Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo

Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo was the first release by Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens after their comeback in 1983. The group (under the pseudonym Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo - Mahlathini and the girls of Mgqashiyo [Mgqashiyo being the style of music they are singing]) was reunited by Marks Mankwane. The reunion saw the regrouping of the original Mahotella Queens: in 1971, the original group of five Queens (Hilda Tloubatla, Juliet Mazamisa, Ethel Mngomezulu, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola) one by one left the line-up and went in different directions in the music business; an entirely new group of Queens was formed. This incarnation recorded some successful releases, one of them the fairly popular Izibani Zomgqashiyo (1977). After the Makgona Tsohle Band (the backing team behind Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens) reunited in early 1983, guitarist and producer Marks Mankwane decided to regroup the original Mahotella Queens with the band - and Mahlathini, to which the members agreed.

The album was reissued in North America and Europe under the title Isomiso in 1984. Several songs on this album (and Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo's follow-up release, Pheletsong Ya Lerato) were selected for the Mahlathini and the Queens compilation The Lion Roars (1991).

Track listing

1. "Amaqhawe Omgqashiyo" ("The Heroes of Mgqashiyo Music")
2. "Simenyiwe" ("We've Been Invited")
3. "Satane Ngiyeke"
4. "Isomiso" ("Drought")
5. "Maye Maye"
6. "Somandla Siyabonga" ("Lord, We Thank You")
7. "Kwa Volondiya" ("At Volondiya")
8. "Ngicabange Ngaqeda" ("I Have Made Up My Mind")
9. "Emthonjeni Womculo" ("The Stream of Music")
10. "Ngasebenza Ngedwa" ("I'm Working Alone")