• Music

    Mahotella Queens – Abaculi Bethu / Umculo Kawupheli

    Today’s share is a joyful slice of township jive out of South Africa from the legendary Mahotella Queens.  It’s a tragedy that it took a cretinous thief like Malcolm McLaren to turn the world on to such music.  From the Umsakazo Records Bandcamp site: “The reach and influence of “Umculo Kawupheli” spread far beyond its intended destination. In 1981, the song was plagiarised note-for-note by punk rock manager Malcolm McLaren, who replaced the meaningful isiZulu words with soundalike English gibberish to create “Jungle Boy (See Jungle)” for his new wave band Bow Wow Wow. The song’s origins were not acknowledged…