Clem Tholet

Clem Tholet (* 1948 in Salisbury , South Rhodesia ; † October 6, 2004 in Cape Town , South Africa ) was a Rhodesian singer who became known in the 1970s during the Rhodesian conflict , especially in Rhodesia, for his racist songs that were used in the guerrilla war against black African liberation movements were especially popular among the whites and glorified their repressive rule.

Life

Clem Tholet was born in Salisbury (now Harare) in 1948 in what was then the British colony of Southern Rhodesia and began writing songs as an art student in Durban . One of his first songs, Vagabond Gun , was a category winner at the 1966 South Africa Music Festival. He later returned to Rhodesia to work. During one gig he met Sue Eccles and Andy Dillon, with whom he formed a band called The Kinfolk and later moved to Johannesburg . Shortly after the move, Eccles left the group.

He later formed a new group with Andy Dillon and Yvonne Raff, which they called The Legend Trio . In 1967 he married Jean Smith, the step-daughter of Rhodes Prime Minister Ian Smith .

He later embarked on a solo career and moved back to Salisbury in 1971.

Soon he recorded his first album at Shed Studios called Songs of Love & War , which he wrote and produced himself.

His battle songs glorified the rule of whites and were particularly popular with the white population in the civil war against the Zimbabwe African People's Union and Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union .

Before moving to South Africa again, he produced a second album called Two Sides to Every Story . His latest album Archives was sold as a fundraiser by the Flame Lily Foundation, which supported former white residents of Rhodesia.

Clem Tholet died on October 6, 2004 as a result of an illness that lasted for several years.

Individual evidence

^ Roger Lucey: Back in from the Anger. Jacana, Sunnyside 2012, ISBN 978-1-4314-0454-4 , p. 161.
Oswell Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru: Music as a Contested Terrain in the Dynamics of Politics in Zimbabwe. In: Fainos Mangena, Ezra Chitando, Itai Muwati (eds.): Sounds of Life: Music, Identity and Politics in Zimbabwe. Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle 2016, ISBN 978-1-4438-8677-2 , pp. 149f.

personal data
SURNAME	Tholet, Clem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Rhodesian singer
DATE OF BIRTH	1948
PLACE OF BIRTH	Salisbury , Southern Rhodesia
DATE OF DEATH	October 6, 2004
Place of death	Cape Town , South Africa

[1] Roger Lucey: Back in from the Anger. Jacana, Sunnyside 2012, ISBN 978-1-4314-0454-4 , p. 161.
Oswell Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru: Music as a Contested Terrain in the Dynamics of Politics in Zimbabwe. In: Fainos Mangena, Ezra Chitando, Itai Muwati (eds.): Sounds of Life: Music, Identity and Politics in Zimbabwe. Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle 2016, ISBN 978-1-4438-8677-2 , pp. 149f.