SA ROCK DIGEST ISSUE #107
http://www.sarockdigest.com
28th May 2001
The South African Rock Music Digest
is a weekly, free, subscription e-mag,
edited by Brian Currin and Stephen Segerman
and delivered direct to your e-mailbox.
Established 27th January 1999.
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CONTENTS
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1.NEWS - Johnny Calls The Chemist, Amabala, Binary, Grahamstown Festival, Roots Renegade 9, Jesse Jordan, Not The Midnight Mass, SA Rock Files
2.CHARTS - Top Selling SA CDs, Top SA Albums, Top SA Songs
3.CD REVIEWS - Lionel Bastos, Adrian Shannon
4.CLASSIC ROCK - Tractor, Rabbitt, Falling Mirror
5.FORUM, REQUESTS & FEEDBACK - Invaders, Dominos, Dog Detachment
6.LIVE REVIEWS & GIG INFO
7.LINKS
8.BACK ISSUES
9.CONTRIBUTIONS
10.CONTACT DETAILS
11.SUBSCRIPTIONS
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1.NEWS
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JOHNNY CALLS THE CHEMIST - FALLING MIRROR
Never available before on CD "Johnny Calls The Chemist" is perhaps Falling Mirror's finest work... brooding, dark and slightly unhinged lyrical imagery fused with some of the most searing rock guitar this side of the universe. Songs of madness, obsession and alienation not to be listened to in the dark, alone! Briefly touched by the star machine in 1986 when the title track became a huge (and timeless) hit the "Johnny Calls The Chemist" album includes an additional track not on the original vinyl release as well as two rare in-studio songs in the making ("Prissy Girl" and "Cat & Mouse") complete with banter and a CD-ROM track, the long unseen somewhat psychotic video of "Johnny Calls The Chemist".
Extracted from the new releases section of BMG's website at
http://www.click2music.co.za
Falling Mirror
http://rock.co.za/fallingmirror
This CD is available online from http://www.oneworld.co.za
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AMABALA BRING CHOPPER AND DANTAI TO LONDON
Kwaito-soul outfit Dantai from Cape Town and Chopper, the 'Margarida'-Man, from Johannesburg will be flying into London this weekend to take part in the prestigious Coin Street Festival. The festival takes place on an annual basis and is one of the highlights on the ever-growing London summer calendar. Amabala, the London-based SA music promotions company, is behind this latest injection of SA talent into the UK scene.
The two groups will perform at the world famous Royal Festival Hall and on an open-air stage on the banks of the Thames River. They will perform on Monday 28th of May, a UK public holiday. The festival ties in with the 'Celebrate South Africa' month taking place in London, which is aimed at showcasing South African culture to the British public.
For more information please contact:
Trenton Birch at AMABALA
mailto:trenton@amabala.co.uk
Phone: 0944 20 8749 7337
For group interviews please contact:
Chopper c/o Andre - mailto:chilila@icon.co.za Ph: +27 11 622 6493
Dantai c/o Craig - mailto:mamadanc@iafrica.com Ph: +27 21 447 5253
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MORE BINARY NUMBERS AND DETAILS
The tracklisting for Binary's new album 'Xero', which will be officially released on 29th May 2001, is:
'Alone', 'Nothing's Clear", 'Barefoot Girl', 'Trust Me', 'Come Over', 'Simple', 'Cannonballs', 'Friends', 'Barefoot Girl (Funkdown Remix featuring Christopher Palmer)'.
To purchase the 'Xero' limited release edition albums, please go to:
http://www.verge.co.za/binary.html
Catch an exclusive interview with Barney Simon on Tuesday 29th May & hear selected tracks off 'Xero' - There's also a Binary Profile on the Fanta World Chart Show - Saturday June 2.
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SAFM BRINGING BIG SA MUSIC NAMES TO GRAHAMSTOWN FESTIVAL
SAFm will be hosting a music venue at the Grahamstown Festival this year, and have organized a very impressive line-up of SA talent to appear. Artists already confirmed include Blk Sonshine, Robin Auld, Lionel Bastos, Kate Normington, Denzil Weale & Johnny Fourie, Wendy Oldfield, Louis Mhlanga, and Matthew van der Want & Chris Letcher (Chris Letcher will be coming back from the UK for the gigs). Blk Sonshine’s management has confirmed that the duo will be playing four dates in Grahamstown at the SAFm venue, following their working stay in New York during the first half of 2001. There will definitely be some last minute additions to the bill with some big names currently being wooed. Details when available.
Another major musical advancement at the Festival will be the launch of the SAFm "Bootleg Sessions". SAFm will be recording and producing a bootleg CD of each act appearing on the SAFm stage, each evening. These bootlegs will then be made available for immediate purchasing to people as they leave the venue. The artists will get a healthy cut from the sales, and only original music (not covers) will be allowed. This concept has been embraced by all the artists and is seen as a SA (world?) first.
The 2001 Standard Bank National Arts Festival runs from 28 June to 7 July. A comprehensive free Booking Kit is available from select branches of the Standard Bank (for information, ring the Festival hotline 0861 20 2000).
Book by post (details in the Booking Kit), through Computicket, Teletix or the internet (http://www.sbfest.co.za).
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ROOTS RENEGADE 9
On June 15, Roots Renegade 9 combines the best Cape and Gauteng cutting edge sounds, performers and DJ’s as it takes over both venues at the Shack Complex in De Villiers Str, Cape Town:
@The Jam - Nine, Wonderboom, Blunted Stuntman, Pierre Armageddon.
@District 206 - Krushed & Sorted, Omar, Boogieman.
With two albums, an incendiary live show, new material, and a possible Euro-tour beckoning, Nine are still one of the harder and more innovative rock outfits in South Africa. Wonderboom, now three
EP's into their deal with DGR, originate from the West Rand Massive that has brought us Sugardrive and Battery 9. They have been on the festival circuit for the past three years and have not played in Cape Town for almost two years. With a hot cover-single of ‘Johnny Calls The Chemist’ all over the air waves and a full SA covers album on the way, Wonderboom arrive in Cape Town with their powerful live reputation intact after headlining performances at some of the recent SA festivals.
