Harari - 1978 - Rufaro Happiness

Harari 

1978 

Rufaro Happiness

01. Oya Kai 11:31

02. Rufaro 02:52

03. Afro Gas 03:41

04. Musikana 06:31

05. Uzulu 08:54

Formed in the late sixties and originally known as The Beaters, the South African group consisting of guitarists Selby Ntuli and Saitana (real name: Monty Ndimande), bassist Alec Khaoli and drummer Sipho Mabuse decided to change their name to Harari during a tour through Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1976. The name is taken from a township outside Salisbury (which is now the capital, Harare).

With their afro-rock/funk/fusion style they achieved huge successes back home and in the neighbouring states, and they were the first local black pop/rock band to appear on South African TV. Their label, Gallo, struck a two-album deal with the US A&M and their 1980 single, "Party", entered the American Disco Hot 100 in 1982. However, by 1984 the group had disbanded, and the members launched successful solo careers.

The Beaters – Harari was released in 1975. After changing their name, Harari went into the studio late in 1976 to record their follow-up, Rufaro / Happiness. In 1976 they were voted South Africa’s top instrumental group and were in high demand at concert venues across the country.

Comprising former schoolmates guitarist and singer Selby Ntuli, bassist Alec Khaoli, lead guitarist Monty Ndimande and drummer Sipho Mabuse, the group had come a long way from playing American-styled instrumental soul in the late sixties to delivering two Afro-rock masterpieces.

Before these two albums the Beaters had been disciples of ‘Soweto Soul’ – an explosion of township bands drawing on American soul and inspired by the assertive image of Stax and Motown’s Black artists. The Beaters supported Percy Sledge on his 1970 South African tour (and later Timmy Thomas, Brook Benton and Wilson Pickett). But their watershed moment was their three month tour of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) where they were inspired by the strengthening independence struggle and musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo who were turning to African influences. On their return, the neat Nehru jackets that had been the band’s earliest stage wear were replaced by dashikis and Afros.

“In Harari we rediscovered our African-ness, the infectious rhythms and music of the continent. We came back home inspired! We were overhauling ourselves into dashiki-clad musicians who were Black Power saluting and so on.” Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, talking of the band’s time spent on tour in the (then) Rhodesian township from where they took their name. As well as expressing confident African politics, Alec Khaoli recalled, they pioneered by demonstrating that such messages could also be carried by “...happy music. During apartheid times we made people laugh and dance when things weren’t looking good.”

The two albums capture the band on the cusp of this transition. One the first album Harari, Inhlupeko Iphelile, Push It On and Thiba Kamoo immediately signal the new Afro-centric fusion of rock, funk and indigenous influences. Amercian soul pop is not forgotten with Love, Love, Love and, helped along by Kippie Moeketsi and Pat Matshikiza a bump-jive workout What’s Happening concludes the album. The second album Rufaro pushes the African identity and fusion further, with key tracks Oya Kai (Where are you going?), Musikana and Uzulu whilst the more pop-styled Rufaro and Afro-Gas point to where Harari were headed to in years to come. The popularity and sales generated by these two classic albums saw them signed by Gallo and release just two more albums with the original line-up before the untimely death of Selby Ntuli in 1978. Whilst they went on to greater success, even landing a song in the US Billboard Disco Hot 100 in 1982, it was never the same again.

“Harari’s music still speaks directly to one of my goals as a younger artist: to express myself as an African without pretending that I don’t have all these other musical elements – classical, jazz, house – inside me.” (Thandi Ntuli, niece of Selby Ntuli).

Seminal South African work from Harari -- a group who'd previously recorded as The Beaters, but changed their name after getting a new spiritual awakening while touring Zimbabwe! That new name and new spirit really fits the sound here -- an even deeper incarnation of the style they forged a few years before -- graced by the increasingly strong musical chops of the trio, which features Sipho Mabuse on drums, Alek Khaoli on bass, and Selby Ntuli on keyboards -- all coming together in this magical musical flow that's often graced by their joined-up vocals as well! Some tunes are straightforward and funky, others take a nice long time to build and find their way -