Say Goodbye To 80s Disco In Pe? Never!

I grew up in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth in the Eighties a collection of so-called coloured townships and a single, small Indian-origin group area called Malabar.

My hood Malabar had no pubs or clubs and, since this was in the time of apartheid, going to African townships or white areas would be illegal. Therefore, everyone in Malabar went to the coloured night clubs.

The main club, which was dominated by persons of Indian origin, was called The Godfather. It was headlined by a cult DJ, known as Mr Shakes, who would be accompanied by someone called Chessy B.

When I say cult, I am not kidding. Underground audio cassettes of sets by Mr Shakes and Chessy B would go around the northern areas and would be played by kids in cars and on ghetto blasters.

A Mr Shakes and Chessy B set consisted of the same songs, in the same sequence, with the same in between and over songs ad-libbing every weekend. The entire crowd would know which song would be played next and exactly what Mr Shakes would sing or Chessy B would rap.