Chicco

Arranger, producer, singer and instrumentalist, Sello "Chicco" Twala was born in South Africa in 1 January 1963. He grew up with music because his father operated an illegal club, or "shebeen", in Soweto. Rejecting an earlier plan to become a traffic cop, Chicco opened a disco, but then driven by a desire to play music himself, he took up percussion and practiced assiduously to reach a professional level. In the '70s, Chicco played in soul bands including Umoja, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse's Harari and formed his own group, Image. An architect of the disco and bubblegum revolution, Chicco first made a name as a performer in the mid-'80s, but went on to produce major stars, including Yvonne Chaka-Chaka and more recently Brenda Fassie and the Big Dudes. In fact, Chicco is credited with the revival of Brenda’s career - he was the producer of Mameza which has gone on to shift over half-a-million copies and in 1999, was also the force behind the hugely successful DJ walker project, Shesa Mpama. Chicco made his first triple platinum release in 1987, a record that included the song "We Miss You Manelo," a thinly veiled reference to Nelson Mandela, still a prisoner on Robben Island at the time. In 1990, Chicco collaborated with poet Mzwakhe Mbuli on the song "Papa Stop the War". A longtime admirer of music from other parts of Africa, especially Ghana's Osibisa and Nigeria's Fela Kuti, Chicco then took time off to travel and explore the continent. Chicco's sweet soul ballad "Peace Song," recorded by an all-star South African cast and released in 1992, played an important role in fostering the atmosphere of national unity that preceded South Africa's first democratic election in April 1994. The other major producer of South African disco and bubblegum, Dan Tshanda, developed the Dalom Kids and Splash, bands whose shows feature up to ten keyboards and no other instruments on stage.