Otis Waygood Untold | Rob Zipper

Otis Waygood Untold | Rob Zipper

Rob Zipper (Otis Waygood Blues Band | Lead Singer and Saxophonist) tells the wild, full story This episode is for Gen X music lovers who grew up hearing the name Otis Waygood and wondering what really happened. Benjy Mudie sits down with Rob Zipper, lead singer and saxophonist of the Otis Waygood Blues Band, for the first time in decades to relive the extraordinary story of the band that Rian Malan called "our Led Zeppelin, our Free, maybe even our Rolling Stones." Rob takes you back to Rhodesia in the early 1960s, the teen band scene in Salisbury, and the moment Morris Trigger sang "Rock Around the Clock" in standard one and changed everything. He traces the blues education that began with Benny Millar, the maverick guitarist who introduced the band to Eric Clapton, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Bob Dylan years before anyone else knew who they were. The episode goes deep on the band's explosive arrival in South Africa in 1969: the Battle of the Bands at Green Point Stadium, the Electric Circus in Linksfield, and the night a sharply dressed young man named Clive Calder walked up the stairs and offered them a ten percent royalty deal at EMI, an unheard-of figure that made headlines and launched a phenomenon. Rob explains the chemistry behind the Calder-Otis Waygood partnership, why it never quite worked the same way for Freedom's Children, Suck or Abstract Truth, and how Clive Calder and Ralph Simon went on to build Zomba Records, sign Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. You will hear about the three albums recorded in 1970, including the classics "Late Miss Kate," "Fever" and "Watchin' Chain"; the communal house in Parkhurst where Abstract Truth and jamming musicians from the townships were regular guests; and the tragic, quietly heartbreaking story of flute player Martin Jackson. Rob then traces the band's journey through Amsterdam's Paradiso club, a medieval commune near Tubingen, the near-miss with Richard Branson at the Virgin Manor, a late-night encounter with Del Newman (Cat Stevens and Shirley Bassey's producer), and seeing Bob Marley and the original Wailers at the Speakeasy in Oxford Circus when there were barely five tables in the room. The story ends with a white Rhodesian reggae band playing Black clubs in Stoke Newington and Handsworth, a tour supporting Tavares, and a night at the London Palladium. Otis Waygood Blues Band discography on Discogs [https://www.discogs.com/artist/1076670-Otis-Waygood-Blues-Band] · Zomba Records history and Clive Calder [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomba_Group_of_Companies] · Rian Malan - My Traitor's Heart [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135354.My_Traitor_s_Heart] · Vinyl Junkie Website [https://vinyljunkie.co.za/] · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard [https://SolidGold.co.za] · Connect with Benjy on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjy-mudie-5503225/] · Music Rights Clearances [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16MyML0GMg6Cxnp93K_tUDplyp4rs8iB1?usp=sharing]

Stoking the star-making machine with a music legend | Patric van Blerk

This podcast captures something rare: the unguarded voice of a true music alchemist reflecting on five decades of creative risk-taking. What emerges isn't just industry history. It's a meditation on passion as sustainable fuel. Van Blerk's story begins with a 13-year-old epiphany: "I could also be in music. There's nothing stopping me." That certainty becomes the through-line of his entire career, from warehouse floor picker at Gallo to the architect of Joburg Records, South Africa's most significant independent label. His path reveals a fundamental truth: the music industry's gatekeepers are often those who started by genuinely loving the gate. The Rabbitt saga stands as the podcast's emotional centerpiece, a Beatlemania-scale phenomenon that came terrifyingly close to global breakthrough before imploding. Van Blerk's willingness to discuss failure ("I know what mistakes I made") shows rare vulnerability. The detail about bullets flying in Hillbrow clubs while they rehearsed "Boys Will Be Boys" crystallises the raw, dangerous energy of that era's South African rock scene. But it's his work with Margaret Singana that reveals van Blerk's true ANR instinct. Hearing her voice and feeling "shivers down my spine", then navigating apartheid's grotesque bureaucracy (the separate entrance for "black records" at the SABC) shows someone who let talent trump every institutional barrier. The arc from "I Never Loved a Man" to the wheelchair-bound recording of "We Are Growing" is heartbreaking and triumphant simultaneously. Van Blerk's philosophy emerges clearly: "If you don't really, really love music and you're willing to lay down your life for it... get up now." His legacy isn't hits or wealth, it's sustained enthusiasm across fifty years of dark valleys. In an era of playlist algorithms and viral moments, his story reminds us that great music careers are built on one irreplaceable foundation: genuine, irrational, life-consuming love of the art itself. As he says: "It's the music." Everything else is commentary. Patric van Blerk [https://capetownsound.com/the-team-patric-van-blerk/] · Vinyl Junkie Website [https://vinyljunkie.co.za/] · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard [https://SolidGold.co.za] · Connect with Benjy on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjy-mudie-5503225/] · Music Rights Clearances [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16MyML0GMg6Cxnp93K_tUDplyp4rs8iB1?usp=sharing]

