Monday, November 10, 2008

Video Miriam

We had an unusual guest show up yesterday. It was a gentleman from some little bitty town named Yellow Knife way up in the middle of Canada. He told his wife he was going to Vegas, but I caught him having dinner with a sexy blond at a Mexican restaurant on a Venetian canal.


Let's see how he talks his way out of that one.

On a different topic; just as I was getting out of my car this morning after driving to work I heard that Miriam Makeba just died. Way back when that was a famous name in music, one I hadn’t heard in a while, back in the sixties I heard a lot of her music on the radio (how old are you Joe?). She was a singer from South Africa, traveled the world singing songs of her country. Because she spoke out against apartheid her citizenship was revoked, she found out about it when trying to return home for her mother’s funeral - what a time to find out, and be denied entry to your homeland.
So, in her honor, MM gets to be the subject of my Video Monday.


This was the song that first got her the most notice in the US: Pata Pata. Turn it up when the kids are around, bet they'll be dancing all over the house (I was).


She toured with Harry Belafonte, not a South African, but remembered mostly for his banana boat song. After singing the song for many years he finally performed it here for the first time on television. (besides, how could I pass up posting him with these guys) (and remembering the song from Beetlejuice)


She also toured on Paul Simon’s Graceland tour. Also on the tour was Ladysmith Black Mambazo, shown here performing in Zimbabwe. If you click one of the little pictures at the bottom that show up at the end you can see Miriam singing with Paul as well.


Goodbye Miriam.

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