Introduction | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s+ | Compilations |
Essential South African Albums
by Brian Currin (January 1999, updated October 2025)
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, various experimental and innovative styles of rock music were developing worldwide. “Psychedelic”, “progressive”, “heavy metal”, and “hard rock” were just some of the terms used to describe this incredibly inventive music. The term I like the most, which encompassed all these genres (and more), was “underground“.
This very general term was what my late father (Dennis Currin 1932-2017) used to describe any music which he didn’t like! So most of my record collection and almost all the songs on LM Radio were considered “underground”. Anything from Focus to Wizzard, Deep Purple to Jethro Tull, was considered “underground”; often used in the same sentence as the phrase “turn it down”.
In South Africa a number of wonderful “underground” groups formed, performed, recorded and disappeared, but their legacy of great music remains. For whatever reason, be it South Africa’s pariah status at the time or just lack of record industry and media interest, this music failed to achieve overseas (and sometimes even local) recognition.
This website was established on the 1st of January 1999 to remember and archive these “forgotten” classics of South African rock. These archives have been compiled with the help of various SA Rock Digest subscribers, in particular Stephen “Sugar” Segerman, John Samson, Kurt Shoemaker, Tertius Louw and RenĂ© Mullenders. A number of other people have also contributed.
Since late 2000 more and more of these “forgotten” albums became available on CD (mostly on Benjy Mudie’s Retro Fresh label) and since 2001 we also archived information on the early pioneers of South African pop and rock from the 1950s and 1960s, thanks mainly to the efforts of vinyl collector, Tertius Louw.
In about 2004, I stopped doing any major updates to the site. However since about 2020 I have been slowly adding playlists (sourced from Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp and others) to help enhance the experience of those golden times.
In November 2024, I started a project of improving the archives for the modern internet age whilst keeping the retro look and feel. This involves a gradual migration to WordPress.com. Due to the project’s extensive scope, some content might never be updated, however all pages are accessible through links provided on various pages on SARockMusic.com and by Searching.
References and Contributions – A list of references and people who have helped with information for this site.
