On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:13:09 +0200, Steve Hayes hotmail.com> wrote:

Lucky Dube
Pioneer of a distinctively South African variant of reggae
The Independent
22 October 2007
Jon Lusk

Lucky Philip Dube, singer, songwriter and musician: born
Ermelo, South Africa 3 August 1964; married Zanele Mdluli
(four sons, three daughters); died Johannesburg 18 October
2007.

The most successful African reggae artist of his generation,
"reggae king" Lucky Dube cut a sprightly and warm-hearted
figure on the world stage. Inspired by Bob Marley and Jimmy
Cliff's messages of black pride, and with a vocal style
largely modelled on that of Peter Tosh, he pioneered a
distinctively South African variant of reggae, which, while
not musically radical, was lyrically progressive and
politically informed.

His songs were spiced with dashes of soul, gospel and the
occasional power-ballad flourish, but also influenced by the
local style of mbaqanga ("township jive"), which he began
recording in 1981. Singing initially in Zulu and even
Afrikaans, but later almost exclusively in English, he
switched to reggae in 1984, and by the early 1990s had
eclipsed Ivory Coast's Alpha Blondy to become Africa's
biggest selling reggae artist.

He found his first success outside Africa in France in the
late 1980s and then the United States, soon after
establishing a devoted and very wide-ranging international
fan base through tireless touring. Dube released more than
20 studio albums and was a frequent visitor to the UK.

He eschewed the misogyny and homophobia that blights some
contemporary Jamaican music, and as a non-smoking
teetotaller and devoted family man, confounded popular
stereotypes of those who embrace a Rastafarian identity.
Before his most recent UK tour in April of this year, he
told me: "When it comes to being Rasta, I say if 'Rasta'
means smoking ganja and . . . going around shouting 'Jah
Rastafari!', then I am not Rasta. But if it means fighting
for justice, fighting for togetherness, the oneness, the
love and brotherhood, then yes, I am Rasta."

Born to an impoverished single mother on a desolate farm
150km west of Johannesburg, he was given the name "Lucky"
six months after his birth, because the boy born before him
had died, and he looked likely to do the same for some time.
His mother Sarah was forced to find work to support the
family, so he and his siblings Thandi and Patrick were cared
for by their grandmother. Lucky also had to find work as a
child, skipping much of his formal education, though he
eventually entered a local school.

He joined the school choir and his natural talent as a
singer and leader soon became apparent; when the choirmaster
abruptly left one day, he assumed the role. It was also
during this time that he first read about Rastafarianism in
an encyclopaedia, while working as a library assistant. On
discovering some musical instruments in a cupboard, he and
some friends formed the Skyway Band, but the group were
forced to disband when a teacher reclaimed the instruments.

While still at school, Lucky joined his cousin Richard
Siluma in the Love Brothers. Heavily influenced by
contemporary South African artists such as the Soul Brothers
and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, they played
mbaqanga in local venues. At that time, Siluma was working
at Teal Records (later to become Gallo), where he became a
producer and secured the group a deal. The resultant album
Lengane Ngeyethu was released in 1981.

By the following year, Dube had become more involved in
writing material. After leaving school, he persevered with
his music while studying at Kwazulu Natal University.
However, he shelved his plans to study medicine as the band
became moderately successful on a national level, recording
five more mbaqanga albums, with the last, Umadakeni,
released in 1987. The year before that, Dube had also
released the satirical cassette Help My Krap - sung in
Afrikaans - under the pseudonym Oom Hansie.

However, the seeds of his future career were sown when he
learned English in order to deal more confidently with the
music industry, and by his meeting the sound engineer David
"Rabbi" Segal, with whom he took his first step into the
then-untested reggae market with the mini-album Rastas Never
Die in 1984. Banned by the South African censors, it bombed
commercially. Even his record company disapproved, as they
were keen to market him as a traditional mbaqanga artist in
the wake of his appearance in a semi-autobiographical film
Getting Lucky (1984) for which he also recorded the
soundtrack. Undeterred, Dube released a second reggae
mini-album, Think About the Children, in 1985, which finally
launched him on the road to becoming South Africa's most
successful contemporary artist.

Slave (1987) was his first full-length reggae album, and
sold over 500,000 copies, after which his band became the
Slaves, making Dube's opposition to the apartheid regime
clear to fans. The next year, the album was released in
France, where he subsequently toured, following up with his
first trip to the United States and an appearance in the
feature film Voice in the Dark (1990).

There were further tours of the US and France in 1989 to
promote the album Prisoner (which eventually become his
biggest hit ever, with sales exceeding a million), and
recognition from the Jamaican reggae establishment came in
1991 when he became the first South African artist to be
invited to perform at the Reggae Sunsplash festival,
performing a rapturous and unheard-of 25-minute encore.

In 1992, he joined Peter Gabriel for the Real World
Recording Week, and performed at the Womad 10th anniversary
festival. The following year, he toured across Europe and
the US with Gabriel, who sang "It's Not Easy" from Dube's
album House of Exile (1991) with him each night.

Dube's star continued to rise throughout the 1990s. In 1994,
he became the first South African artist to have a record
signed to Motown (through the subsidiary label Tabu) and in
1995 appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in London alongside
Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Salif Keita and Khaled for "The
African Prom".

The title track of his 1997 album Taxman found him bemoaning
the amount of taxes he had to pay, leading some to accuse
him of losing touch with his original constituency. However,
he continued to consolidate his career, playing to huge
crowds in other African countries, exploring new markets
such as Brazil, and receiving numerous awards. In 1999, he
recorded an internet duet with Sinéad O'Connor, and in 2002
the compilation The Rough Guide to Lucky Dube celebrated his
career. He was also one of the performers at the Live 8
concert in Johannesburg in 2005.

One of the keys to Dube's artistic longevity was the
stability of his working relationships with his band, record
company and sound engineer Segal, who remained with him
throughout his reggae years. When he appeared at the Coronet
in London in April to promote his newly released album
Respect, it was with the same musicians he had worked with
for the past decade. With his dreadlocks flying as he danced
tirelessly, he was backed by a large keyboard-dominated band
providing the Soul Brothers-style flute-like riffs that were
a trademark of his sound.

Dube was shot dead on Thursday night in Johannesburg in an
apparent carjacking attempt.

Jon Lusk