Margaret Singana
Nothing to Fear

Nothing to Fear

Tracks:

  1. Tomorrow (F Roos/P van Blerk) (3:40)
  2. Man Gave Names to All the Animals (featuring Richard Jon Smith) (Bob Dylan) (3:59)
  3. Sweet Music Man (Kenny Rogers) (4:00)
  4. Ubukhwele (Trad. arranged by M Singana/M Fuller/S Gumede) (4:09)
  5. Nothing to Fear (F Roos/P van Blerk) (4:17)
  6. No. 1 (In My Heart) (Frederick Knight) (3:23)
  7. I Gotcha (F Roos/P van Blerk) (3:35)
  8. I Stand for Love (R Clark/A Lowry) (3:12)
  9. Sobagwaza/Ndoluse (Trad. arranged by M Singana/M Fuller/S Gumede) (4:25)
  10. I've Got a Better Life (F Roos/P van Blerk) (4:10)
  11. With You in Mind (A Toussaint) (3:48)

Produced by Patric van Blerk, Fransua Roos and Greg Cutler
Executive Producer: Mike Fuller

Release information:

1981, Bullet Records, BU(L) 585 (Cassette L4 BU(N) 585)

Review:

Listening to 'Nothing to Fear' I can't help feeling that Margaret Singana was robbed of her birth right. Called Lady Africa it's seems strange that 9 of the 11 tracks are in English, leaving only 2 for her to really shine on. 'Ubukhwele' and 'Sobagwaza/Ndoluse', the 2 non English tracks is where she sounds most natural and most African. With the exception of these 2 tracks, a funky reggae rendition of Bob Dylan's 'Man Gave names to all the Animals' featuring Richard Jon Smith and a lilting stab at Kenny Roger's 'Sweet Music Man' Lady Africa has to be content with imitating the great disco diva's of the late 70's on the rest of the album.

Of course I am saying this with hindsight on my side. At the time this album was released (1981) disco was still very popular and this album would have had more national and international appeal than a pre 'Graceland' and pre the fall of apartheid 'African' album and was probably the right choice at the time. As for imitating the disco diva's she does an excellent job. Singana is voice, voice and voice, and her voice can easily stand next to the Donna Summer's and Gloria Gaynor's of this world.

One can easily envisage oneself in a white suit with flared trousers getting down on the dance floor to tracks like 'I've got a better life' and 'No. 1(In My Heart)' while the mirror ball splashes flecks of light around the room, or transfering your weight from one foot to the other, tightly clasping your girl (or guy if you're a girl) to you and eventually completing a 360 degree turn to the slower title track.

Listened to as a disco album, this is a great disco album and contains all the essential ingredients for an album of that genre, but with 'The Warrior' by 'Ipi 'N Tombia' featuring the great vocal talent of Singana in my record collection, I know which one I'd reach for as my Margaret Singana Desert Island disc.

-- John Samson, January 2001

Webpage:

All info supplied by John Samson, February 2001.

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