Singer and songwriter Melvyn Matthews is known primarily as the songwriter of Brenda & The Big Dudes' 1983 hit ‘Weekend Special’, the song that launched the career of Brenda Fassie and kicked off the bubblegum era in South Africa, as well as its B-side ‘Life is Going On’. As a solo artist he released singles such as 'Red Red Wine' (1983) and 'Don’t Give My Love Away' (1984) and albums 'Melvyn' (1985), 'Mind Your Own Business' (1989), 'Personally Yours' (1998) and 'Brand New Day' (2011). His fame as the ‘Weekend Special’ songwriter overshadowed his solo exploits and he spent much of the subsequent decades chasing the royalties he felt were not fairly given to him. He passed away recently (April 2026) and was laid to rest in his hometown of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). The following is an interview with the singer conducted in Johannesburg in 2012, then aged 53. It has been edited for clarity.
[You came to Joburg as a teenager — how did you get your start in music?]
I was gonna play with Elridge [AL] ETTO’s outfit, they were called INFINITY. And then myself and Al Etto had some sort of problem. We had some arguments and whatever. I ended up not having a place to stay. Being a youngster, it was a bit of a problem. So one day after sleeping at Park Station [in downtown Joburg], I went to Kerk Street, where Gallo [and EMI] was. I stood there and I waited for someone, anyone, just to come out there so I could approach them. Because I was always a songwriter.. so one day, BLONDIE [Makhene], PAPPA [Makhene] and Sammy Klaas came out — that was the lead guitarist of THE BIG DUDES. They came out and I went to Blondie, ‘Jirre man, I’m a singer, man, and I write songs.’ So he said to me, there on the pavement in Kerk Street, he said to me, OK, I must sing. So I sang one of my own songs.
From there we started working together. I became the lead singer of The Big Dudes, being called THE FAMILY at that stage. It was exactly the same band, minus Desmond Malotana, he wasn’t the keyboard player [yet]. Blondie’s brother Cliff — he’s late now — was the bass player. We had a guy by the name of Buke, that was the keyboard player. And then Dumisani. And then later on Desmond joined. Then Clifford absconded – we were on a tour to Durban and Cliff absconded – then David came in. but David then was part of another band called RAZZMATAZZ, that was also backing Blondie & Pappa.
So we worked together, and I stayed by Blondie. Like I said to you, the eldest kid was about two years old. He was staying in Rockville, in Soweto. I stayed there by him. We travelled. So it was Blondie, Papa, Cliff, Pam, Phyllis – that was brothers and sisters. And that is why the label (imprint) of ‘Weekend Special’ is called the Family label. We had to have a name for the band, so the band was also called Family. Until we toured one time and Blondie got rid of one of his sisters, Pam. She was just not cutting it. It left a void in the band — not because of her being this or that, but because when you lose one voice, it’s a part that needs to be filled. So somebody else must stand in. But we toured like that for some time. Then one day, Blondie’s late wife Agnes, we were preparing for a tour to Zimbabwe… and Blondie’s late wife said to me, ‘Melvyn, do you remember that [women who] stood in for ANNELINE MALEBO in JOY? Immediately it struck me that in 1980 BRENDA [FASSIE] stood in for Anneline. Then we went and fetched Brenda in an area called Mzimhlophe [in Soweto]. Then I gave up my place because myelf and Blondie were basically staying in a garage. So I gave up my place so that Brenda could have a place to stay. And I went and stayed with my auntie in Newclare.
We started rehearsing with Brenda and she as really an asset. She about 5 years younger than me, so she must’ve been about 18 or so. She was quote young, but she as very strong on stage. But the outfit — myself, Blondie and Pappa. It was not like Brenda was the person, who everyone was waiting for her to come out, no — it was really a strong unit. We toured and then she did a song with Blondie on the SPANKK album, called ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ [off Just a Little Love, 1982]. So Brenda was now singing in place of Blondie’s sister.
I believe there was lots of politics, you know, because you had all the races in the band, and it became a problem … David was Zulu, for instance, Brenda was Xhosa, Blondie and them was Sotho, I was coloured … so we always had these fights and disagreements and so on. And it took a toll on everybody, to an extent that one time when I came, nobody wanted to [sit] with Blondie’s family in one kombi, with his sisters especially, because the guys always thought they looked down on people [outside the family] and treated them like they were boys [children] or something. So I think that was the beginning of the end. The guys felt [mistreated] — jirre but what they were doing was brilliant, man. And I mean we were just as much stars as [they were].
