Author: Nils van der Linden

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Music Reviews

U2 relive the difficult years

“We’re going away to dream it all up again,” Bono declared. Speaking at U2’s last concert of the 1980s the band’s lead singer was not just responding to the critical backlash that had greeted their latest album, ‘Rattle and Hum’. He had unwittingly set the tone for the group’s output of the next ten years.

A difficult decade for the Irish foursome, documented here on their second ‘Best Of’ compilation, the 1990s were marked by musical experimentation as the band continually sought to find a new voice.

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Categories
Music

The Rodriguez story… so far

Rodriguez is an unlikely icon. He is 60 years old, has only recorded 25 songs and has not released any new material in the past 30 years. Yet, his music has influenced and affected scores of South Africans growing up during the past 3 decades. Even as they were ignored by international audiences, songs like ‘Sugarman’ and ‘I Wonder’ have become part of the country’s musical heritage.

This unlikely icon was born Sixto Diaz Rodriguez on 10 July 1942 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Pronounced ‘Seez-toe’, he was given the name by his working class Mexican parents as he was their sixth child.

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