In the 1980s Capital Radio 604 was more than just a cool station broadcasting from the hippy haven of Port St John’s on the Wild Coast. It’s small, but effective news team was based in Jo’burg, from where they tackled the state, one bulletin at a time
For this mixtape Charles Leonard has picked his favourite subversive songs from around the globe and tells their fascinating and often curious stories.
It includes an infamous drinking song
In this episode Charles Leonard speaks to a city musician who’s just released an album through one of the most respected international record labels, explores how this brash mining town’s history can be heard in Jo’burg jazz, and finds out what makes someone open a new record store in the city
Charles Leonard is taken on a walking tour by the Rand Club’s first black, female chairperson. He also gets Jo’burg’s funniest stand-up comedian to tell him his funniest Jo’burg joke
The Zamrock pioneers are back with their first album in nearly four decades — and it’s a cracker
In this episode Charles Leonard examines two types of Jo’burg noise: one made by religious humans in an inner city suburb, the other a familiar avian racket.
Charles Leonard asks three women from different backgrounds about the idea of being outsiders, about being Jo’burgers and what this city means to them
In this episode Charles Leonard hangs out with the city’s top crime reporter and a feared gangster who was convicted for multiple murders.
In this third episode of ‘This is Jo’burg’, Charles Leonard hears from a can-do homeless person who regulates traffic at intersections during the constant power cuts – he explains why he started doing it
Charles Leonard has picked 28 of his favourite songs from our continent. Be ready to be entertained, surprised and hopefully thrilled by his celebratory selection of old and new African tunes