Shifty Records

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This article is about the South African music label. For the metal label, see Shifty Records (USA).
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Founded by Lloyd Ross and , Shifty Records was a South African anti-apartheid record label which existed for over a decade beginning in 1982. In 1986 Kadey left South Africa and became partner with the Group in Hollywood, designing studios at Capitol Records, Virgin Tokyo, Sony/Epic Santa Monica, and many other recording venues. At this time Warrick Sony bought in as partner with the purchase of recording equipment.

Aimed at providing a platform for independent music with a social message, Shifty was an outlet for South African musicians opposed to apartheid. As a result, Shifty struggled to gain exposure on the radio stations of the Broederbond-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation. Its anti-establishment stance was appealing to young and politically marginalized South Africans. This was evident when poet Mzwakhe Mbuli's unadvertised Change is Pain went gold after the apartheid regime banned possession and distribution of the album.[1]

The label helped establish and the alternative Afrikaans genre at a time when it was a reflex to stereotype all Afrikaners as supporters of the National Party. Operating from a caravan hitched to a Ford V6 truck, the Shifty studio produced an album every two months until 1993.

Kontaktnätet, a Swedish non-governmental cultural organisation financially supported Shifty Records from 1986 to 1992 and held various manifestations in Sweden for the company and the various artists associated with Shifty.

Apartheid security campaign against Shifty[]

In 2002, notorious Bureau of State Security agent, Paul Erasmus was granted amnesty by the Truth & Reconciliation Commission for his overzealous campaign against Shifty Records artist, Roger Lucey, a campaign which ended his career. The amnesty application does not apply to other artists, appearing with Lucey, or released on the Shifty label. In particular, Lucey appears on Shifty compilation albums such as and . Erasmus claims in his biography to have waged a total war against the music industry. He is also one of Lucey's biggest fans, having confiscated most of his albums from record stores. The entire episode is documented in : The Roger Lucey Story.

Artists[]

Artists appearing on the label included:

Shifty Records often made use of a core group of musicians who appeared on different artists' recordings as support instrumentalists, e.g. drummer and trombonist who can both be heard on many albums from the Shifty Catalogue.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Mbuli, Mzwakhe (South Africa)". music.org.za. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Winston's Jive Mixup by Winston's Jive Mixup". Rhythm Music Store. Archived from the original on 17 October 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2013.

External links[]

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