Mango Groove

File:MangoGroove AlbumCover Hometalk.jpg

Mango Groove's 1990 album, Hometalk;
Claire Johnston, bottom left.

Mango Groove is an 11 piece Afropop group formed in 1983 in Johannesburg, South Africa and fronted by lead singer Claire Johnston. They have sold more than 700,000 albums in South Africa alone, mostly with popular songs hits like "Dance Some More", "Special Star", "Hometalk" and "Nice To See You".

History

While in her last year at school, Claire Johnston joined Mango Groove (founded in 1984 by John Leyden, who teamed up with Andy Craggs and ‘Big Voice Jack’ Lerole’). She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of the Witwatersrand while touring with the band and quickly established herself as the face and voice of Mango Groove.

For the next two decades, they had an enormous impact on the South African music scene. At the time, popular multiracial music groups were not common in South Africa - the only other being Juluka, fronted by white Johnny Clegg and black Sipho Mchunu - and Mango Groove was seen as a symbol of unity in a country struggling to shake itself free of apartheid.

The group had over 12 number 1 hits in South Africa and were the first and only group to remain at the top of the South African national sales charts for over a year. They received almost every South African music and video award, as well as a number of global awards.

They also performed to sell-out shows in many cities across the world, including London, Paris, Hong Kong and Sydney. Their unique blend of marabi, kwela and pop music, together with the voice and presence of Claire Johnston and the penny whistle of Mduduzi Magwaza, made them very popular.

Some of the highlights of Mango Groove’s career include:

• The direct satellite link-up to the The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in London in 1992 to an estimated audience of a billion people.
• Their performance in front of 200,000 people at a "Rock Against Racism" concert in Paris
• Their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival where they received 3 encores.
• Being the only African band to be invited to perform at the "Celebrate Hong Kong ‘97" Reunification Concert where they performed alongside Wet Wet Wet, Michael Learns to Rock and All-4-One.

Latest news

The band released a new compilation album in 2006 - Moments Away: Love Songs and Lullabies, featuring some new songs. Three brand new videos were made to promote this, including one for the song "Southern Sky" which attracted major airplay in South Africa. 2007 also came with the news of Mango Groove planning a major national tour of South Africa again (the first in several years), the planned release of a new live-DVD, as well as the writing and pre-production of an all-new Mango Groove album.

Update

Mango Groove are releasing a brand new 2 CD compilation - The Essential - in November 2008, consisting of all their greatest hits remastered, plus previously unreleased tracks and exclusive remixes. They're releasing a new DVD before the end of the year as well, and continuing work on the all-new album to finally be released in 2009. This will coincide with a major tour in 2009.

Band members

• Claire Johnston – lead vocals
• Sipho Bhengu – tenor sax, vocals
• Beulah Hashe – vocals
• Banza Kgasoane – trumpet
• Alan Lazar – keyboards, piano
• George Lewis – guitar
• John Leyden – bass guitar
• Marilyn Nokwe – vocals
• Mduduzi Magwaza – alto sax, pennywhistle
• Phumzile Ntuli – vocals
• Gavin Stevens – drums, percussion

Discography

Albums

• Mango Groove (1989)
• Hometalk (1990)
• Another Country (1993)
• The Best of Mango Groove (1994)
• Eat a Mango (1995)
• Dance Sum More... All the Hits So Far (1996)
• The Best of Mango Groove (2000) – different from 1994 release
• The Ultimate Collection (2003)
• Moments Away: Love Songs and Lullabies 1990-2006 (2006)
• The Essential Mango Groove (Double CD - 2008)

Singles

• "Two Hearts" (1986)
• "Love is the Hardest Part" (1986)
• "We are the Party" (1986)
• "Do You Dream Of Me?" (1987)
• "Move Up" (1987)
• "Dance Sum More" (1989)
• "Hellfire" (1989)
• "Special Star" (1989)
• "Too Many Tears" (1989)
• "Pennywhistle" (1990)
• "Hometalk" (1991)
• "Island Boy" (1991)
• "Moments Away" (1991)
• "Nice To See You" (1993)
• "Keep On Dancing" (1993)
• "Another Country" (1993)
• "Tropical Rain" (1993)
• "Eat A Mango" (1995)
• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (1995)
• "New World (Beneath Our Feet)" (1995)
• "Tom Hark" (1996)
• "Let Your Heart Speak" (1996)
• "Southern Sky" (2007)

External links

• Official Mango Groove homepage
• Mango Groove discography