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3rd Ear Music's Hidden Years Archive Project is a unique collection of alternative South African music - Live Recordings from Festivals, Concerts & Clubs or at independent Studios - 1964 to 1994 - SAfrican music legends & forgotten heroes - from Township Jazz to City Folk, from Zulu Maskandi to Political Rock 'n Roll.
 3rd Ear often includes projects that we have not produced. Please don't assume that every project or show that we promote or mention belongs to us. Please read the notices & the copyright information below. There are many 'hidden years' & related local projects that we think are worth mentioning & linking to:- Rian Malan's Mbube story on Solomon Linda; the launch of Buried in The Sky by Rick Andrew & Greig Coetzee's play Seeing Red are mentioned in this edition. They all relate to this country's intriguing hidden history & often use music & information from the Hidden Years Archive.
We will be bringing you updates on projects from other parts of the world, that relate or are similar to what 3rd Ear Music is doing - Steve Gordon's Making Music project in Cape Town; Jonathan Handley's Radium Wreckords & Radio Rats projects; from Rhodes in Grahamstown there's Dr. Michael Drewitt's 80's rock music files Cutting Grooves & Shifty Music news from Lloyd Ross in Johannesburg, whenever it comes to hand. Keep in touch!
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> The 3rd & final part of Rian Malan's intriguing Rolling Stone story on the founder of iSiscathimeya Music & "Mbube" composer, Soloman Linda.
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 > A resolution passed at the recent FREEMUSE Conference on Music Censorship in South Africa - Hosted by Ole Reitov & Jacob Valdemar from Denmark.
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 > The Goal, Objectives & Programme of MMINO
Tom Gravlie from Norway & Edgar Masuku from Johannesburg, the Norwegian South Africa Music Education Programme (MMINO) representatives visit 3rd Ear Music in Durban.
David Marks - 3eM / Edgar Masuku - MMINO Johannesburg / Fran Marks - 3eM & Hidden Years Durban / Tom Gravlie - MMINO Norway / Thabiso Pooe - Hidden Years Durban.
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 > Fighting Words on the Future of the Earth - By request & without permission, 3rd Ear Music first issued this classic piece of oral literature back in 1980. Freely taken from a copy of the (then) much banned Mother Jones - a landmark speech given by American Indian Movement (AIM) activist, poet, actor, aural author & now Rap musician, Russell Means, South Dakota, USA in July 1979. An appropriate piece, we believe, given Russell Mean's move to record a CD album & the current Globalisation & One-World issues. As part of this human race we've got some way to go yet - whichever way that is! This will make you think! (For further Information about AIM and Russell's CD THE RADICAL - The American Indian Music Company 2633 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 250, Santa Monica, CA 90405 USA)
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> The Thinking Club - Obviously most musicians & myself wouldn't qualify - But here's an interesting piece: - Brace Yourself - Yahoos are at our Doors by Pravasan Pillay a Political Philosophy Lecturer at the University of Durban Westville. Thanks to Richard Pithouse, we've taken the liberty of reprinting this piece on the furore surrounding the Guateng Education Department's book burning... er, sorry, book banning of some SAfrican literary classics & others.
> Two more important Projects for 2001 / 2002 - Guitarist, musician, composer & general music handy-man-genius, Alan Judd will announce an exciting project that he & ex-wonder man of business re-turned musician & composer, Terry Rosenberg are involved with. It's a wonderful music project. Just watch this space.
> The Hidden Years Story Book should be out later this year - it will hopefully be printed on recycled newspaper that we used to wrap our Fish 'n Chips in; so besides rapping up the present, it could also be used to soak up any mess outside of the intellectual arts media arena. But in the meantime we indulge in & re-discover some wonderful archived music, will composing & performing a whole bunch of new tunes - without the sedatives, preservatives & audio pollution by-products of our technologically bereft past or digitally hung over future. More chapters / excerpts from the HY Story book will appear in the next website issue.
> Check out how Hitler handled the safety & security of his state from being assaulted by Jazz Musicians in Austria & Germany just before WW II - It may just strike a familiar chord or two!
> Song Lyrics - Featuring 3eM composers' lyrics & anecdotes like: John Gerrard - Bill Knight - Jonathan 'Radio Rat' Handley - Nick Taylor - James Phillips - David Kramer - Tony Bird - Des Lindberg - John Oakley Smith - Chris Mann - David Marks - Roger Lucey.
