Gallo Record Company is the largest (and oldest independent)
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
in South Africa. It is based in
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 ...
, South Africa, and is owned by Arena Holdings. The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two South African record labels, rivals between the 1940s and 1980s: the original Gallo Africa (1926–85) and G.R.C. (Gramophone Record Company, 1939–85). In 1985 Gallo Africa acquired G.R.C.; as a result, Gallo Africa became known as Gallo-GRC. Five years after the acquisition, the company was renamed Gallo Record Company.
History
Eric Gallo set up a one-man business, the
Brunswick Gramophone House, in 1926. The record shop was originally devised to distribute records from the US-based
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.
History
1916–1929
Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...
into South Africa. However, noticing the lack of recording facilities (as well as the amount of local talent) in the country, Gallo decided to form a recording studio in 1932 and, borrowing equipment (and a sound engineer) from the then just-defunct Metropole company in the United Kingdom, Gallo opened the "Gallo Recording Studios" under the auspices of ''Gallo Africa'' (using a red rooster as the company's symbol, which remains today). Gallo was South Africa's first recording company and became home to a number of classic recordings, including "
Mbube" (recorded in 1939 by
Solomon Linda
Solomon Popoli Linda OIG (19098 September 1962), also known as Solomon Ntsele ("Linda" was his clan name),Gilmore, Inigo"Penniless sisters fight record industry over father's hit song" ''The Telegraph'' (UK), 11 June 2000. was a South African ...
and his "Original Evening Birds"). A wealth of local artists had recordings released on Gallo's many labels, including "Singer", "Gallotone", "Gallo New Sound", "USA", and many more. African music (or "black music", as it was then known) was produced by
Griffith Motsieloa, a local talent scout whom Gallo had recruited to his fold.
Throughout the 1950s, Gallo remained successful, though it was competing against the South African branch of
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
. EMI's African music division, led by black talent scout
Rupert Bopape, prospered well into the early 1960s with
marabi
Marabi is a style of music and dance form that evolved and emerged in South Africa between the 1890s and 1920s.
The early part of the century saw the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans in mining centres such as the gold mining area ...
and African jazz recordings by the
Dark City Sisters and others. Gallo lost sales in its own black music unit, led by saxophonist-producer
Reggie Msomi and scout
Walter Nhlapo, and so, in 1964, the company poached Bopape to join Gallo. Bopape formed the Mavuthela Music Company division of Gallo Africa, recording famous and local
mbaqanga
Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music that emerged in the early 1960s in the urban townships, particularly around Johannesburg. It draws from a variety of ethnic traditions, including Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, and Tsonga musical element ...
and jive artists, and was promoted as "South Africa's
Motown
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
" (the acclaimed Mavuthela quintet, the
Mahotella Queens, was perhaps the South African equivalent to Motown's trio of stars,
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
). Dozens of recordings were issued on labels such as "Motella", "Gumba Gumba", "CTC Star Records", "FGB", "Gallotone", "USA", and many more. Also in the 1950s they started producing the
Gallotone guitar.
Arnold Golembo founded the
Gramophone Record Company in Johannesburg in 1939. GRC obtained the South African franchise for the
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
label in 1946 (later moved to
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
Brigadiers), and the franchise for
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company
* CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony
* CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
in 1956.
In 1985, G.R.C. was incorporated into Gallo Africa. The company was named Gallo-GRC, and incorporated Gallo's production stable, Mavuthela, and GRC's production stable, Isibaya Esikhulu. These stables had been fierce rivals from around the mid-1960s up to Gallo's take-over of G.R.C. The company was renamed Gallo Record Company in 1990.
Producers at Gallo included
West Nkosi
West Nkosi (born Mkhubatseli West Nkosi, 1940 – 8 October 1998) was a South African music producer, saxophonist and songwriter.
Nkosi was born in Nelspruit, South Africa. He was an original member of the Makgona Tsohle Band which backed Mah ...
, who was an influential and intimidating figure at the company from 1964 until his death in 1997. Nkosi was a member of the
Makgona Tsohle Band
The Makgona Tsohle Band was a South African instrumental band that is noted for creating the mbaqanga music style. Mbaqanga is an acculturated popular South African music that emerged in the 19th century. Mbaqanga is also referred to as town ...
, which backed up all of Mavuthela's (1964–1985) mbaqanga artists such as the
Mahotella Queens,
Abafana Baseqhudeni,
Mahlathini, and many others. Nkosi introduced to Gallo some of its most well-known artists – these included
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...
(1972),
The Green Arrows (1974),
Mpharanyana and the Cannibals (1976), and
Amaswazi Emvelo (1978).
Other figures at Gallo over the years have included talent scouts
Rupert Bopape and
Louis Abel Petersen as well as musician-composer-arrangers such as
Shadrack Piliso,
Marks Mankwane,
Hilda Tloubatla
Hilda Semola Tloubatla (born 1942) is a South African ''mbaqanga'' singer, and the lead singer of the acclaimed group the Mahotella Queens. Tloubatla was born in Payneville, South Africa before moving to kwaThema township in 1951 as a result of ...
,
Lucky Monama,
Joseph Shabalala,
Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde and
Thandi Nkomo, in addition to figures such as
Eric Gallo, Peter Gallo, and others.
In 2006, Johnnic Communications (Gallo's parent company, which changed its name to Avusa in November 2007) entered a joint venture with the South African division of
Warner Music International, forming Warner Music Gallo Africa, making Gallo Record Company's entire music archive digitally available for the first time. These include rare pressings as well as classic hits by artists such as
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...
,
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens (also known as Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo and Mahlathini and the Girls of Mgqashiyo) were a South African ''mbaqanga'' supergroup made up of the three musical acts linked together by talent scout and r ...
,
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...
,
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and f ...
,
Letta Mbulu,
Spokes Mashiyane
Johannes "Spokes" Mashiyane (born Vlakfontein (Mamelodi), Pretoria 20 January 1933; died at Baragwanath Hospital of cirrhosis of liver 9 February 1972) was regarded as one of the greatest pennywhistle artists who graced the South African kwela mus ...
,
Lucky Dube
Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced ''duu-beh'';
luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007 3 August 1964 – 18 October 2 ...
,
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka OIS (born Yvonne Machaka on 18 March 1965) is a South African singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, humanitarian and teacher. Dubbed the "Princess of Africa" (on a 1990 tour), Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South Afric ...
and others.
The Warner/Gallo joint venture ended in December 2013.
[Richard Smirke]
"WMG Launches Warner Music South Africa (Exclusive)"
''Billboard'', 5 December 2013.
See also
*
Warner Music South Africa
References
{{Authority control
Record labels established in 1926
Record labels established in 1939
South African record labels
IFPI members
1926 establishments in South Africa
Companies based in Johannesburg
Culture of Johannesburg