On the streets of Johannesburg in the 1950s, groups of boys and young men played tin pennywhistles over a guitar or a simple bass. The music was bright, bouncy and irresistible. It was called kwela, from a word meaning “get up” or “climb on,” and it spread from the townships to radio stations and record shops. One of its biggest stars was Spokes Mashiyane, a young whistler whose records sold in large numbers across South Africa and beyond.
Kwela and Spokes Mashiyane
Kwela is a South African street music based on the pennywhistle, a cheap metal flute, with guitar, banjo or bass accompaniment. It drew on marabi, jazz and swing. The word kwela is often linked to township slang meaning “get up” or “climb on,” sometimes associated with police vans. The pennywhistle was cheap and easy to carry, making it accessible to poor young musicians.
Spokes Mashiyane was born in the 1930s and began playing the pennywhistle as a boy. He became one of the most popular kwela players in the 1950s.
Records, saxophone and decline
His recordings sold widely, and he became one of the best-selling South African musicians of the decade. Like many kwela players, Mashiyane later moved to the saxophone, playing a style known as sax jive, which led into mbaqanga. Another kwela star, Lemmy “Special” Mabaso, became famous as a young boy whistler. Kwela reached Britain in 1958 when “Tom Hark” by Elias and His Zigzag Jive Flutes became a hit there.
Kwela grew up in a time of increasing apartheid restrictions, and street performers often faced police harassment. By the 1960s, kwela gave way to mbaqanga and other styles.
Revival and street corners
Kwela has been revived by musicians and is remembered as a joyful part of South African music history. Its melodies and rhythms influenced later South African pop and jazz. Kwela players often performed on street corners and in shopping areas, playing for coins and attracting crowds of dancers. Record companies in Johannesburg recorded many kwela players, sometimes paying them very little while the records sold widely.
Kwela was played on the cheapest instrument available. For a few years, it was also some of the most popular music in South Africa.