Pierre Armageddon is the godfather of the Gauteng breakbeat scene. After moving from Cape Town, where he did some work with Krushed & Sorted, Pierre started organizing underground events that joined the Jo’burg trance and drum 'n bass scenes. After a few class events, he was invited to join the 206live crew and started the famous Tuesday sessions with the Next Step crew. He opened the short-lived ‘Unda Tha Counta’ venue (next to 206) and then went on to open Reality,
the biggest breakbeat venue in South Africa.
Blunted Stuntman, recently voted one of the top 8 DJs in Cape Town (Essential Mix 11/5), is still going for the ‘SA City Life DJ of the Year’ position. With three residencies that include District 206, MORE and LIFE (Stellenbosch) his sound is in demand, new and cutting edge beats that every crowd can get into. The reunion of these two DJs, that started the breaks scene in Gauteng, has been a long time coming.
Kruhed & Sorted return, briefly, from their visit to Prague and Amsterdam before they're off to the Solipse festival in Zambia. They like to think of themselves as a three-piece again, including the VJ skills of Inc. and performing themselves on 4 decks. So for the first half of the evening Krushed & Sorted will mesmerize us with an audio/visual turtle soup.
Omar is the next DJ to venture to Europe. He will be off to Germany, next month, to work with Jazzanova and various other stars he has hooked up with. Although he resides at some of the prissiest clubs in Cape Town, it's at 206's "Old Skool Rules" that he really shines through. Boogieman will end the night with just that, boogie, man. He rocks every week on his his home turf, District 206.
This is likely to be the last Roots Renegade for a while as the Loophole Productions team will be heading up north in July. So don't miss it, this line-up will surely never be repeated.
ROOTS RENEGADE 9
The Jam / District 206
43 De Villiers Street
District Six
Cape Town
Doors open 21h00
15 June 2001
R30
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JESSE JORDAN
http://www.jessejordan.co.za
Jesse Jordan will officially launch his CD "Lately When She Cries" (Universal) on Saturday 2 June 2001 at the V & A Waterfront Amphitheatre between 2-4pm & then move on to the Jam where the doors will open at 9pm. Jesse's music video will also officially be released to the public. There will be CD giveaways, free shirts etc.
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GRAHAMSTOWN FESTIVAL HIT BY MASS MOVEMENTS
If you have ever seen the Midnight Mass perform live then I don't really need to tell you to drop everything in July and get to the Grahamstown Festival as the Midnight Mass are performing their new show 'Mass Movements' as part of the Main Festival. If you have never seen the Mass live, then I'm suggesting you clear your calendar for the 6th & 7th of July, get to Grahamstown and catch them there.
For those not in the know, The Mass is an a capella outfit whose current line up consists of brother & sister Graham & Christine Weir, jazz diva Tina Schouw and Adrian Galley. One of South Africa's most enduring groups their alumni include amongst others Jenny Delenta and Terence Reis.
The group perform mostly self-penned numbers, with Graham Weir being the chief song writer, but contributions by Tina Schouw and for the first time a Christine Weir composition will be included in the show. Aside from this they cover numbers by James Phillips ('You Light Me A Light') and Roger Lucey ('The Night Harry J Went To War'), both of whom should be familiar to Digest readers. Another new number to be included in the show will be a tribute to the Beatles with a cover of the 'Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End' medley off the 'Abbey Road' album.
Described by some as "The Musical equivalent to watching a trapeze act
without the net!" and " ... A National Phenomenon!" (Mail and Guardian) "... A National Treasure" (The Star), the groups manager Brent Meersman
has said "The complexities of what they are doing with the music, from an arrangement point of view, is world class."
The Mass have been regulars at the Fringe in Grahamstown, but this is the first time that they will be walking onto the Main Festival stage in the Great Hall. A rare treat not to be missed.
