Скачать или смотреть Cape Town Punk Rock | South Africa | Death of Pop | Purple Turtle | 4 November 2000

Barney Simon was the worst thing to happen to alternative music in South Africa after the puritanical Calvinism of the Nationalist regime. Enjoying a guaranteed audience during the 1990s as the only 'rock' DJ on the country's largest radio station, his dated tastes - even by the period's standards - skewed many-an-ear towards dreadful Afrikaans folk, low-quality Pretorian rap metal, 80s glam detritus and clueless grunge from the Rainbow Nation's one-horse suburbs.

Strangling the scene as gatekeeper before the advent of torrents, his playlists rarely included much of genuine interest, made worse for his witless jokes and penchant for broadcasting the same crap bands on repeat. (Karen Zoid, Not My Dog, Pet Flies, The Parlotones et al). Anyone lacking means who longed for insight into the alternative world at-large was at his mercy. To this day, his long shadow still stunts the cultural inquisition of successive generations who remain largely satisfied with staid, safe and uninteresting guitar-based music. Fuck you, Barney, and your stupid 'the 80s were my best years' haircut.

Within that context, South Africa's small punk scenes remained largely obscured from public view, kept off the radio and hidden amongst venues like The Purple Turtle. For a year or so at the turn of the century, the 'Turtle sat at the epicentre of Cape Town's scene, captured here at its height. Seen here are live sets from No Comment, LP Show, Ridicule, Hog Hoggidy Hog and others.

More Cape Town Punk from 2000:    • Cape Town Punk Rock | South Africa | Danie...