John Edmond | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1956 – present |
Spouse | Teresa Edmond |
Children | 4 |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instruments |
|
Labels | Roan Antelope Music |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Rhodesia and Nyasaland [1] Rhodesia |
Service | Rhodesian Army |
Years of service | (1960–1963) (1971-1979) |
Rank | Trooper |
Unit | 3rd (Northern Rhodesia) Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment |
Battles / wars | Congo Border War Rhodesian Bush War |
Website | johnedmond |
John Edmond (born 18 November 1936) is a Rhodesian folk singer and retired soldier who became popular in the 1970s for his Rhodesian patriotic songs. He reached the height of his fame during the Rhodesian Bush War where he was sometimes known as the "Bush Cat".
Edmond was born on 18 November 1936 in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (modern day Zambia) to a family of Scottish descent; during his childhood, he and his parents moved between Scotland and Central Africa. He went to school in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia; Edinburgh, Scotland; and in South Africa at Christian Brothers College in Pretoria. He displayed a natural talent for music at an early age when he was given a mouth organ as a birthday gift from his grandmother at age three. John mastered the instrument within half an hour. As a Boy Scout, he played the bugle and was in the local Scout bugle band. While at school in Edinburgh, he was chosen to sing in the St John's Boys' Choir. He was regularly featured in lead roles at Christian Brothers College in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Edmond was lead drummer in the college's pipe band. He went on to win the South African Junior drumming championships at the Royal Scottish gathering at Wembley in 1953. After college, Edmond was employed at the Roan Antelope copper mine.
After some time there, Edmond joined Southern Rhodesia's Royal Rhodesia Regiment at Bulawayo. He served with the 3rd Battalion on the Congo border, in Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia. [2] During this time, he bought a guitar at a trading store and met Bill Coleman while in the army. After learning to play the guitar with Coleman, Edmond formed the Bushcats Skiffle Group in 1958 along with two friends from the army, Eugene van der Watt and Ian Kerr. The group was a success among its peers and progressed into cabaret and rock 'n' roll. [3] After his military service was up, Edmond went to England to study computers and moved to South Africa during the mid-1960s. He became famous in Rhodesia during the Bush War with his album Troopiesongs. [4] He was also a composer, writing such hits as "The UDI Song". After the war, and Zimbabwean independence, he continued to record albums such as Zimsongs and Zimtrax.
In 1982, Edmond's label RAM published The story of Troopiesongs and the Rhodesian Bush War, a collection of lyrics for Troopiesongs, in Johannesburg. [2]
Since 1987, Edmond and his wife Theresa have owned and maintained a resort in South Africa named "Kunkuru". The resort is located in the Bela Bela area. [5] Edmond also has his own record label, Roan Antelope Music (RAM). [6]
Album | Year | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Troopiesongs – Phase 1 | 1976 | Map | |
Boom Sha-la-la-lo | 1971 | Storm | |
Troopiesongs – Phase 2 | 1977 | Map | |
Johno! | 1972 | Storm | |
Goodbye Is The Saddest Song | 1975 | Satbel | |
The Greatest Hits of John Edmond | 1975 | Sounds Superb/EMI | Note on back of cover by John Edmond written in English and Afrikaans dated May 1975 |
Wild And Beautiful And Free | 1976 | Satbel | |
The Best of John Edmond | 1976 | Satbel | |
Troopiesongs – Phase 3 | 1978 | Jo'burg | |
Rhodesia The Brave | 1979 | Trutone | |