Not the Midnight Mass
http://www.sarockdigest.com/midnightmass
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SOUTH AFRICA'S ROCK FILES
http://rock.co.za/sarock
26 May: Updated SA Classic Rock Albums webpages
26 May: Added SA Rock Digest Song Charts webpages <http://www.sarockdigest.com/charts>, thanks to John Samson
24 May: Added liner notes for 'Johnny Calls The Chemist', thanks to Benjy Mudie, Stephen Segerman and Farell Russak.
22 May: Added The Vikings and Dickie Loader and the Blue Jeans webpages, thanks to Tertius Louw
20 May: Updated Roger Lucey webpages, thanks to John Samson and the 3rd Ear Music website
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2.CHARTS
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2a.THE SA ROCK DIGEST TOP 20 SOUTH AFRICAN ALBUMS OF THE WEEK
http://www.sarockdigest.com/charts
This week [last week] Title - Artist (Label)
1. [1] The Moon Is A Spoon - Sunways (Fresh)
2. [2] Dreamland - Edi Niederlander (Indie)
3. [5] Into The Universe - Eminent Child (Sarepta)
4. [8] Balance - HelloAngel (Fresh)
5. [6] Danny K - Danny K (Gallo)
6. [3] Burn - Venessa Nolan (Rhythm)
7. [7] Steady On - Moodphase 5ive (African Dope)
8. [-] The Dynamics - The Dynamics (Retro Fresh)
9. [10] Rising Above The Madness - Lionel Bastos (SAFM)
10 [9] Alive In Jo'burg - Tananas (Sony SA)
11. [11] The Many Faces Of - Gloria Bosman (Sheer)
12. [-] Live Fact - Rodriguez (Sony)
13. [17] Seratonin - Fruit Fly Navigators (Indie)
14. [14] African Day - Hawk (Retro Fresh)
15. [-] Vreemde Stad - Theuns Jordaan (EMI)
16. [4] Thin Shoes In June - Felix Laband (African Dope)
17. [13] Bvuma.Tolerance - Oliver Mtukudzi (Sheer)
18. [16] Mondmusiek - Breyten Breytenbach (Rhythm)
19. [15] Fragile - Saron Gas (Musketeer)
20. [19] IT - Various Cape Town Artists (Nkomo Records)
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2b. THE SA ROCK DIGEST TOP 20 SOUTH AFRICAN SONGS OF THE WEEK
http://www.sarockdigest.com/charts
This week [last week] Title - Artist (Album/Label)
1. [5] Fragile - Venessa Nolan ('Burn'/Rhythm)
2. [3] Colour Me In - Sunways (‘The Moon Is A Spoon’/Fresh)
3. [2] Bye Bye - Edi Niederlander (‘Dreamland’/Indie)
4. [13] Shout - Fruit Fly Navigators (‘Seratonin’/Bionic)
5. [1] Hurts So Bad - Danny K ('Danny K'/Gallo)
6. [6] Sing My Song - Eminent Child (‘Into The Universe’/Sarepta)
7. [7] She Can’t Let It Go - Lionel Bastos (‘Rising Above The Madness’/SAFM)
8. [8] You Don’t Know My Name - Danny K (‘Danny K’/Gallo)
9. [4] Thugs - The Dynamics (‘The Dynamics’/RetroFresh)
10. [9] Long Holiday - The Sunshines ('Long Holiday' EP/Tel Michael)
11. [12] Style - Sunways (‘The Moon Is A Spoon’/Fresh)
12. [18] Emptiness High - Venessa Nolan ('Burn'/Rhythm)
13. [-] Pull Up Your Socks - The Dynamics (‘The Dynamics’/RetroFresh)
14. [14] You - HelloAngel ('Balance'/Fresh)
15. [-] My Angel - Adrian Shannon (EP/BMG)
16. [11] Johnny Calls The Chemist - Wonderboom (Single/David Gresham)
17. [17] Fire In Your Heart - Desert Rose (‘Sands Of Time’/ Saville-McLowe)
18. [10] Now I Know - Semisane ('A Life Less Strange'/BMG)
19. [16] Run.Alive.Run - Felix Laband (Thin Shoes In June/African Dope)
20. [-] Kissed By The Sun (Live) - Hawk (‘African Day’/Retro Fresh)
Sponsored by Networld
http://www.new.co.za
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3. CD REVIEWS
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RISING ABOVE THE MADNESS - LIONEL BASTOS
Another polished collection of Lionel Bastos songs, all original compositions performed with an assortment of stirring vocals, sweeping strings, and wide-screen, emotional arrangements. His two previous albums - ‘Be Like Water’ and the SAMA Award-winning ‘Simple’ - showed a fluid songwriting touch, an ear for the hooky lyric, and a warm, emotive voice doing these compositions full justice. Songs like ‘Go Back’, 'I’ll Forget About You (Every Day)’ and ‘I Can Resist (Anything Except Temptation)’ anchor this set firmly in AOR-Pop territory with their light and breezy ambience and summery tone. Pianos skip, strings frolic and drums patter around Lionel’s tough but yearning voice, reminiscent of early Gordon Lightfoot. ‘Thank You’ sounds nothing like Dido’s hit but is equally addictive. But the cringe-worthy ‘God Was Showing Off’ should have been saved for a future B-side as its faith-pop just doesn’t fit here.
The final seven tracks of the 16 on ‘Rising Above The Madness’ were recorded during a live webcast from the "domain" of SA Internet recluse, Dotcoza. Although the recording quality of these tracks is noticeably spacier and under-produced, songs like ‘Celebrate’ and ‘Not Enough’ fit snugly alongside the preceding studio tracks. His paradoxical, Latino-tinged diatribe against the over-commercialisation of Latin Music (‘Stop The Bandwagon’) deserves a review all on its own. The album was arranged and produced (and to a large degree played) by Lionel Bastos himself, with sterling assistance from Mauritz Lotz on guitar, Barry van Zyl on drums and musical and vocal contributions from Tonia Selly, Ed Jordan, Marius Brouwer, Barbara Tellinger, Bruce Millar, Wendy Oldfield and Kreesan. He has also produced albums and written songs for many contemporary SA acts, but when Lionel Bastos makes his own albums, he saves his best material for those. A chilled and intelligent collection of songs, for once, an accurate album title. (7) (SS)
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TRAGIC SINGLE LAUNCHES DROWNING AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Adrian Shannon’s debut solo single release, ‘My Angel’, is a tribute to his three-year-old son who died in a drowning accident during last year’s festive season. The release of the single by the songwriter, vocalist and guitarist from SA folk-pop band, Grannysmith, is also the launching pad for the recently formed ‘Adrian Shannon Drowning Awareness Campaign’, which the singer has created in association with The Variety Club - the world’s largest children’s charity. As a solo artist, Adrian (Olivier) has taken on Shannon’s name as a surname. "It’s about him always being a part of me, it’s something that I had to do."
The campaign is intent on raising drowning awareness amongst all South Africans. This will be effected through (among other things) a television commercial, featuring Adrian and his song, as well as widespread media interviews with the artist. Another aspect of the campaign is fund raising to help all those children who arrive daily at the Johannesburg General Hospital as victims of drowning incidents. To get the fund going, Adrian will be donating royalties from sales of the single to the new fund.
‘My Angel’ is more than simply a consciousness-raising song - it stands up as a well-crafted piece of work that also works as a simple love song. From its superior production to its goose-bump inducing lyrics ("Can’t escape the way that I’m feeling/tomorrow will never be the same/forever I will love you/you’ll always be my angel"), ‘My Angel’ is a song of immense power and touching sadness.
Grannysmith released their first single, ‘Starlight’, in late 1999 and it was nominated for a SAMA Award. The group’s self-titled debut album - which Adrian produced - showcased Grannysmith’s ability to move with ease into musical territories ranging from pop to acoustic rock, folk and hard-edged grooves.
