Special stars on stage

MANGO GROOVE CONCERT: BAND THAT‘S SYNONYMOUS WITH UNITY

Unique marabi and kwela fusion of township music is irresistibly upbeat.

When Claire Johnston was a toddler and her parents decided to uproot themselves and move here years ago, they had no idea what a great musical talent Britain was losing.

With a love of performing and music taking hold of her at an early age, Johnston was just 10 when she was cast in a Joburg production of the musical Annie. Then, at 17, during her final year of high school, she joined the 11-piece crossover band Mango Groove. Together they created a plethora of evergreen tracks such as Special Star, Dance Some More and Moments Away.

Now, some 30 years later and with a faithful following of local fans, the group are set to stage the Mango Groove 30th Anniversary Concert and wow audiences with their unique marabi and kwela fusion of township music again.

Looking back on it all, Johnston said it was never about fame, it was a group of like-minded artists just doing what they loved.

“Mango Groove actually sprung out of a punk band called Pet Frog. John Leyden was the founding member, but his real passion was marabi and kwela, and so after pulling together all the other members the band kind of morphed into Mango Groove,” she said.

From there on, the band got a huge amount of airplay and stole the hearts of the nation with their upbeat sound (especially the pennywhistle), lively stage and TV presence and snappy dress sense.

Johnston ended up marrying Leyden, whom she found “massively intimidating and arrogant at first”, not realising he was just very shy.

“I did find him scary. He was six foot six and also older than me. My 17-year-old self thought: ‘he’s a giant’, but we became colleagues, then friends, then romantically involved and we are now happily divorced.

“He’s been upgraded from husband to best friend,” she joked.

Johnston and Leyden continued to collaborate creatively and were working on the band’s 2016 album, Faces to the Sun, prior to their separation. One track of that album that stands out and is also a favourite of Johnston’s is Kind.

“It’s about kindness and how it doesn’t really cost anyone anything to be kind,” she said, adding how important this is in the face of the divisiveness currently bessetting South Africa.

Having emerged during the mid-1980s, Mango Groove’s sound is associated with a time in our country when there was the greatest sense of unity.

Given the state of tension in SA, a Mango Groove concert may be just what we need right now.