Splash were a

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

township band of the 1980s and 1990s led by

Dan Tshanda Daniel Ndivhiseni Tshanda (28 January 1964 – 1 May 2019), popularly known as Dan Tshanda, was a renowned South African disco musician, producer, and businessman. He is the founder and leader of the band Splash, which played a significant role i ...

, lead vocalist and bass

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

History

Formation and early years (1985–1991)

Born in Matangari,

Venda Venda ( ), officially the Republic of Venda (; ), was a Bantustan in northern South Africa. It was fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while, to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black hom ...

, Dan Tshanda had to leave school at the primary level due to lack of funds in the family. Dan got a job as a newspaper vendor for an Afrikaans newspaper, where his father worked as a sweeper. When he became old enough to drive, he ventured into the taxi industry. While working as a taxi driver, he made a demo cassette, which was submitted to a record company, by then Dan had started a group known as Flying Squad. In 1985, they released an album called MR TONY with Gallo Records. The album was not a success, but the late Hamilton Nzimande of

Gallo Records Gallo Record Company is the largest (and oldest independent) record label in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Arena Holdings. The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two South African record lab ...

gave them a second chance, and Dan continued under the name "Splash". Ray Phiri of Stimela agreed to feature them as their support act whenever they had shows, he later discovered that they had a great talent and decided they should change their names to SPLASH. This was the birth of a giant in South African music. In 1991 Dan Tshanda formed a group called Matshikos that was led by his two backing vocalists Penwell Kunene and Joseph Tshimange releasing an album, ''The Park Is Mine''.

Death

Tshanda died on 5 January 2019, aged 54, at a Johannesburg hospital from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Discography

Studio albums

* Mr. Tony (1985) * ''Peacock'' (1986) * ''Snake'' (1987) * ''Money'' (1988) * ''Tshokotshoko'' (1989) * ''Eye For An Eye'' (1990) * ''Nesindande'' (1991) * ''Khoma Khoma'' (1992) * ''One Comma Five'' (1993) * '' Why'' (1994) * ''Cellular'' (1995) * ''Ndosala'' (1996) * ''Double Face'' (1997) * ''Crocodile'' (1998) * Makhirikhiri (1999) * ''Ndivhuwo'' (2001) * Sylvia (2005) * ''Sethlopa'' (2003) * ''Tolovela'' (2009) * ''Time to Shine'' (2009) * ''Delele'' (2014) * ''Shanduka'' (2019) Posthumous

References

External links

* {{Authority control South African musical groups