- Skokiaan
Infobox Single
Name = "Skokiaan"
Cover size =
Border =
Caption =
Artist = The African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia
Album =
A-side = "Skokiaan"
B-side = "In the Mood"
Released =
Format =
Recorded = 1947
Genre = Tsaba-Tsaba
Length =
Label = GALLO-Gallotone Records (JIVE GB.1152)
Writer = August Musarurwa
Producer =
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single =
This single =
Next single =
Misc = Extra musicsample |filename=Bulawayo_Sweet_Rhythms_Band_Skokiaan_1954.ogg |format=Ogg |title=Skokiaan (1954 version) |Type=single
"Skokiaan" is a popular tune originally written by Zimbabwean musician August Musarurwa (d.1968) (usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) in the "tsaba-tsaba" big band style that succeeded "marabi". Skokiaan (Chikokiyana in Shona) [ [http://www.dandemutande.org/Catalog/?cat=Music&artist=ChingodzaMusekiwa "Kutema Musasa"] , by Musekiwa Chingodza. "Dandemutande Catalog", Track 2. Retrieved online 5 February 2008.] refers to an illegal self-made alcoholic beverage typically brewed over one day that may contain a dangerous ingredient, such as methylated spirits.][ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10695182?dopt=Abstract Saungweme T, Khumalo H, Mvundura E, et al.] 1999. Iron and alcohol content of traditional beers in rural Zimbabwe. "The Central African Journal of Medicine" 45(6):136-40. Retrieved online 5 February 2008.] ][ [http://www.chronicle.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=2738&livedate=3/18/2006%2012:00:00%20AM&cat=1 Muponde, Richard.] 2006. Granny fined for brewing kachasu. "Chronicle", March 18. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] The tune has also been recorded as "Sikokiyana," "Skokiana," and "Skokian."]Within a year of its 1954 release in South Africa, at least 18 cover versions of "Skokiaan" appeared. The Zimbabwean version reached #17 in the United States, while a cover version by Ralph Marterie climbed to #3. All versions combined propelled the tune to #2 on the Cash Box charts that year. Its popularity extended outside of music, with several urban areas in the United States taking its name. Artists who produced their own interpretations include Louis Armstrong, Bill Haley, Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela. The music itself illustrates the mutual influences between Africa and the wider world.
History
"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 - anthropologist David Coplan seems to be the sole source for this date).[ [http://www.webcitation.org/5VWJNmdSR Coplan, David B.] . 2006. Sophiatown and South African Jazz: Re-appropriating a Cultural Identity. "Africultures", April 1. Retrieved online 5 February 2008. (Archived by WebCite).] ][ [http://www.onehitwondercentral.com/forum/thread.cfm?threadid=2494 OneHitWonder Central] . Subject: Forgotten Music. Retrieved online 5 February 2008.] The band comprised two saxophones, two banjos, traps, and a bass.][.Turino, Thomas. 2000. "Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe". University of Chicago Press, p.141.] Several tunes played by the Cold Storage Band were recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in June 1951.][ [http://www.swp-records.com/pages/index_html.html Hugh Tracey, 1903-1977.] SWP Records. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] On Tracey's recording, Musarurwa also apparently played for the Chaminuka Band.][ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060923040507/http://www.musicwords.nl/central/2006-17.htm Various: Bulawayo Jazz - Southern Rhodesia] . 2006. "Music and Words". musicwords.nl Retrieved online from internetarchive.org 5 February 2008.] Musarurwa copyrighted "Skokiaan", probably in 1952.]Ethnomusicologist Thomas Turino describes "Skokiaan" as having "a four-bar I-IV-V progression in 4/4 meter...The main melodic strain (A) begins with a long held trill...played by the sax on the dominant pitch...followed by an undulating, descending melody. The A strain is contrasted with sections of riffing that follow the harmonic progression fairly closely...before the main melody returns." Towards the end of the original recording a short trumpet solo "is overlapped by Musarurwa's sax". The melody throughout "is carried by the sax".[.Turino, Thomas. 