Hit Songs of John Edmond | 1975 | MFP | This may also be known as the "Greatest Hits of John Edmond" (1975) as the inside record label on the Greatest Hits states that it is the "Hit Songs of John Edmond". The songs on the Hit Songs label match the jacket of the Greatest Hits (Sounds Superb/EMI). |
Troopiesongs – Phase 4 | 1979 | Gallo | |
Immortal Hits | 1980 | Gallo | |
Country Tracks | 1981 | Gallo | |
From The Heart | 1982 | Gallo | |
Troopies in Exile | 1982 | Gallo | |
Love in the Country | 1984 | Gallo | |
All Night Razzle | 1984 | Principal | BUSHCATS re-formed for this recording |
The British South Africa Police Centenary Album | 1989 | RAM | |
The Rhodesia Centenary Album 1890 – 1990 | 1990 | RAM | |
Rhodesians of the World | 1992 | RAM | |
All Time Rhodesian Evergreens | 1999 | RAM | Reissued 2011. |
Troopiesongs Complete | 1999 | RAM | 50th Anniversary edition reissued 2011. |
Heritage – Where We Come From | 2007 | RAM | |
Party – All Night Razzle | 2007 | RAM | |
Aviation Songs | RAM | ||
Born in Africa | RAM | ||
By Request | 2004 | Gallo | |
Friends, Rhodies, Countrymen | 2005 | RAM | |
Wild and Beautiful and Free | 1990 | RAM | |
Heritage | 2007 | RAM | |
Zimsongs | 2011 | RAM | |
Songs of the African Bush | 2013 | RAM | |
Zimtrax | RAM | ||
Tales of the Game Rangers, Vol. 1 to Vol. 4 | See notes | RAM | Volume 1 (1984), Volume 2 (1987), Volume 3 (1989), Volume 4 (1993) |
Stories en Liedjies van die Wildtuin, Vol. 1 & 2 | RAM | ||
The Boer War in Song | 2012 | RAM | Afrikaans version Die Boere Oorlog In Lied released 2014 by RAM. |
Campfire 'n Jamboree | 2013 | RAM | With The Campfire Singers |
Songs of the African Battlefields | 2014 | RAM | |
Of Aeroplanes & African Plains | 2014 | RAM | |
Boer and Brit Battlefield Heroes | 2016 | RAM | |
Battlesongs of Brave Boer and Briton | 2017 | RAM | |
From the Pen of John Edmond | 2017 | RAM | |
Legends | 2018 | RAM | |
Tales of Bird Watches, Vol.1 | 2018 | RAM | |
Songs of Kruger Park | 2019 | RAM | |
Tales of Bird Watchers, Vol.2 | 2019 | RAM | |
Christmas in Africa | 2020 | RAM | |
Ian Douglas Smith: The Man | 2021 | RAM | A series of interviews with Ian Smith, retelling the stories of his life, with occasional songs and commentary from Edmond |
Singin' with the Birds | 2021 | RAM | |
Ballads of the Bushveld | 2022 |
Singles | Year | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Farewell Britannia | 1969 | Storm | |
Die Eerste Kersfeesnag | 1969 | Storm | |
Fairytales | 1969 | Storm | This was his first hit record |
Round and Round | 1970 | Storm | Hit single |
Boom Sha-la-la-lo | 1971 | Storm | Hit single written for John by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers while they were in South Africa[ citation needed ] |
Pasadena | 1972 | Map | Hit single |
Every Day, Every Night | 1972 | Map | Hit single |
Toy Train | 1973 | Map | Hit single |
Hello Susan | 1974 | Map | |
Jock of the Bushveld | 1975 | Map | |
Goodbye Is The Saddest Song | 1975 | Map | Hit single |
Nomad of the Kalahari | 1976 | Map | |
One Day He'll Call Me Daddy | 1976 | Map | |
It's Good To See You | 1977 | Jo'burg | |
Blue Brown Eyed Lady | 1977 | Jo'burg | |
Louie | 1978 | RSA | |
Bye Bye Butterfly | 1979 | EMI | |
Forever Young | 1980 | Gallo | |
The Electric Thing | 1981 | Gallo | |
The 124th Cavalry Regiment Lives On | 2017 | RAM | Produced in cooperation with 124th Cavalry Regiment Association. |
Rhodesia, officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979. During this fourteen-year period, Rhodesia served as the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, and in 1980 it became modern day Zimbabwe.
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia. It was initially administered, as were the two earlier protectorates, by the British South Africa Company (BSAC), a chartered company, on behalf of the British Government. From 1924, it was administered by the British Government as a protectorate, under similar conditions to other British-administered protectorates, and the special provisions required when it was administered by BSAC were terminated.
