Released in 1989 and produced by Hilton Rosenthal and Bobby Summerfield, it is today recognized as probably the band's greatest album, containing hits such as "Dela" and "Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World".
The title track is addressed and dedicated to Clegg's son Jesse, born in 1988, who is depicted on Clegg's shoulders on the album cover.
The song "One (Hu)' Man One Vote" was written in honor of David Webster, a friend of Johnny Clegg and anti-apartheid activist who had been assassinated three weeks earlier. The lyrics of "Warsaw 1943" were inspired from the works of Polish author Czesław Miłosz.
In 1997, the song "Dela (I Know Why the Dog Howls at the Moon)" was released on the soundtrack of Disney's George of the Jungle.
When South Africa was still suffering under the apartheid system in the 1980s, Johnny Clegg & Savuka was the last thing apartheid supporters wanted in a pop group.
Their lyrics were often vehemently anti-apartheid, and apartheid supporters hated the fact that a half-black, half-white outfit out of South Africa was integrated and proud of it.
Released in the U.S. at the end of the 1980s, Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World is among the many rewarding albums the band has recorded. Sting and the Police are a definite influence on Clegg & Savuka, who have absorbed everything from various African pop styles to Western pop, funk, rock, and reggae.
The lyrics are consistently substantial and frequently sociopolitical -- "Bombs Away" addresses the violence of the apartheid regime, while "Warsaw 1943" reflects on the horrors Eastern Europe experienced at the hands of both communists and fascists during World War II.
Clegg and company enjoyed a passionate following at the time, and this fine CD proves that it was well deserved.
Side A
A1. One (Hu)’Man One Vote - 4:40
A2. Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World - 4:23
A3. Jericho - 4:15
A4. Dela (I Know Why The Dog Howls At The Moon) - 4:14
A5. Moliva - 4:29
Side B
B1. It’s An Illusion - 4:37
B2. Bombs Away - 4:34
B3. Woman Be My Country - 4:56
B4. Rolling Ocean - 4:07
B5. Warsaw 1943 (I Never Betrayed The Revolution) - 4:50
Personnel
- Johnny Clegg - vocals, guitars, concertina, mouth bow
- Mandisa Dlanga - vocals
- Solly Letwaba – bass guitar, vocals
- Derek de Beer – drums, percussion, vocals
- Keith Hutchinson – keyboards, flute, saxophone, vocals
- Steve Mavuso – keyboards, vocals
- Dudu Zulu – percussion, vocals
Additional personnel
- Alex Acuña - percussion
- Tom Regis - keyboards
- Benn Clatworthy - tenor saxophone
- Howard Shear - trumpet
- Roy Wigan - trumpet
- John Baxter - backing vocals
- Bobby Summerfield - mixer, recording engineer, keyboards, drum programming, electronic percussion
- Hilton Rosenthal - keyboards, backing vocals
Notes
Release: 1989
Format: LP
Genre: World Beat, Afro Pop
Label: EMI Records
Catalog# 064-79 3446 1
Vinyl: Goed
Cover: Goed
Prijs: €10,00
