Clem Tholet - The M'sasas are Turning

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The M'sasas are Turning to gold and to red
In the light of the sun they’re like fires
When the winter has gone and time has moved on
The memory will never grow tired

When we were first joined, she'd walk in the fields
Gathering the sunshine with her eyes
With her hair flowing long, she'd listen to my songs
And give me all the love she couldn’t hide

The Msasas are Turning to gold and to red
In the light of the sun (hmm, hmm, hmm) they're like fires
When the winter has gone and time has moved on
The memory will never grow tired

In the long winter nights we'd sit round the stove
Sharing a smoke or a beer
We'd talk till the morning came into the room
And it felt good, knowing she was so near

The Msasas are Turning to gold and to red
In the light of the sun they're like fires
When the winter has gone and time has moved on
The memory will never be tired

She taught me to live and she taught me to love
She told me bout Spring and September
She showed me the good times. She taught me to laugh
She showed me how to rememeber

The Msasas are Turning to gold and to red
In the light of the sun they're like fires
When the winter has gone and time has moved on
The memory will never grow tired

{Lyrics transcribed by The Ghost of Ian Smith in June of 2019}

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Clem Tholet (1948 – 6 October 2004) was a Rhodesian folk singer who became popular in the 1970s for his Rhodesian patriotic songs. He reached the height of his fame during the Rhodesian Bush War.

Clem was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare in Zimbabwe) in 1948 and began writing songs while he was an art student in Durban, South Africa. One of his first songs, Vagabond Gun was a category winner in the South Africa Music Festival in 1966. Clem later moved back to Rhodesia to work in advertising. He started singing at Rhodesia’s first folk venue, The Troubadour in Salisbury’s Angwa Street. While performing there, he met Sue Eccles and Andy Dillon. The three formed a trio called The Kinfolk. The group moved to South Africa, and shortly after moving to Johannesburg, South Africa, Sue left the group.

Clem and Andy formed a new group with Yvonne Raff, which they called The Legend Trio. This new trio began singing at the original Southern African “Troubadour”, and were also involved in a number of SAFMA’s National Folk Fests.

Clem married Jean Smith (daughter of Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith) in 1967.

Clem began a solo career, recording some singles with Art Heatlie at Trutone. Mel Miller, Peter Leroy and Sylvia Stott briefly joined Clem to form a group in 1970, before Clem moved back to Rhodesia in 1971. Clem moved back and soon built up a strong following. He did a series of Rhodesian Television shows, and presented a radio program called Folk on the Rocks, which was on the air for two seasons. The name came from the folk club Clem ran at The Beverley Rocks, where it played to regular packed houses.

A popular star of the annual Bless ‘Em All Troop Shows, and in great demand in the Rhodesian entertainment scene, Clem recorded his first album Songs of Love & War at Shed Studios. Clem wrote and produced the album himself. The album was awarded a Gold Disc. He wrote the soundtrack and songs for the C.I.S. film What A Time and the theme song for a film honouring the wounded troopies of Rhodesia, Tsanga, Tsanga.

He produced a second album at Shed Studios, called Two Sides to Every Story, before moving back to South Africa. After living and working in the advertising industry for many years in Cape Town, Clem died on 6 October 2004 after having suffered from the effects of a debilitating illness for a number of years .

Clem’s last album, Archives was (and is) sold as a fund raiser to benefit the Flame Lily Foundation. This fund raising project seeks to provide funds for the living expenses of elderly former residents of Rhodesia / Zimbabwe living in South Africa, who have been denied their pensions by the Zimbabwe government.