Manhattan Brothers

The Manhattan Brothers were a South African vocal group that was very popular during the 1940s and 1950s. The group, Jive, Swing and Doo -wop numbers in the repertoire had, was the first band of the South African music scene with record sales that went into the millions. It was revived in 1990.

History of the band

The group included Joe Mogotsi, Ronnie Sehume, Rufus Khoza and Nathan Mdledle, who had met already in the 1930s for singing in the Pimville Government School in Soweto and later first worked together as a street musician. While they initially interpreted traditional Zulugesänge and under the name Manhattan occurred Stars, they sang later, encouraged by their record label Decca Records, South African versions of American hits. In addition, they also had South African numbers in their repertoire, such as Mackay Davashe. Miriam Makeba sang at the beginning of their careers together with the Manhattan Brothers, about 1953 Davashes Lakutshona Ilanga. The group had in 1956 with Lovely Lies in the American Billboard Hot 100 a hit. In South Africa, the group met up in the 1950s prime time on the radio and was accompanied by well-known jazz musicians such as Kippie Moeketsi. The group also appeared in Todd Matshikizas musical King Kong; the members of the band returned in 1961 after performances of musical production in London not return to apartheid South Africa. Joe Mogotsi founded in London in 1990 a new edition of the Manhattan Brothers, who also appeared with Joe Zawinul.

Disco Graphical Notes

• The Very Best Of The Manhattan Brothers. Their Greatest Hits (1948-1959) ( Stern's Africa, 2000)