Original released on limited vinyl LP CBS
(South Africa, 1976)
First regular
release of the soundtrack to the famous banned South African movie "Snake
Dancer" from 1976 starring Glenda Kemp. A rare find with excellently
produced Disco Funk, Bossa Jazz and Soft Rock, composed by Zane Cronje and
Charles Segal. "Glenda" was first published in 1976 and censored
immediately by the repressive SA government as a product of Western Decadence.
On May 15th 2009, the soundtrack saw its first regular international release on
CD and limited vinyl LP plus mp3 album (Sonorama C-/L-41). As one of the
world's most repressive governments, 1970's
The movie
tells her story and with Kemp playing herself, the film re-creates incidents
from the dancer's life, including the government's efforts to ban her
performances. That a young woman was able to prosper as a stripper under
Apartheid, where such forms of entertainment were strictly banned, and became
famous in her country, makes the story endearing despite the cheaply made
screen production. The government tried to censor her, the church condemned her
and her own fiancée disapproved. But Glenda dances on to her own beat. The true
story of resistance is told t hrough short dialogues and authentic newspaper
clippings. A supposedly devout Christian, Glenda felt there was nothing wrong
with her erotic, oiled-up s nake routines. But with the regime controlled by
the Calvinist Dutch Reforms
Church
There are
many surprisingly different sides to the soundtrack. Most of the arrangements
capture the harsh glare and heat of erotic live club performances, evoking a
liberated but "vulgar" atmosphere, that probably many young South
Africans were longing for during the 1970s. The funk and disco inspired tracks
still have the ability to rock clubs around the world today, thanks to the
extraordinary ideas and studio skills of producer Zane Cronje. The score
implies to the knowing listener that some sort of dancing action may be
forthcoming and most of the tunes have a strangely yearning quality throughout.
And there is a glorious pop appeal on some of the songs due to the vocals of a
female background choir, with panoramic strings and brass attached, interrupted
by afro pop, harsh psychedelic guitar riffs or afro pop drumming with heavy
bass sounds, plus some lovely piano jazz and bossa nova inspired tracks
inbetween.
Zane Cronje
and Charles Segal employ many hip sounds from the U.S.A.
or Europe in a technically perfect manner.
Some of the impressionistic sound colours seem to be inspired by the big French
and Italian Soundtrack works of the 60s and beginning 70s. The lilting lounge
sounds serve as links between the hip shaking vocal tracks, that surround the
bizarre dance routines of snake dancer Glenda during the movie. But how to come
correct with an entertainment soundtrack in a country of repressive
governmental institutions? The film depicts a political culture that saw
nothing immoral in owning human beings and whose greatest fear was that someone
might be enjoying themselves. Consequently the movie became a forbidden subject
and was never shown in mainstream cinemas. But with further-reaching bans in
effect, the South African underground cinemas flourished with so-called
"tea rooms", that offered films, food and drink for low prices. Due
to its special history of production, the rise of independently produced
filmmaking and the invention of the worldwide web, "Glenda" became a
unique cult movie today not only in secret tea rooms around the world.
At the time
of production the movie failed to start a fire because of many reasons. Due to
strict censorship within South
Africa South
Africa
The film
was released in 2006 by "Mondo Macabro" but the quality of picture
and sound is not perfect because the original 35 mm elements were unavailable.
Nevertheless the DVD is strongly recommended, featuring an exclusive Interview
with director Villiers, which covers his career in depth, including his
personal thoughts on the feature and the world of film-making in general. He
discusses his early films, the financial difficulty working in South Africa Durban
