15/01/2022
Concert In The Park – Ellis Park, 12 January 1985!
Were you there? What do you remember?
On Saturday, 12 January, 37 years ago – South African’s truly came together as a “Rainbow Nation”, both on and off stage in aid of raising money for Operation Hunger. I (MV) was one of the many, who were fortunate enough to be part of the crowd on a day that will be forever etched into my memory…
In comms with the man who made this all happen, Hilton Rosenthal, “…the genesis of this must be credited to Pierre (De Charmoy) …I remember it like yesterday, I was driving back from Dion’s in Wynberg, listening to 702 on the Saturday… Pierre called into the show challenging all musicians to also donate to Operation Hunger...I started to think if I could do anything to help...
On the Monday Issy Kirsch called me as they (702) were launching new transmitters, and invited me to go with him to check them out - we went by helicopter and en route flew over Ellis Park… As a throwaway line, I said to Issy, ‘I’m thinking of doing something at Ellis Park…’. Issy said he knew Louis Luyt and he’d call him later. He did and called me to say Louis had said yes, and that I could use the stadium at no cost, so long as it was cleaned after…
Within 3 days, I got commitment from all the sponsors. I put a board together pretty quickly. I contacted Percy Tucker, and he agreed to sell the tickets with no commission…
…Ticket sales were not going well at all, having only sold about 5,000 tickets by the Tuesday, by the Friday, about 35, 000. My expectation was around 50, 000…
…On the Monday after, Percy called to tell me that the only tickets he had sold the weekend was for the concert and nothing else…
…None of us were prepared for the magnitude of the event. We sold 100, 000 tickets, but 120, 000 attended the concert…I was mazed that no one was killed, when one of the gates collapsed!... After the show the Police told me they could not believe how well behaved everyone had been, only throwing out 32 people, usually throwing out more at a rugby game!...
…I am still amazed that the P.A did what it did, as it was really only meant for about 10, 000 people.
A truly amazing time, with all the stars aligning…”
In comms with several artist’s who played on the day:
Alistair Coakley – Hotline: “…I think that it is important to contextualise the events of 12th January 1985 (the date of The Concert in the Park), against the zeitgeist of the time.
South Africa was in the throes of anarchy: People like the Cradock Four, Pebco Three, and Victoria Mxenge, an anti-Apartheid lawyer, were all assassinated; bombs were going off in shopping malls ( Amanzimtoti), and limpet mines were blowing up shops, with monotonous regularity :the offices of Anglo American and Anglo Vaal were bombed, and then there was the Langa Massacre, where 47 people were massacred, whist commemorating the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre (??!!). How on earth could there be a large-scale multiracial gathering of concertgoers, against this prevailing dysfunction?
Music has always been the great integrator. Musicians in South Africa broke down racial barriers, long before the eventual demise of Apartheid. I collaborated with many artists of colour- many who performed on the concert. The musicians were the vanguard of integration...
I arrived at Ellis Park, mid-afternoon, not expecting a huge crowd (30,000?). Our band, Hotline, were playing for crowds of that size, and bigger, on a regular basis. However, as the day progressed, so did the amount of people arriving!!
Our band went onstage at six p.m., as the sun was descending. The crowd response was rapturous! I remember hearing the cacophony of the crowd= it was like an angry hive. By the time we finished our set with our biggest hit, Jabulani', the place went mental! Because of the magnitude of the crowd (refer to the cover of the 'Concert in The Park' album), the P.A system was hopelessly inadequate- no one, in their wildest dreams had predicted that many people! To the people at the back of the stadium, amidst the crowd din, it must have sounded like a transistor radio!
There was a wonderful sense of 'bonhomie' amongst the mixed-race crowd- not doubt aided by the imbibing of copious amounts of alcohol! There was only one major incident, to my knowledge. Charles Kuhn, the lead singer of the band 'Feather Control', was 'bottled' by a member of the crowd. I was in the wings onstage, at the time- his face was a bloody mess, and they had to curtail their performance.
Ironically, the existence of the large number of the bands, and the audience, was because of the effects of the Cultural Boycott. People were entertainment-starved, and this led to a burgeoning proliferation of South African Bands. Record sales, and concert receipts attested to that.
Huge kudos have to be laid at the feet of Hilton Rosenthal, who, together with Radio 702, and Ellis Park, hosted and coordinated the event. Respect- Hilton!
It was a magical day, which I doubt will ever happen again in South Africa. To my knowledge, it is the largest crowd that has ever gathered in South Africa. For a stadium with a capacity of roughly 65,000, they stopped counting on the 12th of January 1985, at 125,000! Not even the 2010 World Cup final at FNB Stadium, had that many people...”
Justine Mac (McFarlane) – Working Girls: “…Many of the bands in those days toured throughout SA during December, so most of us knew each other from on the road and the fun and camaraderie in the green room was fantastic.
The Working Girls had the daunting task of going on stage directly after the biggest band of the day…Juluka! As we were led through the tunnels from the green room to the stage – the walls literally shook from the thunderous roar for them! There was such a great vibe that day, in those tunnels, on stage and in the crowd.
I went on to play in some great arenas and stadiums in the UK – but NOTHING ever compared to the exhilaration of that day, I’m sure it was the first multi-racial audience in SA of that size, and besides the atmosphere feeling like magic, it also felt like hope!
