One of a series which examines Trevor’s musical career in South Africa.
As I posted previously, Trevor gave another interview last year which I wasn't aware of at the time, but at least in terms of one particular detail it is one of the most interesting.
Discussing the history of Rabbitt with Sound of the Movies host Michael Hollands, Trevor related how Duncan Faure was brought into the band:
"After the army, I had produced a guy called Duncan Faure, just a single he had - it didn't actually catch and soon after then we thought it would be nice to have a keyboard player in the band and a second singer so we got him in the band and that's how it really began and how we went on."
Admittedly it surprised me because this anecdote seems counter to previous narratives, such as when T.H. Cutler noted in her history of the band that Trevor, Ronnie and Patric van Blerk attended a show of Duncan's (in either 1974 or early 1975 I would estimate) and they asked him to join the band. Duncan had made his debut as a recording artist back in 1972 with the band Orange Cash Boat, dubbed - as Mary Fortney noted in her biographical essay on Duncan - "South Africa's Youngest Pop Sensation." A few years later, Duncan would immortalize his early years in the song "I Was Eleven" which was recorded by Rabbitt as well as The Rollers.
Returning to Trevor's recollection...it is true that Trevor co-produced a single for Duncan - the release of which was also documented by T.H. Cutler - and the A-side was later re-recorded by Rabbitt for the "Morning Light" maxi-single.
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| "When You're Without Her"/"Ballad of a Human Being" released 1975. |
It's possible that Patric was scouting for talent as per his usual and even though this particular single didn't succeed they appreciated Duncan's obvious abilities and appeal and figured he would be an asset to the band. Duncan himself did assert in an interview from 2014 that when he joined the band it was before they had developed their local popular following. However, the fact that Duncan's participation on Boys Will Be Boys! is limited to one song does suggest that he joined while they were finishing up work on the album at the very least, which was in 1975.
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| The DNA of a teen idol: Duncan in the '70s. |
Speaking of Our Boys...eagle-eyed Cee noticed this about a particular upload of "Hold On To Love" - it contains what appears to be some additional footage of Rabbitt (after the 3-minute mark) performing the song on television with a string section, parts of which we've seen over the years (an excerpt from "Searching" for example). Again, it's these rare glimpses which make me positively ache for some kind of in-depth career retrospective/compendium of the beloved Lekker Four.
