From the Hip with Benjy Mudie

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]

Making music in an alternative nation | Gary Rathbone

Gary Rathbone talks up Spectres, ECC, and SA music in the 80s. Guitarist/drummer, singer, and writer, Gary Rathbone has spent the last 40 years skirting the parallel worlds of alternative rock and catchy jangly pop with bands like What Colors, The Aeroplanes, Urban Camouflage, The Spectres, The Weathervanes, and more recently, has struck out on his own with this brand of indie rock. 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]