2000. "Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe". University of Chicago Press, p.143.] ]Skokiaan's significance is that it shows how Africa influenced American jazz in particular and popular music in general. Musarurwa's 1947 and 1954 recordings illustrate how unique the indigenous forms of jazz were that emerged in Africa in response to global music trends. While African jazz was influenced from abroad, it also contributed to global trends.[Samuelson, Meg. 2007. Yvonne Vera's Bulawayo: Modernity, (Im)mobility, Music, and Memory. "Research in African Literatures", Vol. 38 Issue 2, pp. 26, 33 note 10.] ]"Skokiaan" has been adapted to various musical stylings, from jazz to mento/reggae (Sugar Belly and the Canefields). The tune has been arranged for strings (South Africa's Soweto String Quartet) and steel drums (Trinidad and Tobago's Southern All Stars[ [http://www.folklife.si.edu/resources/Center/Archives/Finding_Aids/Emory_Cook/Cook_Recordings_Inventory.doc Taylor, Lori E and Leah Gross.] 2005. Cook Recordings Inventory. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] ). A merengue version was recorded in the Dominican Republic by Antonio Morel y su Orquesta in the 1950s, with saxophone alto arrangement by Felix del Rosario.][Austerlitz, Paul. 2005. "Jazz Consciousness: Music, Race, and Humanity". Wesleyan University Press, pp. 105–106.] A number of reggae versions of the song also exist, and marimba covers are particularly popular.]"Skokiaan" 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, Ruth M. 1999. "The Garland Handbook of African Music". Routledge, p. 346.] In France in 1955 the orchestra of Alix Combelle recorded a cover of "Skokiaan" on the Phillips label.][ [http://www.lectura.fr/fr/catalogues/resultats.cfm?aur_offset=20&mode=cat&aur_npp=10&aut=Combelle%20%20Alix&for=oui&cub=RD%20OU%20DN Dansez avec Alix Combelle et son grand orchestre.] Retrieved 5 February 2008.] ][ [http://ring.cdandlp.com/vinylazur/photo_grande/21601017.gifDansez avec Alix Combelle et son grand orchestre.] Album cover. Retrieved 5 February 2008.] Jacques Hélian also recorded a version. Performers recorded "Skokiaan" in Finland (Kipparikvartetti), Germany (James Last and Bert Kaempfert), and Sweden (Lily Berglund), among others. In the United Kingdom, vocal versions were recorded by South African singer Eve Boswell and Alma Cogan.]But it was in the United States that "Skokiaan" peaked on the charts, where it was recorded by musicians as varied as The Four Lads and Johnny Hodges. Hodges's version is notable not only because he recorded the tune with Erroll Garner but because his band at the time included John Coltrane in a minor role.[ [http://www.tower.com/details/details.cfm?wapi=105972599 Coltrane, John.] 2004. "John Coltrane - Complete Studio Sessions With Johnny Hodges." Definitive Classics 11258. Retrieved on 10 February 2008.] ]United States
In 1954 Gallstone Records released a version of "Skokiaan" by Musarurwa and the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band.[ [http://www.muzikifan.com/tracey.html Music from the Hugh Tracey archives.] Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] After 170,000 copies was sold in South Africa, the president of London Records, E. R. Lewis, forwarded "a couple of copies" to London's offices in New York. Meanwhile, a pilot had brought the original version from South Africa to the U.S.A., and given it to Bill Randle of the radio station WERE in Cleveland. Although the copy was cracked, Randle was so impressed by what he heard that he asked Walt McQuire of London's New York office to send him a new copy. After Randle played the record four times, interest soared. London Records shipped 6,000 copies to New York from Britain, followed in September 1954 by a further 20,000.][ [http://bp1.blogger.com/_thlFYTjJbmQ/RylbBJt6i3I/AAAAAAAACcM/X4L_H_AKdD4/s1600-h/skokiaanDB9.8.54.jpg1954] . S. African Tune Latest Smash on Discs in U.S. "Downbeat Magazine", September 8. Retrieved on 10 February 2008.] ][ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807032,00.html?promoid=googlep 1955.] Top Jock. "Time Magazine", Feb. 14. Retrieved on 10 February 2008.] ]Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms' original version took off and reached #17 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart.[ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820184-1,00.html New Pop Records.] 