Mr. Roger Lucey hi
i recently picked up a retrospective collection by one of our local musicians, roger lucey, who recently re-entered the music business as a result of the changes to our politiccs. he had previously left the business, as he considered it better to not perform at all, than to perform under restriction. the album contained the text of a letter concerning the banning of one of his earlier albums: "The Road is Much Longer" I just thought it may be of interest so i have reproduced it below: Dear Mr. Lucey PUBLICATIONS ACT, 1974 : GRAMOPHONE RECORD : THE ROAD IS MUCH LONGER In reply to your letter of 6 October 1982 I have to inform you that the committes' reasons for declaring the above-mentioned gramophone record is undesirable within the meaning of section 47(2)(e) of the above mentioned Act and that, subject to confirmation by the Publications Appeal Board under section 9(5), possesion thereof shall be prohibited under section 9(3) of the said act, were as follows: "Although the record is not very clear and the words of the songs are often drowned by the music so that it is not possible to hear clearly, the committee is of the opinion that seven of the eleven songs are harmless. They are Windy Days, The Road Is Much Longer, Christmas Song, Treading Carefully, Pay Me The Dues On My Bottles, I Dont Want Your Guillotine, and No Change. The other four are definitely dangerous for the safety of the State and create a climate of protest against the Police and the present order of the state. The song Crossroads with its theme that the authorities "dont give a damn about families", and that the homes of 20 000 people will be bulldozed builds up a climate against the authorities. The song Lungile Tabalaza takes this further and is extremely dangerous to the State. It contains a serious accusation against the police. It creates the impression of violence and torture where the police force people to speak. This led to the death of Tabalaza, altho! ugh it is stated in the words of the song that some say it was murder and others that it was suicide. It is, however, a song which definitely cannot be approved. The song You Only Need Say Nothing is equally dangerous in that the Police are again shown in a very bad light. A climate of grievances and protest is being built up, and especially as the words are accompanied with the beat of African rhythm to enhance the impact of the words, the song can incite peopl towards insurgency and violence which can be dangerous for the safet of the state. The song Yhabane contains a reference to Steve Biko and his death as "one of many". on the basis of all this the committee is of the opinion that the record should be banned and that its possession should be prohibited. Yours faithfully ********************** Roger Lucey's comments on the album sleeve: This letter gives an idea of the context in which "The Road" was recorded: PW Botha was Prime Minister, Jimmy Kruger was the Minister of Police, and bannings and restrictions were the order of the day. Dave Marks recalls,: "Our association with the Wits University Free Peoples Concerts had attracted attention of the security police/ We were visited by a kaptein (captain) who waved a few Rand Daily Mail (local newspaper) photos at us - blacks and whites dancing together - what were we trying to do? Incite the country to insuregency? the kaptein wrned us that we had better be careful or we were headed for trouble. And now I had this long-haired durbanite (people living in durban - my home town - generally regarded as subversives) living among the academic rads (radicals) at Crown Mines, pestering me to cut an album about how the police throw dissidents from buildings and bulldoze people's homes. Until then such sentimemnts had been restricted to folk clubs and private homes. A! nd even then the walls had ears. Just how far could a small back-yard record company go?' The album was banned for possession in 1982. ******************** ron