Radio Rats slide into the night

Legendary Springs garage band reveal the truth about ZX Dan.... Jonathan Handley (guitarist & songwriter, Dave Davies (vocalist). If you were tuned into South African music in the late '70s you couldn't help but remember a strange but compelling song called "ZX Dan" wafting across the pop airwaves. This tale of a travelling spaceman remains one of the greatest songs in the SA rock universe. Helmed by guitarist/songwriter Jonathan Handley and vocalist Dave Davies, Radio Rats remain one of the most independent and enigmatic groups and in this highly amusing episode they wax lyrical about life in the East Rand, why drummers want to be guitarists, drive-ins, and the lowdown on the making of the classic "Into the Night We Slide" album. Radio Rats on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/RadioRats] · Vinyl Junkie Website [https://vinyljunkie.co.za/] · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard [https://SolidGold.co.za] · Connect with Benjy on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjy-mudie-5503225/] · Music Rights Clearances [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16MyML0GMg6Cxnp93K_tUDplyp4rs8iB1?usp=sharing]

The Concert in the Park - 40th Anniversary Special

Step back into the sweltering heat of January 12, 1985, when South Africa stood on the edge of collapse—townships ablaze, a nation divided by the iron fist of Apartheid. Yet, from this cauldron of chaos rose a moment of pure, defiant hope: the Concert in the Park. In this heart-wrenching 40th-anniversary special, we relive the day when 120,000 black and white South Africans converged at Ellis Park, their voices merging in a thunderous cry for unity, healing, and hunger relief. Feel the tears well up as Johnny Clegg, Brenda Fassie, Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse, eVoid, Neil Johnson, Alex Jay, PJ Powers, Tim Parr, Heather Mac, Jarrod Aston, Erik & Lucien Windrich, and others recount the electric jolt of performing to a sea of faces—once segregated, now one. Hear Hilton Rosenthal’s voice tremble as he recalls the spark of inspiration that defied a nation’s skepticism, and let the raw joy of a peaceful revolution wash over you. This isn’t just a concert’s story—it’s the heartbeat of a rainbow nation daring to dream, a melody of resilience that still echoes through time. Prepare to be moved by a day that changed South Africa's future. Vinyl Junkie Website [https://vinyljunkie.co.za/] · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard [https://SolidGold.co.za] · Connect with Benjy on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjy-mudie-5503225/] · Music Rights Clearances [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16MyML0GMg6Cxnp93K_tUDplyp4rs8iB1?usp=sharing]

All things Shifty

Lloyd Ross (founder/owner Shifty Studio/Records) and Warrick Sony (partner Shifty Studio/founder Kalahari Surfers) Throughout the turbulent Eighties Shifty Records forged an uncompromising, if solitary, trail through the South African music business. Founded by avid music fan, Lloyd Ross, the studio and its accompanying label was responsible for creating a tsunami of original independent music that reflected both the musical and social revolution happening on the streets. In this episode Lloyd, accompanied by longtime friend and compatriot, Warrick Sony, takes the listener on an often-hilarious joyride through the highs and lows of Shifty, featuring the music of the likes of Happy Ships, Corporal Punishment, Gereformeerde Blues Band, Sankomota, Kalahari Surfers, Cherry Faced Lurchers and many more. Listen on Bandcamp [https://shiftyrecords.bandcamp.com/] · Connect with Lloyd [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyd-ross-17552729/] · Vinyl Junkie Website [https://vinyljunkie.co.za/] · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard [https://SolidGold.co.za] · Connect with Benjy on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjy-mudie-5503225/] · Music Rights Clearances [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16MyML0GMg6Cxnp93K_tUDplyp4rs8iB1?usp=sharing]