Clem Tholet (1948 – 6 October 2004) was a

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

n folk singer who became popular in the 1970s for his Rhodesian patriotic songs. He reached the height of his fame during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

Biography

Clem Tholet was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

in 1948, and began writing songs while he was an art student in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa. One of his first songs, ''Vagabond Gun'' was a category winner at the South Africa Music Festival in 1966. Tholet later moved back to Rhodesia to work in advertising. He started singing at Rhodesia's first folk venue, The Troubadour in Salisbury's Angwa Street. Whilst performing there, he met Sue Eccles and Andy Dillon. The trio formed a group called ''The Kinfolk'', then moved to South Africa, and shortly after moving to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, Eccles left the group. Tholet and Dillon formed a new group with Yvonne Raff, which they called '' The Legend Trio''. This new trio began singing at the original Southern African "Troubadour", and were also involved in a number of SAFMA's National Folk Fests. Tholet married Jean Smith (step-daughter of Rhodesian Prime Minister

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

) in 1967. Tholet embarked on a solo career, recording some singles with Art Heatlie at Trutone. Mel Miller, Peter Leroy and Sylvia Stott briefly joined Tholet to form a group in 1970, before Tholet moved back to Rhodesia in 1971. Tholet returned and soon built up a strong following. He did a series of Rhodesian Television shows, and presented a radio programme called ''Folk on the Rocks'', aired for two series. The name came from the folk club Tholet ran at The Beverley Rocks, where it played to regular packed houses. A popular star of the annual ''Bless 'Em All'' Troop Shows, and in great demand in the Rhodesian entertainment scene, Tholet recorded his first album ''Songs of Love & War'' at Shed Studios. Tholet wrote and produced the album himself. The album was awarded a

Gold Disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. He wrote the soundtrack and songs for the C.I.S. film ''What A Time it Was '' and the theme song for a film honouring the wounded troopies of Rhodesia, ''Tsanga, Tsanga''. He appeared at the 7 Arts Theatre, Harare in the first half, supporting the American comedian

Shelley Berman Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. He was awarded three gold records for his comedy albums and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy recor ...

with members of the Shed Studios band – consisting of Martin Norris, Steve Roskilly, Bothwell Nyamhondera, Tony Logan and Steve Hughes. As artistic director of the advertising agency Matthewman Banks and Tholet, he was instrumental in writing a great many and memorable music jingles for his clients. He produced a second album at Shed Studios, called ''Two Sides to Every Story'', before moving back to South Africa. After living and working in the advertising industry for many years in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, Tholet died on 6 October 2004 after having suffered from the effects of a debilitating illness for a number of years. Tholet's last album, ''Archives'' was (and is) sold as a fundraiser to benefit the Flame Lily Foundation. This fundraising project seeks to provide funds for the living expenses of elderly former residents of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia living in South Africa, who have been denied their pensions by the Zimbabwean government.Rhodie Oldies need your help

Biography

Discography

Albums

Singles

Film tracks

See also

References

Further reading