People have been asking about the genesis of the Eish! It’s the Eighties shindig at Green Gables in McGregor, on Monday, 23rd September 2024.
Over a tipple or two, a bunch of McGregorites – some ex-Joburgers, some who passed through Jozi at the right time – discovered that we jolled at the same live music spots (Jameson’s on Commissioner Street, we’re looking at you!). We also discovered that we spend many Sunday afternoons the same way – listening to Sean Brokensha’s Music Guru show on Mix FM. No “talking head”, Sean is a skilled storyteller with prodigious music knowledge.
Then a hare-brained idea struck: let’s ask him to do a bespoke show in McGregor.
I asked.
He said yes.
So, Eish! It’s the 80’s was conceived.
Folk asked for the backstory, so grab a glass of wine, or tea, or coffee, and bear with me… Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end, but I like to shirk tradition and leap into the middle – the glue – the music.
For many of us, the music we truly loved didn’t often hit the mainstream airwaves. It was banned and this was reflected not just in the lyrics – like Eddie Grant’s Gimme Hope Jo Anna – but also in the South African music acts that were not free to play where they pleased. Juluka, for example, had to play the university campus circuit, and then only certain campuses gave them “space”. It was illegal for Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu to be on the same stage at the same time and in “white” South Africa. I remember seeing them in the dope smoke-filled, hallowed Great Hall at Rhodes in the early 80’s.
Moving to the big smoke
In 1985, I got my first job and headed to Joburg – all of 22, alone, and on the train to start work in January ’86; a tin trunk and three suitcases in tow. It was the beginning of an incredible journey of growing up, and in many ways, the happiest years of my life. At that age, you can only be invincible – and I was. The employer’s not important, nor is the work (although it was considered both important and/or seditious, depending on your perspective). What is important, is that my co-workers and peers were people from across South Africa. We were young, passionate about life, and everything it threw at us. We worked hard – at work and outside work – and we made firm, lifelong friendships. When we played, we found places where we could have fun together. One such special place was Jameson’s on Commissioner Street.
Friday “seminars”
In the heart of the Johannesburg CBD, within spitting distance of the mining house and bank head offices (oh, and John Vorster Square), midday saw Jameson’s filled with grey suits and business lunches. In daylight, it seemed staid and rather drab. Come dusk, the tempo and colour changed – in every sense of the word. Business banter gave way to the vivacious conversation of political activists.
On a Friday, like clockwork, we would head out for our weekly “seminar”. This entailed leaving the office and a brisk 20-minute walk to Jameson’s. Once there, sundowners and debate ensued and, after we’d consumed the free pub snacks (we earned peanuts), we’d wait to discover that evening’s live act. If they passed muster, we’d pay the cover charge and dance the night away to bands like the Cherry Faced Lurchers, the African Jazz Pioneers and Bright Blue. Show over, we’d pile into somebody’s combi or share a metered taxi and head home via Hillbrow where we’d make a pitstop at Fontana for burgers or Tropical Foods for Schwarmas.
Dancing from the total onslaught to democracy
What was normal for us at Jameson’s was, in 80’s and early 90’s, illegal. We didn’t care. We just did. And we danced. There was always the music.
We were – and are – as Lucky Dube later sang: One people, different colours.
There are a few in the village who remember those heady days. Join us at the Eish! It’s the 80’s event as we relive the bad, good old days with a bespoke show curated by Sean Brokensha, Mix FM’s Music Guru. Eish! It’s the 80’s will be South Africa’s soundtrack from the mid-80’s and into the 90’s, interwoven with the stories of the music and musicians, and how young South Africans danced from the total onslaught to democracy.
For more information and to book: Eish! It’s the 90’s
Until next time
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Post script
With thanks to my namesake, Fiona D, who helped panel beat the copy and is responsible for the graphics.
Oh, and regular readers will recognise that this show will be a vignette of the much longer (ahem) soundtrack to my life.
I also blog to the Hive blockchain where I’m a member of a bunch of silvers.
- Join Hive using this link and then join us in the Silver Bloggers’ community.
- lastly, graphics are created using partly my own photographs and Canva.