1954. "Time Magazine", Sept. 13. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] Whether London Records' was a new recording, or a re-release of the Cold Storage Band's old recording under a new name, is uncertain. The band's original name was changed, no doubt for easier Western consumption,][ [http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/african.htm Highlife Piccadilly] . African Music on 45 rpm records in the UK, 1954–1981. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] perhaps by the record company, or by the band itself. ] (a Dixieland version said to have reached #29), could so far not be verified.)[ ]On the Cash Box best-selling record charts, where all hit versions were combined, "Skokiaan" reached #2 on October 16, 1954.[ [http://hometown.aol.com/randypny/cashbox/19541016.html The Cash Box Best Selling Singles.] 1954. Week ending October 16. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] ]English lyrics were added in 1954 by American Tom Glazer for the Canadian group The Four Lads. Glazer is perhaps better known for his On Top of Spaghetti (1963). 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 the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart.[ ][ ]In line with the spirit of the times, Glazer's lyrics contain what "Time" arts columnist Richard Corliss describes as jovial "ethnographic condescension:"[ [http://www.time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,127065,00.html Corliss, Richard.] 2001. That Old Feeling: Yesterday When We Were Young. "Time Magazine", May 18. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] "Oh-far away in Africa / Happy, happy Africa / ...You sing a bingo bango bingo /In hokey pokey skokiaan." "Skokiaan". August Msarurgwa/ Tom Glazer. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] Ethnomusicologist Thomas Turino points out that Glazer's depiction of the jungle setting is far removed from the topography of Southern Africa. But its one-size fits all "tropical paradise" idea was typical of exotic treatments at the time for songs from Latin American, Asia, and Hawaii.][.Turino, Thomas. 2000. "Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe". University of Chicago Press, p.142.] ]Glazer's unwitting condescension seems to have been lost on Louis Armstrong, who in August 1954 recorded "Skokiaan" in two parts with Sy Oliver's Orchestra in New York (Decca 29256). Part 1 (the A side) is a purely instrumental version, while Part 2 (side B) has Armstrong singing the lyrics.[ [http://www.last.fm/music/Louis+Armstrong/+videos/+1-ceG3Su5lSMs VinylToVideo.] Armstrong, Louis. 1954. "Skokiaan" Parts 1 and 2. Decca 29256. Complete playback of both sides on last.fm. Retrieved on 8 February 2008. Opens video file directly.] (Despite authoritative claims][ ][Ansell, Gwen. 2005. "Soweto Blues: Jazz, Popular Music, and Politics in South Africa". Continuum International Publishing Group, p.38.] that Armstrong recorded a version entitled "Happy Africa", this could not so far be substantiated from his discography.)][ [http://www.michaelminn.net/armstrong/index.php?singles Minn, Micheal and Scott Johnson.] 2008. Louis Armstrong: Singles. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.] On his tour of Africa, Armstrong met Musarurwa in November 1960. Whether the two musicians jammed together][ [http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/navarino/212/face/face004-mahubesound.html Pan African Network Trust.] Mahube Sound. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] , or whether Armstrong just gave Musarurwa a jacket,][ [http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=12250&cat=3&livedate=12/6/2006 Musarurwa: Composer of 1951 mega-hit song Skokiaan.] "The Herald". Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] is unclear. In any case, the difference between the date that Armstrong recorded "Skokiaan" and the date of his meeting with Musarurwa appears to invalidate claims that Armstrong recorded "Skokiaan" "after" he came face to face with the Zimbabwean.]"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.[AfricaUSA> [http://kenlifshitz.com/excerpts.html Lifshitz, Ken.] 2006. "Down By Our Vineyard". Excerpt. PDf file. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] Other urban areas in the United States apparently influenced by the name of the song is Franklin, Ohio, which boasts a Skokiaan Drive,][ [http://www.co.warren.oh.us/treasurer/unclaimed/unclaimed.pdf Warren County Ohio Website] . Unclaimed Funds. PDF file. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] and Skokie, Illinois, which has a Skokiana Terrace.][ [http://www.skokie.org/villagemap.pdf Skokie.org] Village Map. PDF file. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] ]Bill Haley & His Comets recorded an instrumental version in 1959 that reached #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1960. Except for reissues of "Rock Around the Clock", this would be the band's final chart hit in America.[ ]"Skokiaan"'s popularity tracked the transition to electronic music, with an instrumental version recorded by moog pioneers Hot Butter in 1973 on the album "More Hot Butter" (preserved as a novelty item replete with "jungle" sounds on the compilation album, "Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 2"). It was not the first such treament of "Skokiaan": 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).[ [http://www.cdbbq.com/cds/A03/A03H95.htm cdBBQ Jones, Spike.] 1954. 7" Single: I want Eddie Fisher for Christmas/ Japanese Skokiaan. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] ][ [http://www.answers.com/topic/freddie-morgan Answers.com] . Freddie Morgan. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] ]But true to its origins, "Skokiaan" remained a favourite among brass instrumentalists. In 1978 Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela recorded the song as a brass duet with a disco flavor.[ [http://www.tijuanabrass.com/alpert/alpert1.php3 tijuanabrass.com] . Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela. A&M/Horizon Records CD-0819. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] The tune put "Alpert on the R&B chart for the first time in his career".][ [http://www.herbalpert.com/biocomponents/chrono.html herbalpert.com] . Herb Alpert Chronology. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] One of the most recent brass recordings was by Kermit Ruffins' 2002 on his album, "Big Easy".] Misconceptions
Despite its Zimbabwean origins, record companies frequently added "South African Song" in brackets to the song's title, as was the case with recordings by Louis Armstrong, The Four Lads, Bill Haley, and Bert Kaempfert. This may have been due to misunderstandings about the difference between what was then Southern Rhodesia, and South Africa, two countries in the Southern Africa region. As described in the introduction, "Skokiaan" was composed by a Zimbabwean, who was recorded by a South African record company. The lyrics were later added by an American, Tom Glazer. Misled by Glazer's lyrics, some take "Skokiaan" to mean "Happy happy", leading to "Happy Africa" as an alternative title for the music.[ ][ Again, as stated earlier, the term actually refers to a type of illicitly brewed alcoholic beverage (i.e. "moonshine"). ]Why the tune was associated with "a Zulu drinking song",[ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820184,00.html?promoid=googlep 1954.] New Pop Records. "Time Magazine", Sept. 13. Retrieved on 7 February 2008.] ][ [http://www.jazzweek.com/pipermail/jazzproglist/2007-April/017359.html Crockett, Dick.] 2007. Still Another Jazz Show, April 23. jazzweek.com. Retrieved on 7 February 2008.] as it was in a 1954 Downbeat article,][ is unclear. The Zulu is an ethnic grouping found in South Africa; composer August Musarurwa was a Shona from Zimbabwe. The term skokiaan does occur in both Zulu and Shona. Both are part of the Bantu language grouping and so share similar roots. An early identification of skokiaan as a Zulu word which circulated in Johannesburg's slums is found in a scholarly article by Ellen Hellman, dated 1934.][Hellman, Ellen. 1934. Beer Brewing in an Urban Yard, "Bantu Studies" 8, p.55.] Musarurwa himself did not call his tune "a Zulu drinking song". The scanty fragments of his life history does not reveal that he spent time in South Africa, either.][ [http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=12250&cat=3&livedate=12/6/2006 2006] Musarurwa: Composer of 1951 mega-hit song Skokiaan. "The Herald," December 6. Retrieved 7 February 2008.] There is in South Africa no popular association of "Skokiaan" with a Zulu song. Was Musarurwa's tune influenced by a putative Zulu song? It seems unlikely, although not impossible. Zimbabwean migrant labourers moved back and forth between their home country and the mines of South Africa, located mostly around Johannesburg. Such journeys, often by train, led to the emergence of the song Shosholoza. While Shosholoza has become very popular among South Africans, who often sing it to encourage their sports teams, its origins, like that of "Skokiaan", are Zimbabwean.] Other usages of the name