But more than Blondie, I’d say the rest of the family was causing problems, [behaving] like everybody else was just nothing… and so at that stage already I felt that no man, I don’t wanna be a part of this. But then I went home that December, ‘82. And my auntie that lives in Joburg says to me, ‘I hear Blondie and them’s doing shows’ without me — which wasn’t really [a problem] cos, I mean, shows can come up at a minute’s notice, it was not something really that annoyed me.
But I came back [to Joburg] in January, and then I asked Blondie, ‘What’s happening, am I still in the band?’ Blondie at that stage was on his way to the SABC, him and Pappa, to play. So I asked him, ‘Am I still in the band, Blonds, or what?’ It was very painful — even now, saying it is very painful — but this is the process that led to ‘Weekend Special’. Blondie said to me no I must speak to Peter Snyman [their manager]. Now, I mean, he [Blondie] was the authority; Peter worked for him, not vice versa. What Blondie says goes. So I thought, why send me to Peter Snyman if you can just tell me?
Blondie was one of my closest friends, we’re like brothers. His mother always used to say, ‘You know, Mel, if Blondie comes in, I know you’re not gonna be far.’ So this attitude was heartbreaking for me, it was really heartbreaking.
When I went to EMI, I didn’t even know the band was there. All he said was the band was practicing there, so Snyman should be there. I drove to EMI, because Snyman was working for EMI … I didn’t go to Snyman when I heard the band, because they had the offices not a few steps from the band practice room. I heard the band practising and I went straight into the rehearsal room.
I said, ‘Guys, yoh, I’ve got a great song here.’ Now the band at that stage was practising for two weeks of performances at a club called Fun Valley [or] Club Status in Eldorado Park. These were not shows that I knew of even, so they were busy practicing, ‘I’ll Never Give You Up’, ‘Livin’ in America’, [and songs by] ASHFORD & SIMPSON, PAUL McCARTNEY [and] STEVE WONDER. They were practising covers; they never did originals. They were practicing for these shows at Fun Valley, which is a predominantly coloured place, so it was cover versions [required for that market].
Then I came and I said, ‘Guys, please man, let’s work on this song’. And so we started working on the song [Weekend Special]. That day was like heaven arrived for Brenda and them… You could just feel, jirre. here’s it! So we practiced the song. It was originally called ‘Weekend Call’, because it was based on the phone call.
When we finished with that song, then Dumisani the keyboard player says to me, ‘Hey, gee, Melvyn, jirre but you write nice songs man! Tell me, can’t you write something for this?’ And he played something, and this is how ‘Life is Going On’ came about.
Then Blondie came in when we were finished with ‘Life is Going On’. Those songs were just so… jirre man, it was just so unbelievable because when we did it [a few days later] at Fun Valley, they actually gelled in with all those American songs. Those songs had the same responses [from the audience]. And imagine, it’s a song that hasn’t even [been released] on record yet. It had such an influence on how people felt on the danceflloor. It was [going] to be big.
[Is it true that Weekend Special was influenced by song by BB&Q Band and Sharon Redd?]
It’s a coincidence… what happened was that with ‘Weekend Special’, there was like some break. And at the time we were practicing SHARON REDD. But the [Big Dudes] keyboard player [Desmond Malotana] felt, ‘jirre man, what if I played [a similar part on ‘Weekend Special’]. So it’s not like Sharon Redd was ripped off, or if Sharon Redd had listened to ‘Weekend Special’ she’d have thought, ‘jirre man but I [wrote] that line’.
We were doing BB&Q [BAND] – they had that song … this is why the bass player [David Mabaso] wanted to take credit [for writing ‘Weekend Special’]. That’s why he said, ‘Desmond Malotana wrote nothing, you came with the song, then I came with the bassline.’ But he came with the bassline on my song! The song was already there, you know.
But then we did ‘Livin’ in America’ by DONNA SUMMER. And that is where that part [another part of ‘Weekend Special’ came from]. We didn’t rip that song; we filled the blanks. I think that’s what’s so brilliant about that song, is that we filled the blanks of what the Americans [were doing] … I don’t know if it was Paul McCartney who said, ‘one hit song comes from another’.
[Those are the kinds of songs] we were practicing at the time, and if we played a song, it would be nice to – we sometimes improved on American songs when we did it on stage. We made people to like to even more than [the original], because we put it things that’s not on the record even…
[Were there any local influences too, or just American?]
