short-back-and-sides haircuts, and predicting that the new album will be a "smash". The man from RPM records here, however, added a peculiarly South African variation to the standard speech when he said the release of Victory: Mission Accomplished was also a commemoration of the many people who participated in "our" struggle.
I don't want to suggest he was not genuine in his identification with the long struggle against apartheid, but hearing it from a record company executive, standing in an office in the centre of Rosebank, one of Johannesburg's plush white northern suburbs, was somewhat surreal.
This launch differed in another way too. Among the guests were Ronnie Kasrils, a leading member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the African National Congress and a key member of the Transitional Executive Council's committee that is overseeing the integration of MK and the South African Defence Force into a single national army.
Kasrils' son, Andrew, a long-time anti-apartheid activist while he was in exile in Britain, produced the album and wrote many of the lyrics. The album's other producer is MK veteran Robert McBride, who was jailed for many years for his military operations. McBride will soon enter the PWV provincial parliament on the ANC ticket.
Amidst the tables loaded with trays of the inevitable Jatz crackers with fishy stuff on 'em and beer, Robert McBride told Green Left Weekly about Victory: Mission Accomplished and how it came about: "When I came out of prison, I met Andrew Kasrils for the first time. I wanted to hear what the music scene was like in England. I didn't know he liked reggae and ragga, and when I asked him does he like it he thought I was pulling his leg."
McBride and Kasrils decided to put together a reggae album. "We saw there were artists like Shabba Ranks who play lyrics that aren't very intelligent or thought-provoking. Yet people repeat the lyrics. They have a hypnotic effect. So we thought this is an important medium to get our message across about the ANC's role in the South African struggle, and of how we want to see the country. We wanted it to assist in the elections and, most importantly, we wanted people to remember this time through the medium of music."
McBride and Kasrils gathered together South Africans exiled in Britain, Caribbean expatriates and British musicians. The album was recorded and mixed in Britain with the full support of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement.
During its production McBride had to visit England, he told Green Left Weekly, "to speak to the guys because although they support us in our struggle they don't know the details, and we wanted them to sing lyrics that are meaningful for South Africans. So I spent some time with them, telling them about the struggle, about its dynamics, explaining it is not just a white/black thing ... They were very enthusiastic to work on this. Everybody worked for free."
The album is a celebration also of the heroism of those who struggled to bring democracy to South Africa. Apart from Nelson Mandela, the songs pay tribute most often to the late Chris Hani and the fighters of Umkhonto we Sizwe. The quality of the music matches its politics.
McBride confided that his phone had been cut off because he had spent all his money putting the album together. "For me, this an important victory. So much has gone into it, so many people have got together to make this album. I really feel great about it."
Motown and Polygram's Island label are showing an interest in releasing the album worldwide, but in the meantime, McBride said, it should be available soon at ANC offices in Australia.
Some of the proceeds of the sale of the album will fund workshops to teach young people how to create reggae music that will be "a positive force for improving people's lives all over the world and particularly in South Africa".