Sipho Bhengu is a South African saxophone player and vocalist, who had a solo career in the 70's and later on joined with Mango Groove, a multiracial afro-pop crossover band, founded around 1983 and still active, albeit with a reduced and changed membership. Not much information is known about his life and whether he is still with Mango Groove.
Links To Peel[]
The first African record Peel played was 'Tickey Dopies' by Sipho Bhengu in 1971.[1] When Peel played the record on 29 September 1978 he said this was given to him by Jill Furmanovsky:
"That record was given to me years ago by Jill Furmanovsky, who takes a lot of photographs for Faulty Products - Illegal Records and Step Forward and Deptford Fun City and so forth. And of course that’s an empire – a small empire but an empire – that was founded on money made through Wishbone Ash."
Peel would sometimes play the record on his show but according to playlists, he never played any of Bhengu's other tracks. After Peel's death in 2004, the record was found in John Peel's Record Box.
Shows Played[]
John Peel's Sipho Bhengu - Ticky Dopies
- 1978
- 29 September 1978: Ticky Dopies (single) Inkonkoni
- 1981
- 09 July 1981: Tickey Dopies (7" - Tickey Dopies / I Saluti) Inkonkoni
- 1992
- 14 March 1992: Ticky Dopies (single) Inkonkoni
- 22 March 1992 (BFBS): Ticky Dopies (single) Inkonkoni