Waiting for Sugar Man

If you have not seen the 2012 Academy Award winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, rent it today!

Vince and I have become superfans of Rodriguez, the subject of the documentary, since moving to South Africa.

Rodriguez is a poet and musician who wrote, performed and recorded in the United States in the late 70's and 80's. He came very close to breaking through to stardom several times, but was never quite in the right place at the right time.

Little did he know the right place was South Africa! His music became a sensation among the youth in South Africa. But South Africa espoused apartheid and the world's governments imposed sanctions against South Africa. Which meant the country was completely cut off from communication with the outside world. Rodriguez did not know he was a hit in South Africa. Neither did his record company nor his producer nor his agent.

So he dropped out of the music business, moved to Detroit and worked when he could in construction and doing odd jobs. He also raised a couple of incredibly articulate and well-spoken daughters.

At the same time, South Africa did not know what had become of Rodriguez. There were all kinds of rumors circulating that he was dead and that he had even committed suicide on stage.

After the political landscape changed in South Africa and the country rejoined the world in the late 90's, two real Rodriguez superfans from Cape Town got an idea. They decided they would try to find out if their hero Rodriguez was still alive and performing.  He had become legendary, almost  mythical, in South Africa during the apartheid years. It became a holy quest.

The fans did find him (the story of which is documented in the film) and they managed to bring him to Cape Town in 1998 where he performed to a sold-out stadium. The audience was filled with Rodriguez's original fans from the 80's as well as their children.

I met two of them in Joburg yesterday. Mother and daughter, they had both gone to the concert together. I hope Rodriguez comes back to tour South Africa again. His new superfans want to see him live too. We are still Waiting for Sugar Man!