Line #95 Music/JohnnyClegg


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/johnny_clegg_1989.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Hold me close, Africa\
4	Don't let me go, Africa\
5	Let me grow old, Africa\
6	Remember me"''
7	->--"Orphans of the Empire"
8
9	->''"African music, wherever you're from\
10	You'll never lose it -- the rhythm is strong"''
11	->--"Umbaqanga Music"
12
13	Johnny Clegg (June 7, 1953 - July 16, 2019) was an English-South African musician.
14
15	He was the leader of two now-disbanded bands, "Juluka", meaning "sweat", and "Savuka", meaning "we have risen" or "we are victorious". He later continued touring with a different band, which was either nameless or simply named "The Johnny Clegg Band". His music is an unparalleled type of Western pop/rock combined with traditional Zulu music.
16
17	While never achieving high popularity in the US, his music was considered controversial in the UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica of UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra for Clegg was vocally opposed to the Apartheid, and is well-liked today. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff He also has a huge following in France]], of all places, where he is known as "Le Zoulou Blanc" ("The White Zulu").
18
19	Not to be mistaken for Creator/JohnClegg.
20	----
21	!!His studio album discography with the three bands is as follows:
22
23	* Juluka:
24	** ''Universal Men'' (1979)
25	** ''African Litany'' (1981)
26	** ''Scatterlings'' (1982)
27	** ''Ubuhle Bemvelo'' (1982)
28	** ''Work For All'' (1983)
29	** ''Stand Your Ground'' (1984)
30	** ''Musa Ukungilandela'' (1984)
31	** ''The International Tracks'' (1984)
32	** ''Ya Vuka Inkunzi - The Bull Has Risen (Name in South Africa)/Crocodile Love (Name Internationally)'' (1997)
33
34	* Savuka:
35	** ''Third World Child'' (1987)
36	** ''Shadow Man'' (1988)
37	** ''Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World'' (1990)
38	** ''Heat, Dust and Dreams'' (1993)
39	** ''Live and Rarities'' (1994)
40	** ''In My African Dream'' (1994)
41
42	* Solo:
43	** ''Third World Child'' (1985)
44	** ''New World Survivor'' (2002)
45	** ''One Life'' (2006)
46	** ''Human'' (2010)
47
48	!!!'''His music and other works provide examples of''':
49	* AfricanChant: Justified, considering it ''is'' African music. Varies from a few words to entire albums.
50	* AfterTheEnd: "Tough Enough", and possibly "Missing" and "When The System Has Fallen".
51	* AlbumTitleDrop: "Foreign Nights (Working Dog In Babylon)" serves as this for ''Heat, Dust and Dreams''.
52	* AntiLoveSong: "High Country", a song about love and marriage falling apart.
53	* AndThisIsFor: Several songs have a dedication. Among them are "The Crossing (Osiyeza)" (For Dudu), "Bullets for Bafanzane" (For our family friend Bafanzane), "Foreign Nights (Working Dog in Babylon)" (For Jenny), and "The Revolution Will Eat Its Children" (For Uncle Bob).
54	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In "Tough Enough"
55	--> '''Clegg:''' Picture the end of a cycle\
56	Here's the fire from Heaven\
57	There's a tired planet closing down\
58	No more news at 11.
59	* ArtisticLicense: Savuka's first concert in France was at a ''jazz'' festival.
60	--> '''Clegg:''' We don't know [[GoshDangItToHeck what the heck]] we had to do with jazz, but of course we said we'd do it.
61	* BilingualBonus: Almost all his songs are either in English, Zulu, or both.
62	* EpicInstrumentalOpener:
63	** "Colours of Change", which features a radically different techno opener.
64	** "Foreign Nights (Working Dog in Babylon)" opens with a guitar solo that definitely qualifies.
