Special AKA - "Free Nelson Mandela" (1984)

In the mid-1980's I was an avid bicyclist and in the San Francisco Bay Area region I would hear this song play via my SONY headphones and start pedaling 'like there was no tomorrow'. A classic favorite for me.

"Nelson Mandela" (known in some versions as "Free Nelson Mandela") is a song written by Jerry Dammers and performed by his Coventry-based band The Special A.K.A. - with lead vocal by Stan Campbell - released on the single Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door in 1984 as a protest against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. Unlike most protest songs, the track is upbeat and celebratory, drawing on musical influences from South Africa.

The song reached No.9 in the UK charts and was immensely popular in Africa. Dammers told the Radio Times about the song: "I knew very little about Mandela until I went to an anti-apartheid concert in London in 1983, which gave me the idea for "Nelson Mandela", I never knew how much impact the song would have; it was a hit around the world, and it got back into South Africa and was played at sporting events and ANC rallies-it became an anthem." Stan Campbell left the band right after the recording of the song and the release of the video for the song, and had to be co-erced into rejoining briefly for a live appearance on the BBC TV show Top of the Pops in 1984.

Following that one TV appearance, Campbell left for good. In 1984 the students' union at Wadham College, Oxford passed a motion to end every college "bop" (dance) with the song. The tradition continues despite his release.

A Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute remake released in 1988 featured Elvis Costello, Dave Wakeling, Ranking Roger and Lynval Golding on backing vocals. At the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute in London's Hyde Park in June 2008, the song was performed as the show's finale, with Amy Winehouse on lead vocals. However, careful listening to the soundtrack revealed that, instead of "Free Nelson Mandela", she at times sang "Free Blakey, My Fella" (a reference to her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, a former drug dealer imprisoned for assault).

The song was featured on Peter Kay's spoof television programme Britain's Got the Pop Factor. In 2010, the New Statesman listed it as one of the “Top 20 Political Songs”.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 18 July 1918) served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994. As president from 1994 to 1999, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa.

In South Africa, Mandela is often known as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name; or as tata (Xhosa: father). Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. In July 2001 Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. He was treated with a seven-week course of radiation.

In 2003 Mandela's death was incorrectly announced by CNN when his pre-written obituary (along with those of several other famous figures) was inadvertently published on CNN's web site due to a fault in password protection. In 2007 a fringe right-wing group distributed hoax email and SMS messages claiming that the authorities had covered up Mandela's death and that white South Africans would be massacred after his funeral. Mandela was on holiday in Mozambique at the time.

In June 2004, at age 85, Mandela announced that he would be retiring from public life. His health had been declining, and he wanted to enjoy more time with his family. Mandela said that he did not intend to hide away totally from the public, but wanted to be in a position "of calling you to ask whether I would be welcome, rather than being called upon to do things and participate in events. My appeal therefore is: Don't call me, I will call you." Since 2003, he has appeared in public less often and has been less vocal on topical issues. He is white-haired and walks slowly with the support of a stick.

There are reports that he may be suffering from age-related dementia. Mandela's 90th birthday was marked across the country on 18 July 2008, with the main celebrations held at his home town of Qunu. A concert in his honour was also held in Hyde Park, London. In a speech to mark his birthday, Mandela called for the rich people to help poor people across the world. Despite maintaining a low-profile during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Mandela made a rare public appearance during the closing ceremony, where he received a "rapturous reception."

In January 2011, he was admitted to the private Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, for what were at the time described as "routine tests" by his foundation, leading to intense media speculation about the health condition of the increasingly frail Mandela. It later emerged that he had been suffering from a respiratory infection, which had responded well to treatment. He was discharged after two and a half days in hospital in a stable condition, and returned to his Houghton, Johannesburg home in an ambulance.

Dorothy Dandridge - Cow Cow Boogie (1942)

Not the original version of Cow Cow Boogie, but definitely my favorite. Dandridge gained fame as a solo artist from her performances in nightclubs, usually accompanied by Phil Moore on piano.

As well-known as she became from renditions of songs such as "Blow Out the Candle", "You Do Something To Me", and "Talk Sweet Talk To Me", she recorded very little on vinyl. Most of her work was done on film or 'soundies'.

She was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

"Cow-Cow Boogie" satires the folklore of the singing cowboy in the American West. In the lyrics, the cowboy is from the city and tells his "doggies" (cattle) to "get hip."

The music was written by Don Raye, and lyrics were written by Benny Carter and Gene De Paul The song was featured in the 1942, Abbott & Costello film, Ride 'Em Cowboy, which included Ella Fitzgerald as a cast member. The first recording was by Freddie Slack & his Orchestra featuring vocalist Ella Mae Morse in 1942.

Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1941)

This EPIC classic is #6 on the "Songs of the Century" list, put out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts

According to the lyrics of the song, a renowned Chicago, Illinois street musician is drafted into the U.S. Army during the Wartime Draft imposed by the Roosevelt Administration. In addition to being famous, the bugler was the "top man at his craft," but the Army had little use for his talents and he was reduced to blowing the wake up call (Reveille) in the morning. This caused the musician to become dejected: "It really brought him down, because he couldn't jam." The Cap (An Army Captain—the Company Commander) took note of the blues man's blues and went out and conscripted more musicians to assemble a band to keep the bugler company. Thereafter, the bugler found his stride, infusing the military marches with his inimitable street flair: "He blows it eight to the bar - in boogie rhythm." Even his morning calls attain some additional flavor: "And now the company jumps when he plays reveille." But, the bugler is not only empowered, he is possibly spoiled, because thereafter, "He can't blow a note if the bass and guitar/Isn't with him."

Donna Summer - She Works Hard for the Money

Donna Summer hits on some heavy subjects in this song, but it always gets me motivated in the morning. Time to wake up and work hard for the money!

The song, co-written by the singer, told a story of a woman who "works hard for (her) money". It was based on an actual encounter that Summer had with an exhausted bathroom attendant.

The music video for the song debuted on MTV and became the first video by an African-American female artist to be placed in "heavy rotation" (a term used by MTV at the time to indicate a frequently-aired video).

The video shows a woman, working as a waitress in a diner, who is burdened with many situations in her life such as work and raising two unruly and ungrateful children. It is also seen that she has abandoned her hopes of being a ballerina. Summer appears as an observer through a kitchen window, a woman who assists the fallen-down protagonist of the video, and, at the end, a leader of a troupe of women, in various work uniforms, who have taken to the streets to signify their independence and gain recognition for their "hard work".

The protagonist is also seen dancing in the street with them. In a parody of the image created by this video, Summer herself appears in the Frank Sinatra video for "L.A. Is My Lady", released in 1984, as a waitress who serves a patron and then wipes her brow.