For further information contact:
Adrian at mailto:adrian.shannon@usa.net or
Daniel Barker at mailto:daniel.barker@bertelsmann.de
BMG Records Africa
Tel: (011) 242 3000
Fax: (011) 242 3030
http://www.click2music.co.za
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4. CLASSIC ROCK
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SHILOH'S CORNER
TRACTOR
During the beat era of 1966 Jim Milne, Steve Clayton, Michael Batsch and Allen Burgess formed their power combo "The Way We Live". It was John Peel of Dandelion Records who tracked down Jim Milne a physical education teacher who stood over six foot tall at the Chester College of Education. Jim was an outstanding lead guitarist who combined his energy with poet and painter Steve Clayton (drummer). They released their debut alum, "A Candle for Judith" in 1971 to universal acclaim. At that stage The Way We Live was one of John Peel's top groups and he was keen to change the name to a more earthy expression. According to Jim Milne he looked out of a window and saw a tractor, thus the name. Nevertheless it could have been worse had a muck spreader or hearse gone past. Clive Selwood of Dandelion suggested a commercial single and "Stony Glory" was released under the auspices of their new name Tractor. By 1972 the Tractor album was number 30 at Virgin Records as a top selling album. It also reached the number 20 place on Radio Luxembourg only to be pipped by Uriah Heep's "Magician's Birthday".
Things took a bad turn in 1974 when the BBC's Radio One rejected Tractor as an over adventurous experience. When all roads became dark in stepped Chris Hewitt with a business concept called Tractor Music which included a music shop and PA hire company plus recording studio. Tractor recruited Dave Addison on bass guitar and made their debut concert in 1976 at the Deeply Vale free concert. Due to the free concert the hippies arrived in their hundreds. Marijuana and Acid took its toll and one of the casualties was Steve Clayton who had to be carried to his drums. He resigned shortly afterwards. The following year Tractor reformed and played every bar, pub and club in the area with Steve Clayton back on drums. Never before had their energy been so tight and electric and they became the top performers at Manchester's Electric Circus.
In the words of Dave Addison he had never heard anything like it from a guitar as was the sounds coming out of his amp. John Peel once described Jim Milne as one of the most urgent and tone dominated lead guitarists to come out of the UK. In one sense these avid English musicians probably hold some form of record for releasing the same album twice under Tractor and The Way We Live with two different record labels. Various line-ups in the late seventies included Dave Goldberg on keyboards and much is owed to John Brierley who built the early studio recording facilities. The professionalism and integrity of Chris Hewitt resulted in a group relationship which stands out as an example in the skulduggery of the seventies. If ever England had a best kept secret in would undoubtedly be Tractor with Jim Milne expounding some of the most urgent flowing and logical guitar ever played - the words of John Peel.
Shiloh Noone, Cape Town
mailto:shiloh_noone@hotmail.com
http://www.sarockdigest.com/shiloh
Blues and Variation
Fine Music Radio 101.3 FM
Wednesdays 10 pm
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USA FOR AFRICA
Texas-based Kurt Shoemaker gives his unique views on SA music
BOYS WILL BE BOYS - RABBITT (JoBurg Records, TJL 13008, 1975)
If I had heard Rabbitt's 'Boys Will Be Boys' before hearing 'The Hits', the boys would have lived up to my expectations for a rockin' band. Before I bought 'The Hits' I had heard 'Charlie' and knew that they had covered Jethro Tull's 'Locomotive Breath', so after all the praise sung about Rabbit I expected some power pop of higher proof than on 'The Hits'.
'The Hits' is a nice CD at a nice price, but the rocking content is somewhat diluted by slower, sentimental numbers. Ballads are all well and good, but if 'Boys Will Be Boys' is typical of their other albums, Rabbitt would be better served by a reissue program of LPs on CD. I expected something rockier and 'The Hits' is a tad on the glossy side.
However, 'Boys Will Be Boys' rocks. It is not raw rock, but rather has the polished production I associate with their sound (at times reminiscent of 10cc). 'Boys Will Be Boys' should be a listener's introduction to Rabbitt, to be followed by 'The Hits'. It has creative songs and wonderful musicianship.
Six of the ten songs from 'Boys Will Be Boys' are on 'The Hits', but their impact there is diluted by the number of wistful, pretty songs on 'The Hits'. In their original line-up, the songs on 'Boys Will Be Boys' add up to a nice rocking album with a few slower interludes that set apart the up-tempo numbers.
The four songs on 'Boys Will Be Boys' that are not on 'The Hits' mostly git up and go. Songs like 'Something's Going Wrong With My Baby' and 'Looking For The Man' add jump to the album. Overall, 'Boys Will Be Boys' is like a 33 minute rocking live set that also has a few slow numbers thrown in for close dancing.
Don't get me wrong, Rabbitt's 'The Hits' is essential to my South African music collection -- just as 'Boys Will Be Boys' is essential music, too. This album rules, ok?
Rabbitt
http://rock.co.za/legends/rabbitt
Kurt Shoemaker, Blanco, Texas
mailto:kurt@sarockdigest.com
{Can it be that this album, which went gold in record-breaking time, and featured the talents of musical genius Trevor Rabin is still not available on CD? - ed}
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LONDON LEKKER
London-based John Samson gives his own twist on SA music
Exactly a year ago to the day, in Digest #59, John Samson wrote a review of Falling Mirror's 'Johnny Calls The Chemist' ending with these lines: "'Johnny Calls the Chemist' [the song] and 'Makin' Out With Granny' are available on the compilation CD 'Shattered'. If you want to hear the rest of this great album, you're gonna have to find it on vinyl."
This is fortunately now no longer the case as this week sees RetroFresh re-release this classic album on CD with 3 bonus tracks and a CD-ROM of the original 'Johnny' video.
Here is John's original review reprinted with kind permission of nobody but ourselves...
