There is documentary called Searching for Sugarman. He was hugely popular here in South Africa. It was a shock to me that no one had heard of him in the States (him being from the US).
Yes indeed - the story of Sixto Rodriguez is truly amazing. See the movie if you haven't already.
Thanks to the success of the film, the world (beyond SA) has now finally discovered Sixto and he is touring. My wife and I have tickets to see him perform next week in Paris, playing at the Zenith.
Last Edited by A440 on Jun 01, 2013 3:21 AM
And from what I understand (did I read this somewhere following the film and his resurgent success?), he still lives in the same old place in crumbling Detroit he's been in for the past 40 anonymous years while working construction, and gives now most of what he's earning away. A very simple, humble man, in spite of his talent, which is what most inspires me about him. Highly recommend the film.
I Wonder was very popular in my high school art class back in 1978/79...I was surprised to see this movie come out. I told the story a few times on my radio programme back in the late 80s; never expected it to go mainstream this far down the track. ----------
His back story was very interesting but just don't get the interest in his music-I have tried to like it but maybe you just had to be there( in SA or OZ). My American ears just aren't digging it
It was interesting for me to discover Rodriguez's album Cold Fact, because it is like a "time capsule" - a perfectly preserved product of that era which I had not heard before. I believe that 1968-1972 was a particularly fertile period for American songwriters and musicians. Unfortunately, the way the record industry operated meant that only a fraction of music was discovered and marketed (and sometimes the selection process was pretty random). Imagine how many thousands of great tapes from that era are stored away in boxes, created by song-writers and musicians that we have never heard of...
Last Edited by A440 on Jun 03, 2013 4:34 AM
I just watched Searching For Sugarman. One thing which wasn't mentioned at all in the movie was the Australian episode. Much the same thing happened here in the late 70s. A DJ on 2JJ was playing the record on his show and it became very popular and much requested. An underground distribution of pirate cassettes grew, and someone realised there was a market and obtained the distribution rights. Blue Goose records put out an album called At His Best in 75 or 76, which was a compilation of the two original albums. Later they issued the originals also. Same deal as SA, nobody knew anything about him, he was rumoured to have died. He was very popular...I think it was the folks who were producing the records who tracked him down and brought him to Australia in 79 (I'm not sure of the years, but I think that's right) two shows I think. I mean, I think he was bigger in SA, its a more populous country for a start...but the shows in Oz were sold out I think. Anyway, there was even an album released around 1980 called Rodriguez Alive! which was recorded at those Aussie shows. I used to play all this stuff on radio in the mid 80s because I dug it big time when I was a punk teenager rebel and I did think it was a cool story. Interesting that the movie didn't mention that the 97 story wasnt thr first re discovery in his career. no one thought about SA at that time I suppose because it was still a closed country in many ways. Watching the movie reminded me how much I loved that guy when I was a kid. I still can recite most of the lyrics. When the guy was saying about looking for geographic clues in the lyrics I instantly thought met a girl from Dearborn. First mention I ever heard of the word "suburbia" in that song. I remember the first time I heard "street boy", the girl who told me about 'I wonder'. Brought it all back. Detroitbreakdown, my thanks for raising the topic. ----------
I think his music meant different things in SA. His music was more popular because it was directly opposed to the enforced way of life in SA. When I was a teen, Nirvana, Pantera and other bands of the day were cool and a must know on the guitar, but only one "golden oldie" was still loved and played by everyone. It was Sugarman.
It wasn't just a rebelious sub-culture, but a political soundtrack. People were being killed for what they believed.
@SuperBee: Any way. Just my 2 cents. Plus South Africa generally wins when up against Australia :P (kidding) ---------- Egg Timer Mic Home Made Bullet Mic
Yeah here the heyday was that late 70s period and then when he was found, mystery solved, and we all moved on. Clearly a bigger more devoted following in SA, taken more to heart, as you say Jared people getting killed by the establishment. And it would have maybe taken a little edge from the story to include that there was a record of his 1979 performance in Festival Hall Sydney, where the story goes he was so nervous that he made the cab drive around the block several times while he got it together to face the crowd. Maybe that experience prepared him for SA, I dunno. It came over in the film that he'd just spent thd intervening time in complete obscurity and then dealt with his SA popularity very calmly. But in truth he knew he was very popular in Australia and had been here and played real big shows. (I have a feeling he may have come back in 81 but it was pretty flat...but I might be making it up. Maybe it was cancelled or something...I'll have to look it up.) Of course, the movie has made him famous again and I hear the songs on the radio...ha ha, that means ABC in my house...not cool... But yeah...so like 18 years after the Australian thing he is in SA playing live, and 14 years after that this movie comes out...or have I got that wrong? When was the first SA concert. Is that 79 album available I wonder? ----------
