By Mike Angere

Abby, my Yoga student and events planner per excellence and an art enthusiast of the highest order asked me just a fortnight back.” Mike, have you ever heard of a musician by the name of Rodiriguez?” I answered in the negative. She thensaid that she had a docummentary on the guy on the Ipad and that I should view it while she got on with her yoga postures.

She gave me a quick summation of what it was  all about. SixtoRodriguez had been released on  Motown two albums; Cold Fact and Coming from Realities; but did not sell well in America. This was I the year 1971, the year of Tapestry by Carlos King which became the biggest selling LP in the history of the time. The LP  eas said to have sold a whooping 8 million copies. We a had a copy- me and my friends.

*Sixto

Back to Rodriguez. He was rumored to have committed suicide on stage. But one fan,Steven Sergerman, nickname, Sugar started making inquiries about the musician and to his surprise,  found out that he was alive and kicking. Sugar’s investigations led him first to one of Rodriguez’s daughters, who confirmed that fact.

Phone numbers were exchanged and one night the phone rang and Sugar’s wife, whose side of the bed the phone was answered then woke her husband up and whispered to him,” it is him”, meaning  that it was Rodriguez.

Immediately Sugar woke up from the bed and headed for his study where he ho took the reviever to speak with the musician. As soon as Rodriguez spoke, Sugar said that he had no reason  to doubt that he was speaking to the living dead. A mystery!

Surprisingly, Rodriguez never knew how big and famous he is in the musical scene until this recent discovery. It is still shocking to him to learn that as early as the 70s, he was already a big name comparable to the Beatles and Mr Protest Singer, Bob Dylan in South Africa.

The man equally had no idea that his works had done remarkable well in South Africa. A tour was arranged for performances in the country and the first day ticket 11,000 tickets were sold off. That wash how popular, Rodriguez was.

In a recent interview in  Time magazine, Rodriguez revealed that while  he performed on stage, that members of the audience, who knew the lyrics to all the songs sang along with him. It is something that gladdens the heart to know that a man who had supported himself by doing demolition work, and has ran for office eight times, a couple of them for mayor, State representative and city council will get his due as an artist albeit belatedly.

Modest Rodriguez, who, until his present  rebirth at 70 was said to be doing  demolition by way of renovating his house, says he likes to live below his means and that , that is a good discipline as it is wiser.