National Wake was a multiracial punk rock band in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in the late 1970s that emerged from a series of jam sessions in an underground commune. They were created in protest of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime. They were South Africa's first multiracial punk band.

History

Ivan Kadey, an architecture student in Johannesburg at the time, formed the band with brothers Gary and Punka Khoza. Ivan Kadey was a Jewish orphan born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. Gary, Punka, and their family were forcibly moved to

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a ...

township under the policy of apartheid. The band was later joined by guitarist Steve Moni. National Wake were formed in 1978, two years after the student inspired Soweto uprising. National Wake split in 1982 just after putting out their solitary studio album in 1981, which sold approximately 700 copies before being withdrawn under government pressure. National Wake is covered in the Punk in Africa documentary.

Style

National Wake played punk, reggae, and tropical funk, but also incorporating two-tone ska and African rhythms. The band's signature tune "International News" decries state censorship and the atrocities of the

Angolan War of Independence The Angolan War of Independence (; 1961–1974), called in Angola the ("Armed Struggle of National Liberation"), began as an uprising against forced cultivation of cotton, and it became a multi-faction struggle for the control of Portugal ...

. National Wake's existence was a subversive threat to the South African status quo, a policeman cynically suggested that they could make more money as a band playing in exile. The music has a hint of third wave ska with influences of

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

Czech Radio Český rozhlas (ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating since 1923. It is the oldest radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second oldest in Europe after the BBC. The service broadcasts throughout the C ...

described the band as "perhaps the most dissident music scene of the 20th century: a multi-racial punk band in a fascist police state".

Members

* Ivan Kadey - Guitar and vocals * Gary Khoza - Bass guitar * Punka Khoza - Drummer * Steve Moni - Guitar

Discography

Studio albums

*''National Wake'' (1981)

Compilations

*''Walk in Africa 1979-81'' (2013)

References

{{Authority control South African punk rock groups Third-wave ska groups Musical quartets Music in the movement against apartheid South African musical groups Light In The Attic Records artists