JOHHNY CALLS THE CHEMIST - FALLING MIRROR
"Make no mistake about it, their history will be read"
This is a fascinating album drawing on a variety of music styles from synthpop ('Automaton Town'), through rock n roll ('Encounter in a Takeaway Shop') to pure rock ('Makin' Out With Granny'). The album loosely tells the story of Collette, a girl working in a Chemist in Automaton Town, supplying the local junkies with their fix. She is the subject of Johnny's fascination. 'Johnny calls the Chemist' with it's Dylanesque vocals was a big (by Falling Mirror's standards) hit and rightly so. It was probably its catchy tune with an odd title & lyrics that caught the imagination of South Africans, many of whom probably didn't realise that Johnny wasn't just suffering from a little sniffle and needed some Benylin. Despite it's dark subject content the album doesn't get bogged down in the quagmire of drugs and obsession, but is kept bouyant by the upbeat tunes and great guitar riffs (especially 'Makin' Out With Granny'). It was probably too clever an album to get mass appeal.
SA Rock Digest Issue #59, 28 May 2000
http://www.sarockdigest.com/archives/issue_59.html
Falling Mirror
http://rock.co.za/fallingmirror
John Samson, London, UK
mailto:john@sarockdigest.com
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SPRINGBOK RADIO CHARTS: 30 YEARS AGO
http://rock.co.za/charts
Friday, 28 May 1971
This week [last week] Title - Artist
1 [1] Put Your Hand In The Hand - Alan Garrity*
2 [16] If Not For You - Olivia Newton-John
3 [2] Understanding - Peanut Butter Conspiracy*
4 [3] Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival
5 [4] Amazing Grace - Judy Collins
6 [8] Vicky - Lance James*
7 [5] What Is Life - George Harrison
8 [11] Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
9 [9] Theme From "Love Story" - Francis Lai Orchestra
10 [7] Another Day - Paul McCartney
* South African Artists
Commentary:
Whoa! here comes Olivia. Storming up from number 16, a huge jump of 14 places to number 2. Despite this very strong challenge, Alan Garrity managed to cling to the top spot. 'If Not For You' penned by none other than sexagenarian Bob Dylan (born 24 May 1941) was Olivia's first hit and was pre her painting black leathers onto her body and changing from Sandy to SANDY?!?
Three Dog Night clocked up their second top 10 in two years with 'Joy to the World'. They had charted in 1970 with a cover of Randy Newman's 'Mama Told Me Not To Come'. Glam Rockers The Sweet were starting what would turn out to be a very impressive chart run with 'Funny Funny', their first top 20 hit entering at number 17. Also entering the top 20 were South Africa's The Dealians with 'When Love Comes Knocking at Your Door' which debuted at 19.
South Africans at Number 1 this week:
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Alan Garrity (1971)
Michael Row the Boat Ashore - Richard Jon Smith (1979)
Supplied by John Samson
mailto:john@sarockdigest.com
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TOP 10 SA CLASSIC ROCK ALBUMS
1.African Day - Hawk (1971)*
2.Africa She Too Can Cry - Hawk (1972)
3.Battle Hymn Of The Broken Hearted Horde - Freedoms Children (1968)
4.Burnout - Hotline (1981)
5.Boys Will Be Boys - Rabbitt (1975)
6.Live And Well - Hawk (1974)
7.A Croak And A Grunt In The Night - Rabbitt (1977)
8.In The Arena - Circus (1977)
9.Jack Of All Trades - Jack Hammer (1987)
10.Astra - Freedoms Children (1970)*
As voted by visitors to the SA Rock Files website
http://www.freevote.com/booth/sarock
* Available on CD from http://www.oneworld.co.za
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TOP 10 ALL-TIME GREAT SA POP AND ROCK SONGS
1.Master Jack - Four Jacks And A Jill (1968)
2.Weeping - Bright Blue (1987)
3.Hey Boy - Via Afrika (1983)
4.See Yourself (Clowns) - EllaMental (1984)
5.This Boy - Sweatband (1986)
6.As I Went Out One Morning (Damsel) - Tribe After Tribe (1985)
7.My Kind Of Girl - Cinema (1988)
8.ZX Dan - Radio Rats (1978)
9.Special Star - Mango Groove (1989)
10.You're Living Inside My Head - John Ireland (1979)
As voted by visitors to the SA Rock Files website
http://www.freevote.com/booth/sapop
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BIRTHDAYS - JUNE
3 Suzi Quatro (1956)
6 Billy Forrest (1940)
7 Tom Jones (1940)
7 Dean Martin (1917)
9 Jon Lord (1941)
10 Howlin' Wolf (1910)
11 Nielen Mirror (1951)
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MORE COLD FACTS
http://SugarMan.org
WHO IS JANE S PIDDY?
Though Rodriguez himself personally denied this when I asked him, I believe 'Jane S Piddy' is a deliberate misspelling of "Janis Pity" - a sort of tribute to Janis Joplin. Rodriguez said in March 1998: "The people [in my songs] are fictional. I tapped on the writer's poetic licence giving them names and shape. Almost as a caricature works for the visual artist."
However if you listen the lyrics of 'Jane S Piddy' you can hear the similarity to Janis and her lifestyle. Lyrics like "now you sit there thinking, feeling insecure..." and "...don't bother to buy insurance, coz you've already died..." are echoes of Janis' well-documented excessive lifestyle. Remember that Rodriguez wrote this song in 1969 before Janis died on the 4th October 1970. And what about "Like Janis" - another reference? Absolutely.
Yeah, but which song is which?
'Jane S. Piddy' and 'Like Janis' are both off the stunning, yet still under-rated worldwide, album 'Cold Fact'. There is really a lot of confusion about these tracks due mainly to the fact (cold or not) that nowhere in the lyrics of these 2 great songs do the song titles actually appear!
OK, this is where we clear this up once and for all. Stay with me...
'Like Janis' starts "And you measure for wealth..."
'Jane S Piddy' starts "Now you sit there thinking..."
On the original US (white cover) and South African (black cover) album back covers and the 1991 South African CD re-issue these 2 tracks are swopped around. In other words 'Like Janis' is listed as the last song on the album, but 'Jane S Piddy' actually plays followed by the spoken words "Thanks for your time..." to end off the album.
However on the South African cassette releases the song titles are in the correct order on the cover, but play the other way round! In other words track 3 on side two of the cassette is titled 'Like Janis', but plays 'Jane S Piddy' followed by the spoken words, then tracks 4, 5 & 6. The Australian LP and CD of 'Cold Fact' also have the songs in this order.
