The dynamics of the interaction between music and society in recorded popular Afrikaans music, 1900 – 2015. by Schalk Daniël van der Merwe Dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. Albert Mauritz Grundlingh Co-supervisor: Prof. Stephanus Muller December 2015 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration By submitting this dissertation, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the owner of the copyright thereof (unless to the extent explicitly otherwise stated) and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. December 2015 Copyright © 2015 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to extend my gratitude to my two supervisors, Professors Albert Grundlingh and Stephanus Muller – I cannot think of a more suitable combination of minds for guiding me through the specific challenges of writing on this subject. I am also grateful for the History Department of Stellenbosch University for financial support, and to my colleagues Professors Sandra Swart, Bill Nasson, Wessel Visser, Dr. Anton Ehlers, (soon-to- be Dr.) Chet Fransch, Melvyn Daniels and Leschelle Morkel, and former colleague Dr. Sarah Duff – all of whom contributed in their own ways. Thank you to Mimi Seyffert, Marina Brink and Lynne Fourie at the University of Stellenbosch’s Library Archive for their help and guidance with archival material. Thank you also to Ernéne Verster and Huibre Lombard at the University of the Free State’s Institute for Contemporary History Archives, and to Monica van Deventer at the SABC Information Library for their help and correspondence. Thank you to Anton Goosen, who was always quick to reply to my many enquiries, and to the late Ollie Viljoen – an extraordinary person and a wealth of information. So many stories passed on with you. To Tertius Louw, the “Rosetta Stone” of South African vinyls, whose unselfish sharing of information was, quite simply, irreplaceable. I am truly indebted to you. I would also like to thank all my brothers and sisters in the music world – too many to mention by name – for being a second family and providing an excellent soundtrack to my life. To my first family - my mother Carin, and sister Carine - thank you so much for your support. Finally, I’d like to reserve the most special mention for my wife, Ilse, for her unwavering love and support, and to my daughter, Valki, whose arrival in this world coincided with the start of this project. Seeing her grow while I was writing this thesis was a constant inspiration and source of immense pride. In memory of my father, “Black” Dan van der Merwe, who instilled in me a love of reading. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Abstract This thesis provides an analytical account of the interaction between political events and popular music culture with specific reference to recorded Afrikaans music of the last 115 years. It starts with the first recordings of Boer national anthems during the Anglo-Boer War in 1900, and concludes with expressions of racial exclusivity in post-apartheid Afrikaans pop music. It reveals cases of compliance with, as well as resistance to, the master narrative of Afrikaner nationalism as it existed for most of the twentieth century, and gives examples of how these values persist in the present. By employing popular Afrikaans music as a lens, a clearer image of the agency of ordinary individuals (artists and listeners) emerges against a background of fundamental societal and political change. Furthermore, by looking at popular Afrikaans music over a wide historical period, salient themes (for example class tension and the ubiquitous efforts by cultural nationalist entrepreneurs to co-opt popular Afrikaans music into the Afrikaner nationalist project) in the development of Afrikaner culture over this period are highlighted, which helps to historicise the invocation of Afrikaner nostalgia in post- apartheid Afrikaans pop. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Opsomming Hierdie tesis bied ‘n analitiese verhaling van die interaksie tussen politieke gebeure en populêre musiekkultuur met spesifieke verwysing na opgeneemde Afrikaanse musiek oor die laaste 115 jaar. Dit begin met die eerste opnames van die nasionale volksliedere van die Boererepublieke tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog, en sluit af met uitdrukkings van rasse- eksklusiwiteit in post-apartheid Afrikaanse popmusiek. Die tesis verskaf voorbeelde van die onderstuening van, en verset teen, die meesternarratief van Afrikanernasionalisme soos dit bestaan het vir groot gedeeltes van die twintigste eeu, en gee ook voorbeelde van hoe hierdie waardes nog manifesteer in die hede. Deur populêre musiek in te span as ‘n lens, word ‘n duideliker idee verkry van die lewens van gewone mense (kunstenaars en luisteraars), gesien teen ‘n agtergrond van fundamentele sosiale en politieke verandering. Deur 'n oorsig te skep van populêre musiek oor ‘n lang historiese tydperk, word sekere opvallende temas in die ontwikkeling van Afrikanerkultuur oor hierdie periode (byvoorbeeld klassespanning en die herhaalde pogings deur kulturele nasionalistiese entrepreneurs om populêre Afrikaanse musiek te ko-opteer vir die Afrikanernasionalistiese projek) blootgelê. Dit dra by daartoe om die tematiese gebruik van Afrikaner nostalgie in post-apartheid Afrikaanse popmusiek te historiseer. