SOUTH AFRICA: SINGER SONGWRITER JONATHAN BUTLER RELEASES LATEST ALBUM "STORY OF MY LIFE"

Record ID: 388980

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: SINGER SONGWRITER JONATHAN BUTLER RELEASES LATEST ALBUM "STORY OF MY LIFE"
  • Date: 5th March 2000
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) JONATHAN BUTLER SAYING "My brothers and sisters also sang, they were in and out of the industry, showbusiness, and then I came along they heard my voice in the middle of the night or while they were singing around the house, my father heard me playing guitar. They were marvelled they were like 'oh my God, this kid is, where did he learn to play' and I
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MHTEBFCXA8P3MCSTN3P1WGLS
  • Story Text: By the time he was seven years old, South African singer-songwriter and guitarist, Jonathan Butler, had already recorded several international hit records.By 13, this musical prodigy - the youngest of 17 children - was being hailed as the next big thing - a teenage sensation with the voice of an angel.Reuters caught up with Butler when he recently visited his home town, Cape Town for the release of his latest album, "Story of Life."
    The Man - has won over audiences all around the world for the better part of three decades - recording songs with a seemingly timeless appeal.
    "You know I always have to.I always have to do Lies.Now and again people say please sing Lies.(he starts to sing and play) Lies, Lies.and I figure I'll be 85 years old and still sing Lies, but that's cool", says Butler.
    'Lies' was Butler's first big hit in 1985 and it did so well it earned him a Grammy nomination for best new single.
    His latest album, entitled 'Story Of Life', has just been released in South Africa and is already topping the charts.
    "Story of Life was the fitting title for this album.It is really, I've always been a songwriter but this is different.
    It is really a notch-up for me.The record is a singer-song writer album but Story Of Life is what I think sums it up,"
    reveals Butler.
    Part of Butler's life story has been his self-imposed exile from South Africa - and while he still lives abroad despite the radical changes here - his mind is never far from home.
    "When I walk down the street, somebody will call me by my nickname.It's something that's fantastic, it's really for me once again confirms the fact that ya, you are from home.You just live on the other side doing what you do but I can only say through all the songs and music I've done, home is deep,"
    he says.
    Home is also a place where things are simpler - and where his mother - living in a house that Jonathan built for her - will always remind him where he came from.
    "I just see him as my child still.Its not like I've got to make a King or what about him.I take him as the others.
    You've got it now, you must show them what you've done with your life.They've got to see what you have been doing and going through.Its hard work what he's doing.Its not a joke.
    All that music and all that writing and how he teaches the people." his mother says.
    If Butler is a teacher, as his mum would have it - his lesson for South Africas young people is quite straightforward.
    'Our kids are gonna want Nikes instead of something that our local designers could also come up with.So until we somehow create an atmosphere that encourages that, then we can begin to look at ourselves,' says Butler.
    He's now working on establishing a community development centre in the impoverished Cape Flats area of Cape Town to help uncover the musical talent of the future.Butler hopes to raise the money for this through a series of concerts in April.
    "I told my manager that I would love to provide instrumentation to all of the schools in the townships, studio set-ups where they can be recorded, where they can be nurtured and the seeds can be cultivated."
    With Butler giving that much back to the community he grew up in - it can only be a matter of time before his crown, as Cape Town's leading musician - will have to be passed on to the next generation.
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