Anne Gerber from Australia wrote:
"I always wondered why the spoken words, "Thanks for your time..., etc" came before the last three songs, I thought it would have made more sense to include these words at the end of the album. Thanks, now I know that this was the way it was supposed to be."
In conclusion, I am stunned that the only way to currently buy the Platinum-selling (over 60 000 copies of the CD sold in SA alone, who knows how many vinyl albums?) 'Cold Fact' CD in SA is to pay about R150 for the Australian import!
CLIMB UP ON MY MUSIC - RODRIGUEZ
http://SugarMan.org
________________________________________________
5.FORUM, REQUESTS AND FEEDBACK
-------------------------------
SNOOP DOGGY DOG DETACHMENT
Quite by accident I came across your site and really enjoyed having a browse. Particularly of interest was your article on the SA group Dog Detachment. I taped one of their songs back in the 80s and have been trying (in the 90s) to get it on CD. But having never found anyone that could identify it - you can imagine my delight at coming across your websites.
If you have a moment would you mind pointing your browser to http://www.geocities.com/colonialwanderer where I have posted the track and two others in Real format in the hope that you might be able to identify them and point me in the direction of where I can buy them.
Many thanks
Alex Tanner
mailto:alextanner@madasafish.com
{A Dog Detachment retrospective CD is planned for release by RetroFresh shortly - ed}
Dog Detachment
http://rock.co.za/legends/dogdetachment
---------------
THE INVADERS
Could you please tell me where I can find an old album called "The Best Of The Invaders". The Invaders were very famous in the late 60's and early 70's in SA. They were an instrumental group and were under the label "RAVE".
Keith Richards (not the Rolling Stone!)
mailto:kr@inet.imt.za
{The Invaders were a Cape Town band who had a big hit in December 1967 with 'Shock Wave' (a soulful kwela instrumental). It reached #10 on the SA charts. 'Shock Wave' was recently covered by Jerico (The Rockets' Jerry Watt) on last year's 'Kongo Kwela' CD. - ed}
--------------
AFRICA BELONGS TO ME
I am a South African Artist based in Toronto Canada. I have a CD titled 'Africa Belongs To Me'. I am now in the process of working on my second CD titled 'Celebrate'. I would like to know if anyone can contact me and let me know which record companies I should contact. My music is mostly in English, Swahili, Sotho and Xhosa. Can you help?
Lizzy
mailto:lizzymahashe@hotmail.com
-----------------
MEL, MEL AND JULIAN
I read about a Canadian ex-pat who'd like to find CDs by Mel, Mel & Julian. I will be the guy to contact.
Thanks
Mel Green
mailto:melverde@aol.com
{Mel, Mel & Julian were Mel Green, Mel Miller and Julian Laxton - a folk trio from the 60s - ed}
--------------
THE DOMINOS
Do you have any info on this group. My uncle (Gordon Weedy) was lead singer and drummer and I would just love to have a pic of him from those days. We lost contact and he was my idol.
Joanne Shirley Weedy
mailto:toolatemate@hotmail.com
{The Dominos had a big hit in October 1967 with 'Tabatha Twitchet' (#3 in SA, #1 in the then Rhodesia). Band members at various times included Mick Spooner (who currently lives in Johannesburg), Gordon Weedy and Glyn Storm - ed}
--------------
BACK WATER BLUES BAND
I would like to find out whether the Back Water Blues Band (Joe Blue) still exists & whether you could tell me how to get hold of them. Please could you contact me if you have any information regarding this. Thank you very much!
Anina de Wet
mailto:gheko98@hotmail.com
--------------
IN SEARCH OF GRUNT
Can anyone provide me with contact details for Cape Town band, Grunt?
Mark Harris
mailto:mrharris@mweb.co.za
--------------
SOUND SOLUTIONS
http://rock.co.za/soundsolutions
A Cape Town-based music resource that offers two main areas of expertise and assistance:
1) Music Searches - Assists in recommending and finding relevant music
soundtracks for television, cinema and radio commercials and
productions.
2) Music Licensing - Assists in obtaining the publishing and recording
rights for music to be used as soundtracks for commercials and other
productions.
For more info, please contact:
Stephen Segerman or Graham Katz
021 461-9541
mailto:sugar@rock.co.za
______________________________________________
6.LIVE REVIEWS AND GIG INFO
----------------------------
340ml
02 June (Sat)
Modaskavalu - Maputo-Mozambique. Shunga and 340ml. 9pm. Gig TBC
30 June (Sat)
Up The Creek - Pretoria
KZN Tour. 5-8 July. (Venues, Dates, Times and Bands to be confirmed/updated soon)
05 July (Thu)
Zappa's - Pietermaritzburg. "340ml" and ... 9pm
06 July (Fri)
Red Eye. 5pm
7 July (Sat)
Burn - Durban. Fruit Fly Navigators and 340ml. 9pm
8 July (Sun)
The Jam - Margate. 340ml and ... 9pm
28-30 September
The Awesome Africa Festival - Shongweni (Twenty minutes by freeway from the city of Durban).
A Caribbean/Reggae day will be held at the festival. "340ml" will be playing amongst international bands like Steel Pulse, Israel Vibration, The Wailers and many more (date and time to be confirmed).
---------------
ABERLARDE SANCTION
On Wednesday, June 6, 2001, the Abelarde Sanction,
on the corner of Ripley & Fulham Rds in Brixton, behind RAU,
is hosting three award-winning acts:
- Liela Groenewald
- Brixton Moord & Roof Orkes
- Sharkbrother
Come spend the midweek, in the most infamously dirty lounge in Joburg, with us!