* A six-member band called "Skokiaan" formed in Liverpool in 1995 to play South African township jazz; they also recorded a version of the song.[ [http://www.sonicgarden.com/sonic-web/artist.cfm?artistid=5206 Skokiaan.] Bio at SonicGarden. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.] ][ [http://www.greenleft.org.au/1999/349/19455 Soweto via Liverpool] Cultural Dissent, Green Left Weekly issue #349, 17 February 1999. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] The Liverpudlians are not the only band with a "Skokiaan"-related name. ]
* A South African township jazz band, led by Sazi Dlamini, lays claim to "Skokiana".[ [http://ingedej.ukzn.ac.za/include/getdoc.php?id=95&article=69&mode=pdf Bräuninger, Jürgen and Sazi Dlamini.] 2005. Yinkosi Yeziziba (2002). "Ingede: Journal of African Scholarship" Vol. 1, No. 3. Retrieved on 5 February 2008.] ]Outside the music world, the name "Skokiaan" has been applied to various artifacts other than songs; the relation between these appellations and Musarurwa's music is unclear:
* a bronze sculpture by German artist Detlef Kraft is called Skokiaan[ [http://www.redworks.info/artistsnet/start_lind/index.php?tid=229&lng=de Kraft, Detlef] . 2001. Skokiaan. Bronze, 207 x 85 x 50 cm. Bildhauerpreis der Darmstädter Sezession für junge Künstler. Retrieved on 6 February 2008.] ]
* a modified version of the Centurion tank was named Skokiaan[ [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_centurion.html Antill, P.] 2001. Centurion Main Battle Tank (UK). Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. Retrieved on 6 February 2008.] ]
* the middle name of Zambian-born Australian rugby player George Gregan is Musarurwa. Position in charts
ee also
* August Msarurgwa
* Marimba, given the popularity of arrangements of "Skokiaan" for this instrument
* Tom Glazer
References
External links
Audio
* [http://learning2share.blogspot.com/2007/04/78s-from-hell-in-mood-by-bulawayo-sweet.html 2007. 78s fRom HeLL] : The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - In The Mood (1954). "I'm learning to share". Tuesday, April 10. Blog with extensive visual material on "Skokiaan", including newspaper clippings, record label, and full mp3 download.
* Full audio recording of 1954 version of "Skokiaan" by the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band at Beat the Devil blog by Brain Nation, May 2, 2005. [http://boppin.com/2005/05/skokiaan.html] .
* Recordings of Musarurwa (Msarurgwa) and other Zimbwabwean jazz artists between 1950 and 1952 by ethnomusicologist [http://ilam.ru.ac.za/page.php?pID=4 Hugh Tracey] on CD [http://www.swp-records.com/pages/index_html.html] .
* Audio versions of the song by the Four Lads, Perez Prado, Bill Haley, and Louis Armstrong and Hugh Masakela [http://www.shapirobernstein.com/mbr/shapiro_song_display.asp?misn=2804] (requires RealMedia, registration).
* MP3 sample of Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center's 2002 Zimbabwean marimba arrangement of "Skokiaan" (Sikokiyana). Opens sound file directly. [http://www.dandemutande.org/Catalog/Music/Sounds/Kutsinhira_Musimboti_05Sikokiyana.mp3]
* Full versions of "Skokiaan" by [http://www.last.fm/music/Kermit+Ruffins/_/Skokiaan Kermit Ruffins] as well as [http://www.last.fm/music/St.+Petersburg+Ska-Jazz+Review/_/Skokiaan St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review] and [http://www.last.fm/music/Joe+Goldmark/_/Skokiaan?autostart Joe Goldmark] .
Visual
* [http://www.kwela.co.uk/wp-content/skokiaan.pdf Sheet music of the song Skokiaan.]
* [http://www.caminogardens.com/africausa.html Images] and history of [http://www.africa-usa.com/history.htm Africa U.S.A.] .
* [http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/navarino/212/face/face004-mahubesound.html Photograph] of the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5VazeN1Hv).
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