The question I must ask there is, in the 70s and (early) 80s, what ‘local’ do you talk about? There was no local [pop] music; everything was American. Every person that did music — except for your mbaqanga guys, they were doing African stuff — but everybody else was… so before ‘Weekend Special’, I don’t know about local stuff, really. So what we did was … what we did, you know.
In Soweto, American music was big… all over South Africa, American music. If you started singing ‘Who’s Fooling Who’ [by ONE WAY], you were the king!
[What was the disagreement over credits and royalties for ‘Weekend Special?]
My gripe with EMI was that my name wasn’t on the deed of assignment originally. The people that heard when we put the songs together, they knew I was the person responsible for that. But I wasn’t there when the song was recorded. When they went into the studio, I wasn’t there.
Why didn’t EMI ask, ‘but where’s Melvyn?’ Cos I mean this is his life’s work … I feel they were not supposed to proceed unless I was present. In doing so they would have stopped all these uncertainties over who did what.
[Desmond] Malotana [who shared a credit] was just a keyboard player that touched a note… and that’s that sound that you hear [the synth on ‘Weekend Special]. While the band was already rehearsing the song and playing the rhythm, and Brenda singing, he was busy scrolling for a sound to play, and he played this sound, and I said to him, ‘Desmond, this sound I want you to play.’
I was so angry at that time because I’d had an argument, a disagreement with Blondie, so I was very angry when I wrote ‘Weekend Special’… Tom Vuma was the first man that exclaimed, ‘Yoh, this is a hit song!’ With Peter Snyman, our manager at the time, they were standing next to each other. I was actually very angry with Peter Snyman also, because he and Blondie were the authorities. When Tom Vuma commented, ‘Yoh, this is a hit song!’ and asked, ‘who wrote this song?’ And Desmond said he wrote the song, I made nothing of that.
I was very young, I might have been 20 … I didn’t make much of it. But when the record came out, Desmond’s name was really on it.
David [Mabaso] said to me I must go to EMI because Desmond never wrote nothing on the thing… He said it to Blondie and he said it to Pappa. Cos I needed witnesses, and who was the witnesses? It was only the band guys that could be my witnesses. Now Desmond, Fats the drummer, and Sammy Klaas [the Big Dudes] – they were drinking buddies. I couldn’t possibly [say they’re lying] – they would agree with each other. So I needed somebody to stand with me.
Brenda claimed that she wrote ‘Life is Going On’ with me, but her name was taken off because Blondie and them said ‘no, Brenda’s got nothing to do with the song – it’s Dumisani [Ngobeni]’.
The point here is that when I wasn’t there when the song was recorded, everybody was at liberty to say, ‘Now look, I can have my piece of the pie also.’
[Did you work with the Big Dudes again after that?]
What people didn’t realise is that [in] 1985 we practised together again, myself and the Big Dudes. They basically begged me to please let us reform with Brenda and we practiced at EMI again … I knew what was the idea, because before ‘Weekend Special’ none of them wrote songs. And all of a sudden after ‘Weekend Special’ they had to claim that they’re also songwriters … and by 1985 their ideas were running out. This is why they needed Melvyn now … we rehearsed for maybe one day, and I never went back. I mean if I was after money, that was my opportunity to make money.
My principles didn’t allow me to work with people that’s not interested in being sincere and honest. All they wanted was to get my ideas … Besides that, I think it was that when we practised again I felt that we had outgrown each other. I felt that we’d never be able to work together.
I don’t want to listen to [other] people’s songs any more. That was now my attitude. I don’t want to listen to your compositions, I don’t want to write songs with you any more. Because of my experience now with you. Because if you let me listen to your songs, tomorrow I write a song and you’ll say ‘that’s my song’.
If I had from the start questioned this, something could’ve been done. They were supposed to approach Desmond to say, ‘Look, Desmond, this thing has come up now. Let the whole band come in’ ... I think it was because maybe they didn’t want to lose the band, so having one casualty [Melvyn] is nothing. You’d rather have the band.
I was at that stage playing with PURE MAGIC. I’m actually the original lead singer of Pure Magic. I did solo stuff before and after. I was singing with Pure Magic, then I sang with a band, they’re called now DR VICTOR and the RASTA REBELS. It was first CC BEAT, then it was TAXI, then it was No Parking, then it changed to Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels.
[Where does the situation stand now?]
