Waking the Nation: The story of South African punk

National WakeFoto: Press kit

A repeat of one of last year's most popular Friday Ripple shows. A one hour documentary about probably the 20th century's most dissident alternative music scene: the multiracial punk underground which emerged in late 1970s South Africa, and continues to the present day.

Sharpville Night Club flyer 1981Foto: Ivan Kadey

A bit more dramatic than the average alternative music tale, this is a story that takes in underground communes, illegal tours, tear gas and arrests. At the heart of the story is National Wake: South Africa's first multiracial punk band. Between 1978 and 1982, they and their peers created a cultural - and multicultural - explosion whose effects can still be heard in South African alternative music today. 

Featuring long-lost recordings, and commentary by leading South African punks from the late '70s onwards: Ivan Kadey (guitarist/vocalist of National Wake); Deon Maas (80s punk photographer and latter-day media troublemaker); and Lee "Lips" Thomson (trumpet player in contemporary ska-punks Hog Hoggidy Hog). 

When this show was first broadcast in May 2009, I put an extended version of the script up on the SpinEarth website - check it out for even more insights into this fascinating story. You can stream the show on the Radio Wave Jukebox under Friday Ripple > 5.2.2010. 

National Wake - Wake of the Nation (Rhythm Records)
National Wake - Black Punk Rockers (Rhythm Records)
National Wake - Bolina (Rhythm Records)
National Wake - International News (Rhythm Records)
National Wake - Walk In Africa (Rhythm Records)
Asylum Kids - Schoolboy (Wea)
Leopard - Boys n Bitches (Wea)
Wild Youth - Wot About Me (Wea)
Corporal Punishment - Darky (Shifty)
Wild Youth - All Messed Up (Wea)
Powerage - Waiting for the War (Hardchord/Powernoize)
Koos - Sing Jy van Bomme (One F Music/Rhythm Records)
Hog Hoggidy Hog - Opium for the Masses (Hogmosh Music)
Hog Hoggidy Hog - African Son (Hogmosh Music) 

After the documentary, there's a repeat of the one-hour DJ set that was originally broadcast alongside it: a global punk set with guest DJ, punk film-maker Keith Jones. This set is right after the documentary on the Wave Jukebox, and the playlist looks like this: 

Evicted - Intro (self-released)
Clash - Police and Thieves (CBS)
Half Price - Human Rights (Drunk Punk)
340ml - Australopithecus (Sheer)
Bad Brains - Jah Love (Dischord)
Basement 5 - Immigrant Dub (Sheer)
Death - Politicians In My Eyes (Drag City)
Pogues - Sally MacLennane (Stiff)
Gogol Bordello - Mala Vida (Side One Dummy)
RotFront - B-Style (Essay)
Fuzigish & Skwatta Kamp - On a Night Like This (SABC)
Swivelfoot - Lights Out (self-released)
Hog Hoggidy Hog - Scene Police (Hogmosh)
The Specials - Nelson Mandela (Two-Tone)