The South African Rock Encyclopedia > Rock Legends > 1970s / 1980s > Margaret Singana > Discography > Margaret Singana – Lady Africa [CD 1996] compilation
Tracks
- I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (1977) A cover of John Russell’s “I Never Loved A Woman The Way I Love You” from 1976. It is not a cover of the Aretha Franklin song with a similar title from 1967. Springbok #2 in 1977
- Light Up The Light (1973)
- Stand By Your Man (1975) Tammy Wynette cover
- Where Is The Love (1975)
- Tribal Fence (1977) originally by Freedoms Children in 1970, see comments below
- Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (1976) Creedence Clearwater Revival cover
- Love Is The Power (1974)
- I Feel So Strong (1974) not the same as the PJ Powers & Hotline with Steve Kekana song from 1982
- Mama Tembu’s Wedding (1973) from Ipi ‘NTombi – The Warrior; Springbok #6 in 1974
- We Are Growing (1986) with Julian Laxton, from the Shaka Zulu TV series; Springbok #26 in 1986, #1 in The Netherlands in 1989
- Orang Outang (1977) originally by Hawk in 1972, see comments below
- Johannesburg (1977) originally by The Julian Laxton Band in 1976
- Help! (1974) The Beatles song, also covered by PJ Powers & Hotline in 1982
- Many Rivers To Cross (1976) Jimmy Cliff cover
- Gimme Your Love (1973)
- Why Did You Do It (1977) Stretch cover
- When Will I Be Loved (1976) The Everly Brothers cover. Also a big hit for Linda Ronstadt
- Stop The Rain (1974)
- My Name Is Margaret (1978) a cover of Billy Lawrence’s “Playground In My Mind (Mama Je’Taime)” from 1971, and “Playground In My Mind” by Clint Holmes in 1973.
- Love Will Find A Way (1975)
Bonus track
A cover of the Elton John track from “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. Pop meets Prog meets Soul. Read more →
Release information
CD: 1996, Gallo, CDRED 603 J
Review
By Brian Currin, SA Rock Digest Issue #33, 22 September 1999
A powerful compilation from the soulful voice of Margaret Singana. Different to the 1973 album with the same title. Margaret has covered a number of classic South African rock tracks, including Freedoms Children’s ‘Tribal Fence’, The Julian Laxton Band’s ‘Johannesburg’ and Hawk’s ‘Orang Outang’.
She is probably most famous for ‘Mama Tembu’s Wedding’ from ‘Ipi ‘N Tombia’ and also the brilliant theme song from the Shaka Zulu TV series, ‘We Are Growing’. This song went to number 1 in The Netherlands in 1989.
Patric van Blerk wrote a few songs for her and also produced most of her albums. Trevor Rabin makes an appearance on some of her songs as well.
There are also some very strong soul songs on this CD including ‘I Never Loved A Man’ (sounds nothing like the Aretha Franklin song with the same title; it is actually a cover of John Russell’s ‘I Never Loved A Woman’), Jimmy Cliff’s ‘Many Rivers To Cross’ and Tammy Wynette’s ‘Stand Up Like A Man’ (done in a reggae-style).
So if you enjoy strong female vocals with a touch of Rock, a bit of Africa and a lot of Soul, then ‘Lady Africa’ is for you.
Comments
“Tribal Fence” was composed by Ramsay MacKay and first recorded by Freedoms Children and released on their 1970 album Astra. It was recorded by Rabbitt on their A Croak And A Grunt In The Night album in 1977. The Rabbitt version featured the incredible vocal talents of Margaret Singana, who had been the lead singer on The Warrior album by Ipi ‘N Tombia in 1973.
Margaret Singana also recorded a very powerful version of “Tribal Fence” which was released as the title track of her album in 1977. The album was produced by Julian Laxton (from Freedoms Children) and Trevor Rabin (from Rabbitt).
Brian Currin
The band Wildebeest recorded the song live and it appeared in 1981 on the Bushrock 1 album. “Tribal Fence” was recorded by Jack Hammer (whose founder Piet Botha had been in Wildebeest) and released on The Pilgrim album in April 2005.
“Orang Outang” (sometimes styled as “Orang-Outang”, “Orangoutang”, “Orang Otang” and “Ourang-Outang”) was written by Ramsay MacKay and originally recorded in 1971 by Freedom’s Children with Malombo Jazz Makers, but only released in 2020.
“Orang Outang” was first released as a single by Hawk in 1972. It has been recorded by Margaret Singana, Kenny Henson’s Harambee, Finch & Henson, Joy, Brian Finch and others. The version by Finch & Henson on their Recycled album is very similar to the track by Harambee, however Brian Finch’s vocals have replaced the voice of Margaret Modisell.
Ramsay MacKay’s “Orang Outang” is unrelated to two different songs with the same title by Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg (1969) and Bow Wow Wow (1981).
Brian Currin
Artwork
