Skokiaan

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"Skokiaan" is a popular tune originally written by Zimbabwean musician August Musarurwa[1] (d.1968) (usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) in the tsaba-tsaba big band style that succeeded marabi. Skokiaan (Chikokiyana in Shona[2]) refers to an illegal self-brewed alcoholic beverage typically brewed over one day that may contain a dangerous ingredient, such as methylated spirits [3][4]. Variations on the tune's title include Sikokiyana, Skokiana, and Skokian.

Contents

[edit] History

Label of a recording of Skokiaan by the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia (possibly 1947)
Label of a recording of Skokiaan by the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia (possibly 1947)

Skokiaan was first recorded as a sax and trumpet instrumental by the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) under leadership of Musarurwa (possibly in 1947[5] [6]). Several tunes played by the Cold Storage Band was recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in June 1951 [7]. On Tracey's recording Musarurwa also apparently played for the Chaminuka Band[8]. Musarurwa copyrighted the tune, probably in 1952.

In 1954 Gallotone Records[[9]] released a version of Skokiaan by Musarurwa and the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band[10] The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band's version was issued in the United States by London Records and, after being played four times by a Cleveland disk-jockey, took off and reached #17 on the Billboard magazine chart [11]. Whether this was a new recording, or a re-release of the old recording under a new name, is uncertain. Possibly the band's original name was changed for easier Western consumption[12], perhaps by the record company or by the band itself.

Since then the song has been recorded many times, initially as part of a wave of world music that swept across the globe in the 1950s, spurred on in Africa by Hugh Tracey and in the United States by Alan Lomax, to name two. Skokiaan gained popularity outside Africa at the same time as the indigenous South African export, Mbube (Wimoweh). The sheet music was eventually released in 17 European and African languages (Stone 1999:346). Performers recorded Skokiaan in France (Alix Combelle), Finland (Kipparikvartetti), Germany (James Last), South Africa (Soweto String Quartet), Sweden (Lily Berglund), Trinidad and Tobago (Southern All Stars), the United Kingdom (Alma Cogan), and the United States (Louis Armstrong), among others. Marimba arrangements of Skokiaan are particularly popular among groups playing Zimbabwean music, as the Dandemutande website shows.

Despite its Zimbabwean origins, the song's title frequently includes "South African Song" in brackets. This may have been due to misunderstandings about the difference between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, two countries in the Southern Africa region.

In France in 1953 the orchestra of Alix Combelle recorded a cover of Skokiaan on the Phillips label [13]. Jacques Hélian also recorded a version.

Covers followed in the United States in 1954 by Ralph Marterie (reaching #3 on the chart), by Ray Anthony (whose version reached #18), and by Cuban-Mexican Perez Prado (whose version reached #26). During the same year Louis Armstrong recorded a Dixieland version that reached #29.

English lyrics were added in 1954 by American Tom Glazer, known for On Top of Spaghetti (1963), for the Canadian group The Four Lads. On August 4, 1954 the Four Lads recorded with Columbia Records the only vocal version of Skokiaan that reached the United States charts, peaking at #7. In line with the spirit of the times, Glazer's lyrics contain what Time arts columnist Richard Corliss describes as jovial "ethnographic condescension:"[14] "Oh-far away in Africa / Happy, happy Africa / ...You sing a bingo bango bingo / In hokey pokey skokiaan." [15]. The condescension seems to have been lost on Louis Armstrong, who recorded a version of Skokiaan entitled "Happy Africa." Armstrong met Musarurwa in November 1960, during the former's tour of Africa. Whether the two musicians jammed together [16] [17], or whether Armstrong just gave Musarurwa a jacket [18], is unclear.

Skokiaan became the theme song at Africa U.S.A Park, a 300 acre theme park founded in 1953 at Boca Raton, Florida by John P. Pedersen. The song was played all day long in the parking lot as guests arrived and was sold in the gift shop. The park boasted the largest collection of camels in the United States. After it closed, the site was converted to the Camino Gardens subdivision [19]. Other urban areas in the United States apparently influenced by the name of the song is Franklin, Ohio, which boasts a Skokiaan Drive[20], and Skokie, Illinois, which has a Skokiana Terrace [21].