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za i Contents List of Abbreviations iii Table of Figures vi Introduction 1 Chapter One: “Kruger’s lost voice”: Nation, religion and race in pre-WWI Afrikaans music records 39 Chapter Two: Mythology, class division and establishing “authority” 68 Chapter Tree: After the Trek: War, Radio, Apartheid and Boeremusiek 103 Chapter Four: “Radio apartheid”: Compliance and resistance in Afrikaans popular music, 1960 – 1979 130 Chapter Five: No longer “Omo-Afrikaans”, no longer “whiter than white”: 159 1979 – 1989 Chapter Six: Explicit politics: Voëlvry, Houtstok and beyond 195 Chapter Seven: Performing whiteness in post-apartheid South Africa: Aggressive identity politics in Afrikaans pop 227 Conclusion 255 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ii Bibliography 260 Addendum A: 296 Addendum B: 299 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iii List of abbreviations: ABC – African Broadcasting Corporation AHRC – Arts and Humanities Research Council ATKV – Afrikaanse Taal-en-Kultuurvereniging BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation CHARM – Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music DRC – Dutch Reformed Church ECC – End Conscription Campaign FAK – Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge GNP – Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party INCH – University of the Free State Institute for Contemporary History KKNK - Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees LAM – Ligte Afrikaanse Musiek NP – National Party SABC – South African Broadcasting Corporation SAME – Suid-Afrikaanse Musiek Ensiklopedie TBK – Tradisionele Boeremusiekklub van Suid-Afrika VP - Volksparty WAT – Woordeboek vir die Afrikaanse Taal Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iv Table of figures: Figure 1: An early advertisement for Afrikaans gramophone records, November 1910. p. 51 Figure 2 a,b,d,e: Early Afrikaans records recorded in London, 1910. p. 54 Figure 3: Annie Visser – “Een bekwame vrijstaatse zangeres en een warm patriot”. p. 56 Figure 4: Joey Bosman – Patriotic Afrikaans singer. p. 57 Figure 5: Kate Opperman. p. 57 Figure 6: Paul Kruger – The first recorded Afrikaans voice? p. 58 Figure 7: Afrikaner national anthems, folk songs and hymns. p. 62 Figure 8: Chris Smit's Pennie Fluitjie, 1962. p.140 Figure 9: Rock Party with the Vikings at the Club Pepsi, 1958 - the first South African rock album? p.143 Figure 10: “Kwela” with Duffy. p.144 Figure 11: “Party” with Duffy. p.145 Figure 12: Coetzee en Ceronio's Die Ghitaar Pluk, c. 1965. p.146 Figure 13: Anton Goosen's debut 1979 album, Boy van die Suburbs. p.163 Figure 14: Bernoldus Niemand's 1983 singel “Hou my vas Korporaal”. p.183 Figure 15: Wildebeest's 1983 EP Horings op die Stoep. p.183 Figure 16: Shifty Records' Forces Favourites, in support of the ECC, 1985. p.209 Figure 17: Shifty Records’ Voëlvry compilation of various alternative Afrikaans artists, 1986. p.209 Figure 18: Houtstok live album. p.224 Figure 19: Houtstok live album tracklisting. p.224 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za 1 Introduction Music, and discourses on music, contribute to imagining memories that re-organise the history of a group in order to make it meaningful and useful for the present.1 The Gallo Record Company archivist Rob Allingham provided a concise, yet remarkably insightful, summary of the history of popular2 Afrikaans music in his contribution to the African, European and Middle Eastern section in World Music: The Rough Guide.3 On one page, he highlighted many of the most important historical themes in the development of popular Afrikaans music in the twentieth century. These included the influence of imported American music on the “concertina-led brand of dance-music” of the 1930s (and later country music), the role of Afrikaner nationalism, the post-war imitation of middle-of-the-road European light music styles, the emergence of alternative Afrikaans music during the 1980s and 1990s, and the link between music revivalists and right-wing politics after 1994. This is a commendable feat. Were it published ten years later, it would undoubtedly also have included the success story of Afrikaans pop music after 2000 in what remains a period of political uncertainty for white Afrikaans speakers. Of course, the story of popular Afrikaans music is much more complicated than Allingham’s commendable potted version allows for. Part of the complication derives from the truism that to disentangle the history of this music’s development from its socio-political context, is to remove it from an essential part of that history. In this thesis, it is the story of change in society, rather than changes in musical genres, that is of primary interest.