Roan may refer to:
The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Second Chimurenga, was a civil/anti communist conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia.
Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579. The town is situated in an area which was under Chief Mushili of the Lamba people.
The Copperbelt is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining.
A major strike broke out among African mineworkers in the Copperbelt Province of Northern Rhodesia on 29 May 1935 in protest against taxes levied by the British colonial administration. The strike involved three of the province's four major copper mines: those in Mufulira, Nkana and Roan Antelope. Near the latter, six protesters were killed by police and the strike ended. Although it failed, the strike was the first organized industrial agitation in Northern Rhodesia and is viewed by some as the first overt action against colonial rule. It caught the attention of a number of African townsmen, leading to the creation of trade unions and African nationalist politics, and is seen as the birth of African nationalism.
St. Stephen's College, Balla Balla, Southern Rhodesia was a private Christian high school for boys from 1956 to 1975.
The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force, the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel affiliated to the Rhodesian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Despite the impact of economic and diplomatic sanctions, Rhodesia was able to develop and maintain a potent and professional military capability.
Air Rhodesia Flight 825 was a scheduled passenger flight that was shot down by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) on 3 September 1978, during the Rhodesian Bush War. The aircraft involved, a Vickers Viscount named the Hunyani, was flying the last leg of Air Rhodesia's regular scheduled service from Victoria Falls to the capital Salisbury, via the resort town of Kariba.
Clem Tholet was a Rhodesian folk singer who became popular in the 1970s for his Rhodesian patriotic songs. He reached the height of his fame during the Rhodesian Bush War.
Rugby union in Zambia is a minor but growing sport. The Zambia national rugby union team is currently ranked 67th by World Rugby. The Zambia Rugby Football Union has 9880 registered players and three formally organised clubs.
Roan United is a Zambian football club based in Luanshya, in the Zambian Premier League and mostly successful during the early years of Zambian football. Indeed, they were the inaugural winners of the ZPL, clinching what was then called the Northern Rhodesia National Football League in 1962. They play their home matches at Kafubu Stadium.
Sir Cecil Dennistoun Burney, 3rd Baronet was a British businessman and politician in Zambia (1959-1970), having emigrated in 1951 but returning to Britain in 1970.
The Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST) was a mining Corporation which produced copper from the Copperbelt region of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia.
Kapelwa Sikota (1928–2006) was the first Zambian registered nurse, in the 1950s when her country was still the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia. She trained and qualified in South Africa where nursing education was available before it was developed in Zambia. Her qualifications were not fully recognised at home until independence in 1964 when she was appointed to senior nursing posts. By 1970 she was Chief Nursing Officer in the Ministry of Health. In 2011 she was honoured posthumously by the Zambian Association of University Women.
"The U.D.I. Song" is a Rhodesian folk song written in 1966 by Northern Rhodesian-born John Edmond and first performed by South African Nick Taylor. It was later re-released performed by Edmond himself. The song was written as a commemoration of Southern Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence as Rhodesia from the British Empire. The song upon release initially spent four weeks at number 1 on the Rhodesian music charts. It was then re-released in 1976 by Edmond, where it got to number 6.
On 23 December 1975, an Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter of the South African Air Force carrying a two-man crew and four Rhodesian Army officers crashed near Cashel in Rhodesia after it collided with a hawser cable mid-flight. The accident dealt a severe blow to the Rhodesian Security Forces, then fighting bitterly against ZANLA and ZIPRA insurgents in the Rhodesian Bush War, for the officers involved were some of its best and would prove difficult to replace.
Roan Antelope is a copper mine in Zambia. The deposits were discovered in 1902, but their full extent was not understood until 1926. The mine site was developed between 1927 and 1931, at first experiencing many deaths from malaria due to poor drainage. Production since then has experienced various slumps and booms. The mine was nationalized in 1970 and returned to private ownership in 1997. The new owners struggled to make it profitable, and it changed hands twice.
John "Ginger" Pensulo was a Zambian footballer and coach. A key player for Roan United, he led the club to the Zambian league title in its inaugural season in 1962 and was one of the men behind the team's fluid style of play, being involved in various coaching roles.