Bill Haley & His Comets recorded an instrumental version in 1959 that reached #70 on the American chart in 1960. Except for reissues of "Rock Around the Clock", this would be the band's final chart hit in America.

An instrumental version by Hot Butter was released in 1973 on the album "More Hot Butter."

Spike Jones and the City Slickers recorded a "Japanese Skokiaan" in 1954, written by band member Freddie Morgan, a banjo player and vocalist (RCA VICTOR 47-5920[22]) [23].

In 1978 Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela recorded the song as a brass duet with a disco flavor [24]. The tune put "Alpert on the R&B chart for the first time in his career" (herbalpert.com).

The song appears on Kermit Ruffins' 2002 album "Big Easy". A number of reggae versions of the song also exist.

In the United Kingdom, vocal versions were recorded by South African singer Eve Boswell and Alma Cogan. The recording by Alma Cogan was released in 1954 by HMV, with "This Ole House" on the flip side.

A six-member band called Skokiaan[25] that formed in Liverpool in 1995 to play South African township jazz also recorded a version of the song[26]. There is also a South African township jazz band called Skokiana, led by Sazi Dlamini [27].

On the Cash Box best-selling record charts, where all versions of the song were combined, the song reached #2 [reference?].

[edit] Recordings

[edit] 1940s

1947: Msarurgwa and his African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia (GALLO-Gallotone Records-JIVE GB.1152)

[edit] 1950s

1953:

  • Alix Combelle and his orchestra
  • Jacques Hélian and his orchestra

1954:

  • Msarurgwa and his Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band (London Records, catalog #1491) , (British) Decca F10350 [same name]
  • Alma Cogan (HMV, catalog # 7M 269
  • Bud Isaacs (RCA 47-5844, September 1954)
  • Enoch Light Brigade Orchestra (Waldorf Music Hall MH 3304) [28]
  • the Four Lads (Columbia Records, catalog # 40306)
  • Jimmy Carroll and Orchestra (Bell Records # 1060)
  • Johnny Hodges (Norgran 124)[29]
  • Lily Berglund (Karusell K 99.S.1954)
  • Louis Armstrong* Olavi Virta (Fazerin musiikkikerho mflp 05) [30]
  • Jerry Mengo et son orchestre (Ducretet-Thomson (France) : EP 460 V 041, single 500 V 057)
  • Perez Prado (RCA Victor 47-5839, September (backed with The High And The Mighty)
  • Ralph Marterie (Mercury Records, catalog # 70432)
  • Ray Anthony (Capitol F-2896)
  • Reino Helismaa [31]
  • Ted Heath And His Music (Decca F10368, UK, 11/1954) (Dutton Laboratories/ Vocalion CDLK 4251) [32]

1955:

  • Chris Barber's Jazz Band [33]
  • Kipparikvartetti (Triola trlp 101)[34]

1956: Johnny Gomez and Orchestra (Cook Records/Smithsonian COOK01180)[35])[36]
1957: Southern All Stars (Cook Records/ Smitsonian Folkways Recordings)
1958:

  • Alix Combelle et son orchestre [FR], (Philips (EP) 432.232 BE)
  • Ivo Robic (Jugoton, Zagreb SY 1025) [37]

1959: Bill Haley & His Comets[38](Decca 9-31030)

[edit] 1960s

1962:

  • Bert Kaempfert [39]
  • Oliver Nelson (RCA 62VK701 [40])

1963:

1964: H.B. Barnum (Imperial 66046)[44]
1961: The Fayros [U.S.] (RCA E 3.50, RCA Victor # 37-7914)[45]
1965:

  • Bob Moore (Hickory Records # 1357)
  • Carl Stevens [46]
  • James Last [47]
  • The Shangaans (EMI Records TWO 109)[48]

1968:

  • Blind Hog (Vulcan V-106), (B-side of Rockin' Pneumonia and the boogie Woogie Flu

[edit] 1970s

1970: Nico Carstens (Columbia SCXJ 11188)
1973:

  • Hot Butter (Musicor MS-3254)
  • James, Jill and Jackson (Imperial 5C 006-24845)