Keith McFarlane from Face-To-Face, who also played on the day asked me out on our first official date that night, and we’re married and still madly in love 37 years later…”
Jarrod Aston – Cinema: “…I was a 17-year-old drummer playing in a boy band in front of 50,000 people (we went on later after the headliners, so the crowd had thinned out a bit) - I sat in awe earlier in the day - side of the stage watching legends like Johnny, Brenda, Sipho, Hotline and others. I watched Bokkie (drummer with Juluka), and he was one of my heroes. It’s also where I met my future Cinema band mates who were playing bass and drums with Pierre De Charmoy. I think it was a pivotal event in the history of SA and SA Music. Everyone in the crowd was there to enjoy the music - no politics, no s**t, no judgement. It happened once, never again since then - making it a unique event - anyone who was there would agree!”
Jerry Watt – The Rockets: “…I still say today that was one of the biggest concerts we have ever seen - I think by the evening that there was over 100, 000 people at that stadium with the cream of South African talent. The biggest concert I have ever played as part of The Rockets – Good times!”
Pierre De Charmoy: “…Was the most amazing experience. I was asked to contribute to another fund-raising event and told to expect approx. 20 000 people. I was shocked to see 120 000 people packed at Ellis Park. A most humbling experience never to be forgotten…”
Gary Van Zyl – Juluka: “…Most special day! We arrived at Ellis Park in the afternoon and when we walked onto the stage my neck hair stood up! The crowd were so loud with applause that we could hardly hear ourselves play. The most people that have ever been there at one time! Magic time in my career!”
Steve Louw – All Night Radio: “…When we got to Ellis Park that afternoon the stadium was heaving with 110 000 South African music fans packed in across the turf, throughout the stadium and up on the roof!” Juluka and Johnny Clegg held that crowd in the palm of their hands, and then the whole place erupted in joy when Lucky Dube came on. He channelled the love running through everyone that night. ‘I love this man’, I heard someone scream, as the place rocked to the deep pulse of rhythm and sound, bonding 110000 people as one.”
Neville Nash: “…All I felt deep down inside was to do something for Operation Hunger and all the hungry children…my contribution there was for the hungry children… said a prayer they must be fed, and the people must make enough money to buy the little children presents and buy food for them. That was all, that the hungry must be fed - that’s all that went through me on the day…”
The benefit concert held in Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa, on 12 January 1985. 22 bands played at the benefit, attended by an estimated 125,000 people—of whom about 100,000 had purchased tickets. Proceeds of more than R450,000 went to Operation Hunger, a South African charity founded in 1978.
A double album was released with all record company profits, artist, composer and publishing royalties from the event being donated to Operation Hunger.
Concert In The Park (2x LP). Released on the For The Love Of Music label, CIP 1, 1985.
Tracks:
Side 1:
Concert In The Park - Hungry Child*
Hotline - Dance Mama
Steve Kekana - Raising My Family
Brenda And The Big Dudes - Weekend Special
Pierre De Charmoy - Live On
Mara Louw - Motla Le P**a
Side 2:
Harari Featuring Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse - I'm Waiting
Ella Mental - See Yourself (Clowns)
Supa Frika - Love Satisfaction
éVoid - Junk Jive
Umoja - Oneness
Feather Control - Through The Window
Side 3:
Juluka - Scatterlings Of Africa
Face To Face - Night Of The Long Knives
Via Afrika - Hey Boy
Street Kids - I'm Mobile
Petit Cheval - Taking A Fall
Neville Nash - One Of Those Nights
Side 4:
Blondie - Inside Out
Margaret Singana - Hamba Bekile
The Rockets - Situations
All Night Radio - Breaking Hearts
The Working Girls - Checkmate
*Hungry Child written and donated by Rob Levitan of Bright Blue in lieu of them not being able to perform at the event. Recorded and mixed by Bobby Summerfield and Peter Thwaites. Produced by Hilton Rosenthal. Musicians on the track:
Tony Rudner – Guitar
Johan Laas – Keyboards
Denzyl Feigelson - Bass
Adrian Strydom – Fairlight Synthesizer
Hilton Rosenthal – Drum Programming
Steve Kekana – Lead Vocals
Heather Mac, Johnny Clegg, Ronnie Joyce – Backing Vocals
Ingi Herbst – Simmonds Drums
Concert In The Park Choir – Backing Vocals
Album engineered by Peter Thwaites, John Lindeman, Richard Mitchell, Phil Audoire and Greg Cutler.
Assistant Engineers: Fernando Perdigoa, Peter Pearlson.
Mastered by Peter Thwaites.
Petit Cheval, Mara Louw, Margaret Singana, Hotline mixed by Greg Cutler.
SupaFrika, Blondie, Brenda and the Big Dudes, Via Afrika, Ella Mental mixed by Malcolm Watson, Neville Holmes, Philip Nel, Fab Grosso, John Shaughnessy.
Street Kids, Umoja, Face To Face, éVoid, Pierre De Charmoy, Working Girls mixed by Richard Mitchell, David Segal, John Lindeman, Pikes Cronje.
Steve Kekana, All Night Radio mixed by Sam Wingate.
Feather Control mixed by Phil Audoire.
Harari mixed by Greg Cutler.
Juluka, Neville Nash mixed by Bobby Summerfield and Hilton Rosenthal.
Team SAMA.