---------------
AUTHENTIC GIGS
Fri 01 June
Costa - MAMBO'S (Potgietersrus)
Fri 01 June
Tweak, Barney Simon and others - TRAMPS (Boksburg)
Entrance: R20
Start: 9pm
Sat 02 June
Dizzy - DECADANCE, 22 Kruger Ave, Vereeniging
Start: 1am - 3am
Sat 09 June
Nelson - DECADANCE, 22 Kruger Ave, Vereeniging
Start: 1am - 3am
Fri 06 July
Richard Santana AKA Speedy - THE CROSSING (Grahamstown)
Fri 06 July
Justin Vee - MAMBO'S (Potgietersrus)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
AUTHENTIC IDEAS: 011-646-6467
BETH HILLARY: 073-152-6262
mailto:beth@authentic.co.za
---------------
BASSLINE
http://www.basslinejazzclub.co.za
---------------
BIZARRE BAZAAR
When? - Saturday June 2nd, 21:00
Where? - Bugsy's (cnr Republic / Rabie, Randburg)
With? - Sycoustic (from Pretoria)
Why? - Because we gotta
---------------
FRUIT FLY NAVIGATORS
01 June - Bargo’s (Durban)
07 July - Burn (Durban)
---------------
HARBOUR MUSIC CLUB
The Troubadour, Kalk Bay
Every Wednesday night 8:30
Entrance R15 - bar available
Rob Anderson (021) 7891021
mailto:anderson@botzoo.uct.ac.za
Nadia Scaillet (021) 4489834
mailto:noid@netactive.co.za
--------------
JULIAN'S
http://www.julianlaxton.com
Thursday 24 from 9 P.M. Blues with "Three Foot Thang". R20
Friday 25 from 9 P.M. Rock Blues with "The Julian Laxton Band". R25
Saturday 26 at 8.30 P.M. "THE LEGEND OF ERIC CLAPTON". Special at R50
featuring The Julian Laxton Band. A musical review of the life and music of Eric Clapton from his school days till present. Book at Julian's 011-678-2880. Coming soon "THE LEGEND OF JIMI HENDRIX" featuring The Julian Laxton Band and Colin Shamley as Narrator.
Sunday 27 from 1 P.M. Braai & Music in the Garden with "Colin Shamley".
Sunday 27 from 7.00 P.M. Jazz fusion with "Highway Jam". R15
mailto:julianlaxton@artslink.co.za
http://www.julianlaxton.com
http://rock.co.za/legends/julianlaxton
---------------
KOOS KOMBUIS
Boland Bash with Koos Kombuis and guest artists
http://www.kooskombuis.co.za
A Koos Kombuis gig with a backing band consisting of four singer/song writer guitarists. Singer Gian Hanekom of the new Stellenbosch band Spinnekop, will lead the Boland bash band with fellow Spinnekop Johan Smit, on bass guitar. Werner Carstens of the band Voël will play electric guitar. And Jakkie Louw, on acoustic guitar, will form part of this spectacular ensemble.
1 June - Langenhoven Student Centre, Stellenbosch - 021 887 8080 and
021 8873424
2 June - Bella Monta Restaurant, Montagu - 023 614 2941
Ticket Price: R40.00
---------------
MUTTZ NUTTZ
http://muttznuttz.topcities.com
DATE: Thursday, 31 May 2001
VENUE: The Big Easy (69 Langerman Drive, Kensington)
Come and check out the Muttz Nuttz rocking the Big Easy.
R10 Cover charge.
---------------
OPPIKOPPI
http://www.oppikoppi.co.za
9-12 August 2001 - Oppikoppi - Pretoria @ Fountains Valley
21-23 September 2001 - Oppikoppi - Worcester @ Kleinplasie
---------------
ROEKELOOS - GIG GUIDE
http://www.roekeloos.co.za/musiek.html
--------------
SHARKBROTHER
http://www.sharkbrother.com
Friday 15th June - Bargo's in Durban
Saturday 16th June - Zappa's in Maritzburg
Sunday 17th June - The Jam in Margate
--------------
STARK RAVING SANE, masterful didgeridoo, guitar, percussion and vocals, are a cutting edge trio of musicians, who recently performed on all three stages at Splashy Fen to wide acclaim. Hear a didgeridoo like
never before. They will be playing @THE KRONENDAL, Main Rd, Hout Bay (Cape Town) on Friday 1st June @10pm. The Kronendal hosts an independent Brew House and 4 unique beers well worth checking out.
Many thanks!
Donovan Copley
(on behalf of Stark Raving Sane
& The Kronendal Restaurant & Brewhouse)
021 790 4011
083 450 5248
mailto:Donovan21@yahoo.com
mailto:starkravingsane2001@yahoo.com
--------------
SUNWAYS
TURNAROUND TOUR
* WEDNESDAY 30 MAY - Als Dance Club, Knysna
* THURSDAY 31 MAY - The Whammy Bar, Table View
* FRIDAY 1 JUNE - The Jam, Cape Town
* SATURDAY 2 JUNE - The Armchair Theatre, Cape Town
* WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE - Demolition, Blairgowrie, Jhb
* FRIDAY 8 JUNE - Bugsy's, Randburg, Jhb (with support band
Jesus Chrysler)
--------------
ZA@PLAY
http://www.mg.co.za/mg/art/music/
________________________________________________
7.LINKS
---------
LINKS PAGES:
3rd EAR MUSIC
http://www.3rdearmusic.com/links.html
AMUZINE
http://rock.co.za/links.htm
SA ROCK DIGEST
http://www.sarockdigest.com/links
VAGABOND'S WORLD
http://rock.co.za/vagabond/links
ONE WORLD
http://www.oneworld.co.za/links.cfm
SA MUSICIANS ON THE NET FROM A TO Z
http://list.sa-music.com
VETSEUN
http://www.afrikaner.co.za/tronk10
Koos, Piet, Valiant, Duusman, Akkedis, Battery 9 and much more...