1974:

  • Josh Graves[49]
  • Matti Kuusla (Rondo rolp 10 (lp) [50]

1978:

[edit] 1980s

1986: Vesa-Matti Loiri (Flamingo fgl 4004 (lp)) [53]

[edit] 1990s

1992:

  • Boka Marimba (Dandemutande CD(9-C)[54])

1994: Chaia Marimba (Dandemutande CD(87-C) [55])
1996:

  • African Jazz Pioneers (Intuition [56])
  • Sauli Lehtonen (Mtv mtvcd 101 (cd ) ) [57]
  • Boka Marimba (Dandemutande CD(143-C), Tape(143-T [58])

1997:

  • Kushinga Marimba Ensemble (Dandemutande Tape(249-T) [59]

1998:

  • Zimbira (Dandemutande [60])

1999:

  • Joe Goldmark [61]
  • Skokiaan [62]
  • Zambezi Marimba Band (Dandemutande CD(254-C) ) [63])

[edit] 2000s

2000:

  • Boereqanga (Nico Carstens)[64]
  • Proteus 7 (Dorian xCD-90266)[65]

2002:

2003:

  • Boka Marimba (Dandemutande CD(483-C [69])

2005:

  • Jimmy Smith (Empire Musicwerks/Hot JWP Music)[70]
  • Kuzanga Marimba (Dandemutande CD(609-C) [71])
  • Masanga Marimba Ensemble (Dandemutande CD(600-C) [72])

2006:

  • Binnsmead Marimba [73]
  • Rock 'N' Roll Party (Prominent P10C3907 [74])

[edit] Unknown dates:

  • Nico Carstens and his Orchestra and Chorus (LP Coue Plaat) - EMI/Columbia 33JSX 11015 (1961 or 1962 or 1964)(Afrikaner band)
  • Brave Combo [75]
  • Chikoro Marimba [76]
  • Gayle Larson and the Toppers (Tops-EP-242) [77]
  • Lonnie Donegan [78]
  • Masanga Marimba Ensemble[79]
  • Soweto String Quartet[80]
  • Zinindika[81]
  • Sugar Belly and the Canefields (Port-O-Jam Records)
  • The Mertens Brothers (Belgium)
  • The Titans [82] surf music from Minneapolis, MN (SOMA Records)
  • The Vikings (RCA Victor 71.300)[83] [84]

[edit] Skokiaan-related factoids

  • A bronze sculpture by German artist Detlef Kraft is called Skokiaan [85].
  • A modified version of the [Centurion tank] was named Skokiaan [86].
  • The middle name of Zambian-born Australian rugby player George Gregan is Musarurwa[87].

[edit] Skokiaan myths

The following myths are sometimes found in descriptions of the tune:

  • Myth: Skokiaan is "a South African" tune or song. In fact, Skokiaan was composed by a Zimbabwean, but recorded by a South African company. The lyrics were written by an American[88].
  • Myth: Skokiaan means "happy-happy." Skokiaan actually refers to a type of "moonshine."
  • Myth: Skokiaan is associated with the Zulu, a South African ethnic grouping. Untrue; Musarurwa was a Shona from Zimbabwe.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Cruz Ayala, José G. no date. "Bill Haley Tribute, Part II," [89]
  • Lifshitz, Ken. no date. Down by Our Vineyard, pp.49-51.
  • Stone, Ruth M. 1999. The Garland Handbook of African Music. Routledge, p. 346.

[edit] External links

  • A sample of a 2002 Zimbabwean marimba arrangement of Skokiaan (Sikokiyana).
  • Audio versions of the song by the Four Lads, Perez Prado, Bill Haley, and Louis Armstrong and Hugh Masakela [90] (requires RealMedia, registration).
  • Dandemutande (www.dandemutande.org)
  • Discussion on One Hit Wonder Central forum [91].
  • Full audio recording of 1954 Skokiaan by the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band [92].
  • Images and history of Africa U.S.A..
  • Photographof the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band.
  • Recordings of Musarurwa (Msarurgwa) and other Zimbwabwean jazz artists between 1950 and 1952 by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey on CD[93].
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