Collector's item - Meadowland - 1962 Archie Coker and the Meteors 45 (SA band)

From 1001 South African songs you must hear before you go deaf: There was once a white man who sang like a black man and this made him famous. That was Elvis Presley, but in South Africa in 1962 a white man Archie Coker along with his Meteors took a song and sang like a black man. This has made him somewhat infamous, but, only Archie will know if he was exploiting the song written by Strike Vilakazi for commercial gain and cashing in on the misery of thousands, or if he was adding his voice to the protest that the song grew from.

Meadowlands EP

Meadowlands was a suburb of the newly formed Soweto township and was where those forcefully removed from Sophiatown were relocated to in 1956. The basic message of the song was that the whites are telling us to go to Meadowlands, but we’re not going. Unfortunately history tells a different story.

There are many versions of ‘Meadowlands’ around, including Strike Vilakazi’s original, but I chose this version as it mixes the kwela sound of the townships with the 60’s beat group twanging guitar, creating an interesting fusion of sounds that (politically feelings aside) could have been enjoyed by both sides of the apartheid fence.

The original Johny Clegg? Reached number 9 in the International charts for its category. Vinyl: VG+ 

Sleeve: As per photos. SHIPPING: Post Office R45