Rock legend hops back to our shores for nostalgic tour

IN WHAT is sure to bring a sense of nostalgia to those who grew up in the ’70s, South African rock legend Duncan Faure will be embarking on a nationwide tour from Wednesday to April 16. His tour will get under way with performances at the Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria on Wednesday and Thursday.

Faure rose to fame at the age of 17 as part of the four-piece South African pop rock band, Rabbitt, which was formed in 1972.

A day after landing in Pretoria from New York, he recalls how producer Patric van Blerk brought the band together, linking Faure with fellow band-mates Trevor Rabin, Ronnie Robot and Neil Cloud.

“Before we did anything we were in a club for nine months in Joburg, doing six nights a week. It was called the incubation period because that’s where we really learned to be a band. And from then on we became a concert group and things just exploded, it was unbelievable.”

They went on to churn out hit after hit, including Lonely Loner Too, Morning Light,

Charlie and Getting Through to You. “It took us off guard,” he said. “It was actually an incredible experience. I think of it now and it almost feels like somebody else. We were spoilt when we were young, you can imagine that success. We even had roadies. Then you get old and you don’t have roadies anymore,” he laughs. “We do it ourselves, but I do miss it sometimes.”

Since the group disbanded in 1978, Faure has gone on to write for and work with many other musicians, including Stuart Wood, with whom he formed Karu, and the Scottish pop rock band, Bay City Rollers.

His exploits over the years even earned him a place in the Rock Godz Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in 2014, where he lives and still regularly records music.

“It’s pretty much all just lights and very Space Age. It’s very dry, it’s a desert, so it’s not as nice as here,” he says.

Faure has been releasing music gradually over the past few decades, including three solo albums. His last project, the album Machine

From the Other Side, was released in 2014 and features only piano and voice. It was during this period that he recorded Tennessee, which is a previously unheard John Lennon song.

“It’s just easier to do piano and voice,” he explains. “We went to San Francisco… they flew me out to spend a couple of days, and we just did a whole bunch of songs with piano and voice.” He just might be performing this, and some of his other new songs, during his tour.