The Movers Vol 1: 1970-1976

For a band that reportedly sold 500,000 copies of its debut album in 1970 and managed to break the colour bar and get played on white South African pop radio, surprisingly little is known about The Movers. Their story was never properly chronicled and the band and their music lapsed into obscurity long ago. Step forward Analog Africa’s Samy Ben Redjeb, who found some old cassette tapes in a Johannesburg store and tracked down the band’s surviving members.

Formed in Alexandra Township, they were signed to Teal Records and the 14 tracks compiled here are taken from the dozen or so albums they recorded between 1970 and 1976. Initially they were an instrumental soul band, drawing heavily on American influences. ‘Give Five or More’ sounds like an African take on the New Orleans funk of The Meters, while ‘Oupa Is Back’ owes more to Booker T & the MGs. As they went on they added guest vocalists, including Sophie Thapedi, heard on the splendid ‘Soweto Inn’, which replaces the band’s American influences with a bouncing township jive groove. Just when one thought all the crates of long lost African classics had been well and truly dug, this glorious discovery turns up, for which we should offer Analog Africa our heartfelt thanks.