Interview: Claire Johnston talks about Mango Groove’s Memories and Moments 40th Anniversary Concert at Kirstenbosch

The much loved South African band, Mango Groove is performing Memories and Moments, its 40th Anniversary Concert at Kirstenbosch on January 12, 2025. This concert kicks off a cycle of concerts for 2025, celebrating the band’s fourth decade on the musical boards (Mango Groove was established in 1984). The Kirstenbosch concert will feature the Mango Groove songbook of iconic hits such as Special Star, Dance Some More and Moments Away and will include nostalgic footage, anecdotes and memories. The band is launching a range of merchandise at the concert – limited-edition memorabilia and vinyl reissues of albums, signed items and collectables. Lead singer Claire Johnston who has been with the band, since 1985, talks about memories and moments:

TheCapeRobyn: Is this anniversary concert at Kirstenbosch on January 12, 2025, the one and only Memories and Moments concert? 

Claire Johnston: The Kirstenbosch Gardens show will be the first of the Memories and Moments concerts as we are planning to take the show to as many places as possible to celebrate the 40th milestone. Kirstenbosch felt like the best possible venue to kick things off given our long and happy relationship with this beautiful and quintessentially South African place.

TCR:  How many artists in the current lineup? Has Mango Groove always been an 11-piece outfit?

CJ: When I first joined the band I was the only girl, so in the mid-80s we were an 8 piece band. After our first actual album was released in 1989 (studio album, Mango Groove, July 1989), we realised that to replicate the sound properly we would need the three amazing backing singers who had sung on the album and so became an 11 piece. Ever since there have been are 11 of us. The current lineup: John Leyden (founding member/ bass guitar), Themba Ndaba (pennywhistle and sax), Beaulah Hashe (vocals), Siziwe Ngema (vocals), Pinkie Moseme (vocals), Andrew Baird (keyboard and vocals), Keith Marisheni (drums), Thomas Selmer-Olsson (guitar and vocals), Percy Mbonani (sax), Sydney Sibusiso Mavundla (trumpet) and me on lead vocals.

TCR: Can you talk about the penny whistle in Mango Groove’s signature sound, in relation to Kwela music – pennywhistle-based street music with jazz riffs evolving from the marabi sound?

CJ: Yes, indeed, pennywhistle based music is known as Kwela, and this has become an essential part of the Mango Groove sound. When I joined in 1985 we didn’t have a pennywhistler. In 1986 the incredible Mduduzi Magwaza joined as a sax player and at a sound check one day he pulled out a pennywhistle and started to play. I’ll never forget that moment. John (Leyden) was so excited, and it was at this sound check that Special Star was born. 

TCR: Mango Groove took a break in the pandemic but has been performing live concerts for a while?

CJ: The last few years were nice and busy for us as far as live shows go, including shows in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, including a few shows at Kirstenbosch. We obviously were forced to take a break during the pandemic and were ecstatic when we could get together to perform again. 

TCR: Can we expect a new album for 2025? The last Mango Groove album was 2016, Faces to the Sun?

CJ:  Yes, our last album release was a double album called Faces to the Sun at the end of 2016. No doubt the 40th Anniversary Year will spark some creativity.

TCR:  Mango Groove has created Gladlands, a musical stage production in collaboration with Paul Slabolepszy. The song and dance production will feature Mango Groove hits and new songs. Will the songs be released as an album?  Are you performing any of these songs at Kirstenbosch?

CJ: Gladlands is a unique and exciting collaboration and will feature some well-known Mango songs as well as some new ones. We envisage an album being made, yes, and don’t have any timelines yet. We won’t be performing the new songs at the show on the January 12. It will mostly be a show of the songs that people know and hopefully love.

TCR: Can you talk about your journey, from when the band was formed in 1984? Where was its first gig – when and where? 

CJ:  I wasn’t there for the very first gig, but John (Leyden) tells me it was either at WITS University or at a small club in downtown Jozi.

TCR:  You were a 17 year old schoolgirl in matric at Greenside in Johannesburg when you joined the band. How did it come about that you auditioned for the band? The legend is that you auditioned for John Leyden He was 21. You and John got married but are no longer married?

CJ: I was indeed in matric at Greenside High in 1985 when I joined the band. It’s a misconception that I auditioned. It’s much more chaotic than that. My singing teacher recommended me to the band so I went and met them. A month later I hadn’t heard back but then all of a sudden I got a call from John asking me to rehearse for a show on the weekend. There was no microphone at my first rehearsal so the first time they heard me sing was at the gig. John and I are no longer married but are in the band together and remain very close friends and colleagues. 

TCR: What are your thoughts as you prepare for the Kirstenbosch 40^th year anniversary? In 1984, when Mango Groove was formed, Apartheid was on the boil. The band was one of the first major bands to be made up of Black and white musicians and that was scandalous in many quarters.

CJ: We have come a long way as a nation in the last 40 years. Back in the mid-80s it was indeed a very different South Africa. For instance, John was arrested under the Group Areas Act when he dropped Big Voice Jack Lerole in Soweto after a gig past 9pm. It’s hard to imagine now, but back then Black and White South Africans were kept compartmentalised so any sort of fraternising was frowned upon by the State. We did have our share of difficulties, including apparently being watched by the security police, but sentiment in the country started to change in the late 80s and soon Mandela was released and the rest is history. That was a very exciting time when anything seemed possible. 

TCR: How would you describe the Mango Groove sound? AfroPop – pop and township music- are tags used to describe Mango Groove. Anything to add to that?

CJ: Our roots and inspiration are definitely Marabi and Kwela, the styles that were such a vital part of urban township life in the vibrant 1950s. Of course what with the band being born out of South Africa in the 1980s other influences come into play as well and the end result is often called AfroPop. 

TCR: Anything else to add about the Mango Groove 40th Anniversary Concert at Kirstenbosch on January 12, 2025? Will there be a space where fans can sign an anniversary wall? This is available on Instagram, but wondering of there will be any opportunities in real time at Kirstenbosch?

CJ: Meeting the people we have been bonding with during the show to take pictures and sign merchandise is a highlight for us. This year will be all the more special for obvious reasons. We do have some new merch items we think people will like, including some reissued and very limited Collectors’ item vinyls. I LOVE the anniversary wall idea and hoping to make it happen.

❇ South African band, Mango Groove is performing Memories and Moments, its 40th Anniversary Concert at Kirstenbosch on January 12, 2025. This concert kicks off a cycle of concerts for 2025, celebrating the band’s fourth decade on the musical boards (Mango Groove was established in 1985). Pic supplied.