65	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Work For All'' began to talk about problems in a more direct manner than the albums before it. Among them are the common violence in the KZN and South Africa in general ("Bullets for Bafazane", "Gunship Ghetto", "Mdantsane (Mud Coloured Dusty Blood)"), the decision between self and country ("December African Rain"), water shortages ("Walima'mabele"), protests ("Mana Lapho"), internal displacement ("Baba Nango", "Mdantsane (Mud Colored Dusty Blood)") and the fight for work ("Work For All").
66	* GoshDangItToHeck: His songs generally don't include any profanity at all. There are only two swears in any of them, one in English and one in Zulu.
67	* LighterAndSofter: Savuka in comparison to Juluka. The music got more upbeat and less gritty.
68	* LyricalDissonance:
69	** "Thamela (Die Son Trek Water)". While the music sounds upbeat, and one without either a translation or knowledge of Afrikaans wouldn't be able to tell the difference, the song is actually about a soldier drinking heavily while missing a loved one. The ending implies that he has completely given up hope.
70	** "Touch the Sun" is one of the most upbeat songs Clegg ever wrote. It also happens to be about his sister, who recently died of cancer at 38.
71	* MoodWhiplash: "High Country" switches between a calm love song and a loud song of destruction every stanza.
72	* NewSoundAlbum: The Savuka sound is more heavily-influenced by Western music than Juluka was.
73	* NonAppearingTitle: "Universal Men", "Love in the Time of Gaza"
74	* NoodleIncident: The inspiration for "Bullets for Bafazane" was kept one for a while.
75	--> '''Clegg:''' After you've been writing songs for long enough, you begin to write about whatever crazy incident happens. It's a bit of a long story.
76	* OneWomanSong: "Deliwe", "Thoko","Tholakele" and "Zodwa". Technically "Magumede" too, although it's a tribal song and not romantic.
77	* [[PrecisionFStrike PrecisionHStrike]]: From "Gunship Ghetto". While nothing bad in comparison to ''plenty'' of other music, it's still a bit surprising to those used to the GoshDangItToHeck.
78	--> Crazy boy your sister's crying\
79	Tell me where the hell you been
80	* ProtestSong: Protest Band, really. Interracial bands were illegal in South Africa when Clegg first rose to prominence. Naturally, plenty of protest songs were made. Most notably "Siyayilanda", "Bullets for Bafazane", "Mana Lapho (Stand Your Ground)", "Work for All", "Gunship Ghetto", "Mdantsane (Mud Coloured Dusty Blood)", "Asimbonanga (Mandela)", "Third World Child", "Berlin Wall", "Talk to the People", "Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World", "One (Hu)'man, One Vote", and "Inevitable Consequence of Progress".
81	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "One (Hu)'man, One Vote" was written in memory of the assassination of anti-apartheid activist Dr David Webster, which took place when ''Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World'' was being recorded.
82	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Of sorts. While Sipho Mchunu co-sings many of the Juluka songs, he's never actually billed for a specific part of any of them except for "Thandazani"
83	* TakeThat: The entire concept of a racially mixed band singing protest songs is akin to a middle finger in the eyes of the apartheid regime.
84	** "The Revolution Will Eat Its Children" has a more explicitly-stated target. It was aimed at "Uncle Bob", aka Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe since 1987.
85	* ThoseWackyNazis: One half of the story of "Warsaw 1943 (I Never Betrayed the Revolution)".
86	* TitleTrack: "Universal Men", "African Litany", "Scatterlings of Africa", "Work for All", "Third World Child", "African Shadow Man", "Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World", "In My African Dream", "Crocodile Love", "New World Survivor".
87	* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Hell Is Phelamanga]]: Of all the obscure places mentioned in songs, this is the only only one that doesn't actually exist. It's mentioned in the song "Scatterlings of Africa" in the line "On the road to Phelamanga". It's generally presumed to refer to a place where all truth comes from and prevails, akin to a type of Heaven. Clegg has gone on record saying "[Phelamanga is] somewhere at the end of an illusion".
88	* WordSaladLyrics: "Uthando Luphelile". To the point that some of the ''English'' lyrics can't be transcribed.

Context Music / JohnnyClegg