SOUND MEDIA PRODUCTIONS
Powers to the People
Extraordinary Life: P J Powers
Penelope Jane “PJ” Dunlop, lead singer of the band Hotline, is one of the country’s most successful musicians. She was given the name Thandeka (“one who is loved”) and has recorded 16 albums. The “Jabulani” singer, who was banned from radio and TV, used to serenade Nelson Mandela, one of her biggest fans. She played in the townships and become politically active, eventually joining the ANC in the 1980s. She has battled alcoholism and has suffered from depression, but her Janis Joplin voice has survived and three decades after her career began, PJ is still performing and thriving.
Nominated by: Marianne Thamm
Marianne Thamm, author, journalist, opinionista, stand-up comic and sit-down satirist, is writing PJ’s memoirs. Marianne shares stories about PJ’s early life and how the singer drove a pantechnicon through the revolution. PJ, says Marianne, is one of the country’s few NWPs – Nice White People. Marianne also shares a side-splittingly funny story about how PJ and pop star Brenda Fassie met.
Expert: Roger Lucey
Roger Lucey, a high school dropout, is a musician, journalist, filmmaker, actor and educator. After a successful run as a soloist and with various bands, his music career was cut short by the security police. He then worked as a sound engineer, a job that gave him a unique perspective into the music industry and gave him a front row seat to witnessing PJ’s career explode.