I’m grateful. I think I’ve looked well after myself. I’m now 53, and I’ve looked well after myself. I think with lots of companies, it’s a general perception that all musicians are drunkards and they complain after the fact… you’ve now spent all your money and now all of a sudden you’re not happy with something. But I’ve fought all the time… I’ve even gotten Spoor & Fisher [law firm] to speak to EMI. They’re a big company. Remember ‘Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ — that case, they actually did that. I traced them and I found it’s a company in Midrand. We had a meeting,
I still haven’t come to an agreement. I don’t want to fight with people. But I also want them to understand that all of us become educated at what we do. We go through things the hard way and we learn from them. So I need to actually… try a new approach, and this is why I released the new CD, so I can have publicity so I can become a voice … because when you’re a voice, at least people listen, they can’t ignore you.
Nobody stays stupid. You learn from your mistakes … I know what I’m doing. I know exactly what I’m doing.
We have people that was not interested in the industry but rather about their own [wellbeing] … That is why I’m so annoyed with people, with EMI, that I said to them, ‘You’ve never heard Brenda, in any interviews, use the name Desmond Malotana. You’ve never heard her say, “Melvyn and Desmond Malotana wrote songs.” Because she knows the truth. I wrote the song. Desmond just played some sound. He made a lot of money. He made the same money that I made. He actually made more money, because he was getting performers royalties and songwriters royalties. It is a situation that needs to be reversed.
After I went to the memorial service [of Brenda Fassie in 2004], I was so frustrated. If a song was as big as it [‘Weekend Special’] was, and I’ve meant so much to the industry as what people would assume, I would have thought that special mention would’ve been made, that this is the reason why we got to know Brenda on such a large scale. That, to me, was frustrating.
David Mabaso – he went to EMI and told them the truth. They told him, ‘No, now that Brenda is dead, now you are coming.’ That’s not my point. At least he made it clear that Melvyn wrote the song.
Desmond, he was bit of a clever guy. He never approached anybody. He never approached Brenda, to say ‘I hear you doing interviews and you’re saying Melvyn all the time, why don’t you say my name?’ He never approached her, you know what I mean.
I haven’t really received the accolades that you would think I should have received. On the internet it says Melvyn Matthews was the person who introduced Brenda Fassie to South Africa and the world. That says I lot about who I am. This is how people introduce me, they’ll say, ‘This is Melvyn Matthews, the man who wrote ‘Weekend special’.’ That’s all you have to say. That’s how big the song is.
By the same token, me as an artist, as a singer, I also want to have my own identity, other than being a songwriter only. I’ve been a respected singer for the past 30 years now. It’s just that ‘Weekend Special’ was so powerful that it overshadowed my singing … I don’t think I can regret that. Being a songwriter is also part of my skills and my gifts, so I don’t think I could have the one and not have the other …
They gave Brenda a state funeral, basically — but they couldn’t find out, what is the man doing today who put her here, because he paved the way for everyone else to follow. You feel very much unappreciated by it.
Politics plays a big role in this for me, because it doesn’t matter how we want to beat around the bush and want to be diplomatic. Being diplomatic in some people’s minds means beating around something — you’re not sorting something out, you’re just talking around it. I think we must come to the point that when it comes to art, you cannot have a certain colour and think that only this colour is good at. If you look at boxing, a white man can be as good as a coloured, or a coloured can be better than an Indian. Talent is a gift that anyone can have, so if we wanna grow in this country, the powers that be will have to stop thinking and stop trying to bluff people into believing that we are a free country but we still withhold credit from [certain] people — in other words, no one can be great unless he’s black or he’s white.
I’d like to think that I’ve always been into politics and that I always liked the practice of equal opportunities and equal rights and so on. My whole life I’ve been trying to practise that. When things are wrong, I always want to try and make things right.
Everybody else wants to give their stories so that they can be put into a picture where they were not even there. They actually talk themselves into the picture. It’s a pity … Some guys were so busy with stardom and so on that they actually forgot the facts about the past. Because at some stage, nothing was important to you guys but yourselves … Now that your career is over or you are struggling with your career, you look at how you can possibly involve yourself in something else now. And in doing that, you’re destroying Melvyn’s legacy there. Because what if I wasn’t around any more? What if I was a drunkard now? What if I was a person who couldn’t fend for myself? Imagine how much lies people tell in history. I’m gonna say how things happened — and the public can make up their own minds.
The thing about the truth is that sometimes you don’t want to hurt people, but it's very unfortunate that if you don’t say it, then people will believe otherwise. People will believe everybody else if you don’t tell them exactly how things happened. For years I didn’t want to tell people exactly how things happened because I didn’t want to hurt certain of my friends. But then they end up saying things that hurt me now. They can hate me for a couple of years, but then they can realise that what I am saying is actually what happened. Because they were not there; I was there.
RIP Bra Mella
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