SEARCH ENGINE:
GOOGLE
http://www.google.com
Quick and accurate, highly recommended
ARTISTS:
BERNARD BINNS
http://www.bernardbinns.co.za
BIZARRE BAZAAR
http://www.geocities.com/bizabaza
PIET BOTHA
http://www.pietbotha.com
JOHNNY CLEGG
http://www.johnnyclegg.com
CLOUT
http://www.clout.co.za
FOUR JACKS AND A JILL
http://www.fourjacksandajill.co.za/
LIELA GROENEWALD
http://www.liela.co.za
HELLOANGEL
http://www.helloangel.co.uk
IAN HENDERSON
http://www.ianhenderson.co.za
JACK HAMMER
http://www.pietbotha.com
JESSE JORDAN
http://www.jessejordan.co.za
KOOS KOMBUIS
http://www.kooskombuis.co.za
JULIAN LAXTON
http://www.julianlaxton.com
LITTLE SISTER
http://www.rock.co.za/littlesister
BOBBY LOUW
http://www.bobbylouw.co.za
STEVE LOUW
http://www.stevelouw.com
VENESSA NOLAN
http://www.sunsetrecording.com/venessa
NOT THE MIDNIGHT MASS
http://www.sarockdigest.com/midnightmass
OFF THE EDGE
http://rock.co.za/offtheedge
PEDRO THE MUSIC MAN
http://users.iafrica.com/m/mu/musicman
RABBITT
http://www.rabbitt.co.za
RADIO RATS
http://rock.co.za/legends/radiorats
RODRIGUEZ: CLIMB UP ON MY MUSIC
A site dedicated to Rodriguez, the Sugar Man
http://SugarMan.org
SEMISANE
http://www.semisane.com
SHARKBROTHER
http://www.sharkbrother.com
AMANDA STRYDOM
http://www.amandastrydom.com
THE SUNSHINES
http://www.thesunshines.com
VALIANT SWART
http://www.valiant.co.za
AMANDA TIFFIN
http://listen.to/amandatiffin
NOA TYLO
http://www.noatylo.co.za
ZEN ARCADE
http://www.geocities.com/zenarcade1
ARCHIVES:
3rd EAR MUSIC
http://www.3rdEarMusic.com
SOUTH AFRICA'S ROCK FILES
The online archive for the History of South African Rock
http://rock.co.za/sarock
SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO CHARTS 1969-1989
http://rock.co.za/charts
NEWS:
AMUZINE
News, views, reviews and interviews
http://rock.co.za/
AFRICAN INVASION OF ROCK
http://www.air.org.za
ARTSMART
Arts news from Kwazulu-Natal
http://www.artsmart.co.za
JAZZNEWS RENDEZVOUS
http://www.egroups.com/group/JazznewsRendezvous
This Newsletter is posted weekly on Sundays and looks at the
world of Jazz in South Africa and beyond.
POWERZONE
http://www.powerzone.co.za
STAGE
http://www.stage.co.za
TAMBOER KRANTJIE
http://www.pretoria.co.za
http://www.tamboer.co.za
SHOPPING:
ONE WORLD
http://www.oneworld.co.za/
Selling South African Music to the World
RECORD COMPANIES, LABELS & STUDIOS:
AFRIMUSIK
http://www.afrimusik.com
BMG
http://www.click2music.co.za
CAVEMAN PRODUCTIONS
Kevin Shirley's virtual cave
http://www.cavemanproductions.com
MELT2000
http://www.melt2000.com
MOUNTAIN RECORDS
http://www.mountain-africa.com
SUNSET RECORDING STUDIOS
http://www.sunsetrecording.com
TL MASTERING
http://www.tl-mastering.co.za
RESOURCES:
BACKSTAGE
http://www.backstage.co.za/
INDEPENDENT DIGITAL
http://www.idig.za.net
SOUND SOLUTIONS
http://rock.co.za/soundsolutions
RADIO:
SAFM (104-107KHz)
http://www.safm.co.za
BOOKS:
THE HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Garth Chilvers and Tom Jasiukowicz (TOGA, 1994)
http://www.sarockdigest.com/book
We are happy to exchange links with any good website supporting SA music. A good website in our opinion should be informative, regularly updated and linked back to us. If you already link to us and you believe your link should be here, please contact Brian Currin at mailto:sarock@sarockdigest.com
__________________________________________
8.BACK ISSUES
---------------
BACK ISSUES
http://www.sarockdigest.com/archives
Online and keyword searchable
DOWNLOAD
Download back issues of the Digest as a zip file (just over 1.6MB).
http://www.rock.co.za/files/sarockdigest.zip
__________________________________________
9.CONTRIBUTIONS
-----------------
This e-mag is a discussion forum for rock and pop music --
South African and International -- past, present and future.
Press releases:
Please submit all press releases to Sugar at mailto:sugar@rock.co.za
Contributions:
Please submit all contributions, reviews, requests, searches and comments by filling in the form at:
http://rock.co.za/contact
or email Brian Currin at:
mailto:sarock@sarockdigest.com
All e-mail submissions need to be in plain text e-mail format with NO attachments, please. You may, however, include web addresses (URLs) in your e-mails which point to websites or images on-line.
E-mails in HTML format, or e-mails all in lower-case or all in CAPITALS will tend to be ignored as they can take too long to correct for inclusion in the Digest.
Any e-mail with an ".exe" file attached will automatically be trashed.
Bulk mailings which show everybody's addresses also tend to get trashed automatically. Just use the "bcc" (blind carbon copy) function on your e-mail programme.
________________________________________
10.CONTACT DETAILS
-------------------
EDITORS
Brian Currin
mailto:vagabond@rock.co.za
http://rock.co.za/vagabond
Stephen Segerman
mailto:sugar@rock.co.za
http://rock.co.za
Postal Address:
Brian Currin
PO Box 521
Eppindust
7475
Cape Town
South Africa
MAIN CONTRIBUTORS
Kurt Shoemaker, USA
mailto:kurt@sarockdigest.com
John Samson, UK
mailto:john@sarockdigest.com
Shiloh Noone, South Africa
mailto:shiloh_noone@hotmail.com
http://www.sarockdigest.com/shiloh
Tertius Louw, South Africa
mailto:louwt@mweb.co.za
________________________________________
11.SUBSCRIPTIONS
----------------
Send an e-mail to mailto:subscribe@sarockdigest.com with any words or phrases that vaguely indicate acceptance or... visit http://www.sarockdigest.com and fill in the simple form.
--------
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