If you remember the 7 steps, Jayson Jay King, Zayn Adam, Gobi Martin, Cass Isaacs and many others, this concert is for you.

And if you don’t remember them, this is the time to pay tribute and learn what the Real District Six was like. In the bad old days, the only platform local musicians had were the stages at the District Six bioscopes.

So, when movies like “Rock Rock Rock”, “Soda Pop Rock” hit the screens, the queues would double around the block. Admission tickets were between 8c and 14c at the Star for a matinee showing a double feature, a serial, a cartoon or 3 Stooges. But everybody went for the music. These movies brought to life Frankie Avalon singing “Venus”. Bill Haley and the Comets with “Rock Around The Clock”, Connie Francis singing “Where The Boys Are”, Dion and the Belmonts with I’m A Wanderer’, and The Platters with their many hits. On some nights the  girls would leave the Avalon, Star, Gem, or Alibama  bioscopes with tears in their eyes -  overwhelmed with the emotional lyrics of the songs.

Now, after 50 years, Jayson Jay King, performer, promoter and host, will be bringing back these marvelous memories, and the local musicians that performed the songs, with a concert called District Six Legends. Jayson has a special affinity with some of the artist “Legends” performing with him on this special programme. Some of them performed with him several times on stages of the District Six bioscope and some of them he actually placed on the stage for their first public performance. Sadly there are several who have passed on.

Born on the Cape Flats but schooled at Trafalgar High up against De Waal Drive, Jason’s family had a shop, Janjira Trading Store, next to the 7 steps. So after his daily chores he would bear witness to some of the music emanating from houses, lanes and corners of the district. ‘District Six would produce identical sounding singers, like Soloman Lee doing “Whole Lotta Shakin”, Ivan & the Stargazers singing “The Domino Twist”, Farieda Schroeder doing “Where the boys are’ a Connies Francis mega hit’ says King.  These were local okes but had you closed your eyes for just one second, you could have sworn you were in the US listening to local radio. This was the era of the ‘cover’ songs and the more you sounded like the original artist/s the better. Jayson has spent the past 2 decades touring around SA with his production “The Great Pretenders” a tribute to these American singing icons.

The full line-up is a collection of some of the best singers and cover artists in SA, probably the world.

Zayn Adam
Sophia Foster
Gobi Martin – the man with the ‘golden voice’
Cass Isaacs – Mr cool/Mr Playboy
Nisa Abrahams – Shirley Bassey
Soloman Lee – Mr ‘Shake Rattle & Roll’
Pearl Jansen – Former Miss World runner up - Dionne Warwick
Rudolph Walker – Nat King Cole
Rod Gilbert – Frank Sinatra
Jayson Jay King - performer, promoter and host

All artists are supported by Darryl Andrew Big Band.

Venue: His People’s Centre, N1 City
Time: 8:00pm
Price: R80 to R150
Performances: 29 Dec 2010
Genre: Pop/ Various