Founded by Lloyd Ross and Ivan Kadey, Shifty Records was a South African anti-apartheid

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

which existed for over a decade beginning in 1982. In 1986 Kadey left South Africa and became partner with the Waterland Design Group in Hollywood, designing studios at Capitol Records, Virgin Tokyo, Sony/Epic Santa Monica, and many other recording venues. At this time

Warrick Sony Warrick Swinney (born in 1958), more commonly known as Warrick Sony, is a South African composer, producer, musician and sound designer. He is the founder and sole permanent member of the Kalahari Surfers. They made politically radical satirical ...

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 Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. As a result, Shifty struggled to gain exposure on the radio stations of the

Broederbond The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply the Broederbond was an exclusively Afrikaner Calvinist and male secret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of the Afrikaner people. It was founded by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merw ...

-controlled

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's stat ...

. 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. The label helped establish boerepunk and the alternative

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...

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 Paul Erasmus was a South African Security Police officer who testified to the Goldstone Commission, and later the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about police dirty tricks and violence during the apartheid era. This testimony revealed the exi ...

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 Forces Favourites and Anaartjie in our Sosatie. 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 Stopping the Music: The Roger Lucey Story.

Artists

Artists appearing on the label included: * Vusi Mahlasela * Mzwakhe Mbuli * Koos Kombuis * The Genuines * FOSATU Workers Choirs * Isja * James Phillips & The Cherry Faced Lurchers *Bernoldus Niemand en Die Swart Gevaar, AKA James Phillips *Corporal Punishment * Jennifer Ferguson * Johannes Kerkorrel * Kalahari Surfers * National Wake *

Noise Khanyile Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

* Roger Lucey * Sankomota * Simba Morri * Tananas *

Lesego Rampolokeng Lesego Rampolokeng (born 7 July 1965) is a South African writer, playwright and performance poet. Early life and education Lesego Rampolokeng was born in 1965 in Orlando West, Soweto, Johannesburg. He studied law at the University of the North ...

* Happy Ships * Winston's Jive Mixup * Robin Auld *KOOS Shifty Records often made use of a core group of musicians who appeared on different artists' recordings as support instrumentalists, e.g. drummer

Ian Herman Ian Herman (born 11 October 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Richmond in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian ...

and trombonist Jannie "Hanepoot" van Tonder who can both be heard on many albums from the Shifty Catalogue.

References

External links

Shifty
{{Authority control South African independent record labels Record labels established in 1983

Apartheid security campaign against Shifty

Artists

See also

References

External links