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 > David Marks spends a day in George Town with ex STRATCOM Security Police Officer W/O Paul Erasmus. Paul was instructed to monitor & report on 'cultural activists' threatening the safety & security of the state. Seriously!
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 > 3rd Ear assists ex-Capetown attorney (now living in Las Vegas & originally from George in the Cape) with a Cape Kwela Penny Whistle project. Julian Burnett returns to Capetown to produce a CD for professional street busker of over 40 years, James Armoed.
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 > Penguin books are launching Musician & Design Arts Lecturer Rick Andrew's, "Buried in The Sky" on the 16th May at the NSA Gallery - a novel about the SADF Army blues, booze & border intrigue, 1976.
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 > Student activist, playwright, teacher, actor & author Greig 'White Men With Weapons' Coetzee returns to the Playhouse Theatre stage with a new show - Seeing Red. Listen out for the pre-show music, from the Hidden Years Archives.
NOTE: - Public hearings on issues related to local music recorded content on Radio & TV, will be hosted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in Durban on May 9th - It's a public hearing so try & be there. What interest, if any, will this generate in the local Music Media?
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 > Thanks to MMINO 3rd Ear Music are now working on a number CD-R re-issues with notes & Biogs: A donation to the HYMA Project from ex-Zimbabwean now living in Oz Rick Barber, will see a release of the great John Oakley-Smith's songs - some live recordings and a few unreleased studio gems - Matinees on Saturdays. We are also working on Azumah - Long Time Ago; Hawk Live; Maskandi Collection - Strings & Bows; Colin Shamley - Born Guilty; and with the Centre For Jazz & Popular Music Studies at the University of Natal 3eM we aim to issue Darius Brubeck's celebrated Student Jazz Band, The Jazzanians on CD later this year.
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 > A rare recording of Poetry Africa 2000 that featured many of the world's celebrated contemporary Poets is soon to be issued by 3rd Ear Music. The event was produced for the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) at the University of Natal, by Peter Rorvik - a tribute to the retiring Ad Donker - & 3rd Ear Music will issue a double CD-R featuring 12 international poets reciting poems about Durban - Roger McGough, Prof Pitika Ntuli, Nelson Mandela's Praise Poet Zolani Mkiva, USA Poet Laureate Rita Dove, Lisa Combrink, Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqba Zephaniah & many others. Poetry Africa 2001 takes place at the Sneddon Theatre at the UND in May. Watch the press & this site for further details.
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> Photo Gallery - Here's where Tony Campbell, Rodney Barnett, Manfred Linder, Frank Black, Alf Kumalo and many other photographers' work will play a major role.
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Please Remember To Remind Me Never to Forget:
 This website was meant to be updated each month - give or take a week or two - but this month we're a month behind. I understand that this is really weak, but thank goodness we don't have deadline headlines to meet. We do however have a legit excuse for the long delay.... It's all to do with Groucho Marks becoming a real pain-in-the-neck. Visit this News Forum article & see for yourself. And while you are out there, read all about the unlikely Historic TRC move - The South African Record Industry & the SABC agree to compensate cultural victims of apartheid? Or was that victims of cultural apartheid? But sometimes-old news, like no news, means good news at best, or worth waiting for at least. It's all a matter of words & the play thereon & the order in which they are sung, spoken or scribed. And if that sounds painfully obvious then bare all with us as we revisit the previously posed & vexed question: Why won't the music media (SABC in particular) & the various record industries in this country take a serious, long, hard, deep & entertaining look into SAfrica's hidden history? Old Roots determine new Directions. The real past will not escape them - no matter how hard they try to reinvent the retro-past. Maybe this year, maybe next - but it will eventually catch up with those who don't want to know now & who didn't want to know then. Perhaps these industries have a lot more to hide than meets the ear? As Durban playwright Greig Coetzee says: "When it's Retro it's cool. When it's History it's Boring." Will we never learn? As this edition shows, 3rd Ear Music is not just about throwing up the past on our shiny new democratic jack boots - we're also into rapping up the present. Check it out!
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Important legal & copyright note:
Whether 3rd Ear Music owns the music it recorded or not - it will only be made available with permission, in writing, from the rights holders. Copyright clearance from the original owners, composers, publishers & producers is essential. 3eM aims to issue limited edition CD-R's, CDs & hopefully a CD-ROM. A Radio & TV documentary is being negotiated. We hope to make as much information available as we are allowed - for students, archive and commercial use. However, the choice of music, material & stories from the archives, is up to the individual musicians. Anybody willing to sponsor a particular artist or event? email 3eM.
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