John Edmond

John Edmond
Born	Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
Died
OccupationTemplate:Pluralize from text	Singer songwriter musician
Years active	1956 – present
EmployerTemplate:Pluralize from text	Template:Pluralize from text
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Notable creditTemplate:Pluralize from text	Template:Pluralize from text
LabelTemplate:Pluralize from text	Template:Pluralize from text
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Criminal chargeTemplate:Pluralize from text	Template:Pluralize from text
SpouseTemplate:Pluralize from text	Teresa EdmondTemplate:Pluralize from text
PartnerTemplate:Pluralize from text	Template:Pluralize from text
Children	4
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Musical career
Born
Died
Genres	Skiffle pop country folk rock and roll
InstrumentTemplate:Pluralize from text	Vocals guitar bagpipes
LabelTemplate:Pluralize from text	Roan Antelope Music
Military career
Born
Died
Allegiance	File:Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963).svg Rhodesia and Nyasaland Rhodesia
Branch	File:Rhodesian Army Flag.svg Rhodesian Army
Service years	File:Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963).svg (1960–1963) File:Rhodesian Army Flag.svg (1971–1979)
Rank	Trooper
Unit	3rd (Northern Rhodesia) Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment
Conflicts	Congo Border War Rhodesian Bush War
Website	johnedmond.co.za

John Edmond, also known as the "Bush Cat", (born 18 November 1936) is a Rhodesian and South African musician and former soldier.

Edmond's musical career began in the late 1950's and early 1960's. His early music career ran parallel to his military service in the Rhodesia Regiment, which he served in from 1960 to 1963. During his time in the military, Edmond often performed his music for his fellow soldiers. Following his time in the military, Edmond relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa in the mid-1960's, working in both I.T. and music during his initial years of living in South Africa. Edmond gained increased recognition in 1966 after writing "The UDI Song" for South African singer Nick Taylor, a song which charted in Rhodesia and South Africa and subsequently began a full-time career in music. From 1971 to 1979, Edmond had a career as an armed entertainer for troops in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War. His work as an entertainer for the military during the Bush War led him to writing and releasing arguably his most well-known album Troopiesongs in 1976, which is known for being largely written about the Bush War. After the Rhodesian Bush War's conclusion and the independence of Zimbabwe, Edmond continued his music career in South Africa. He later started his own record label called Roan Antelope Music, named after a mine in Northern Rhodesia and modern-day Zambia that Edmond worked in as a young man, to release his own music under.

Due to running parallel to his time working for the Rhodesian Armed Forces, Edmond's earlier music often was about military service, major events in the Rhodesian military, and the lives of soldiers, specifically during times of conflict. In addition to still writing about music related to the lives of soldiers and military service, Edmond's later music also often included topics about notable events and figures in the history of Southern Africa, his own family, and about life and the people of Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, and Christian themes.

Background

John Edmond was born on 18 November 1936 in the town of Luanshya, which at the time of his birth was a part of the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia, and is now presently located in Zambia as a part of the country's Copperbelt Province. Edmond's family is of Scottish origin and as such, Edmond and his immediate family split their time between Edinburgh, Scotland and Luanshya during his childhood. As a teenager, Edmond received further education at the Christian Brothers' College in Pretoria, South Africa.

Edmond displayed a natural talent for music at an early age when he was given a mouth organ as a birthday gift from his grandmother at age three and subsequently mastered the instrument within half an hour. As a Boy Scout, he played the bugle and was in the local Scout bugle band. While at school in Edinburgh, he was chosen to sing in the St John's Boys' Choir. At Christian Brothers' College, Edmond frequently took part in the productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, often being in lead roles in these productions, and was also the lead drummer in the college's pipe band. He went on to win the South African Junior drumming championships at the Royal Scottish gathering at Wembley in 1953. After college, Edmond returned to Luanshya and worked at the local Roan Antelope copper mine for a time.

Edmond joined Southern Rhodesia's Royal Rhodesia Regiment at Bulawayo. He served with the 3rd Battalion on the Congo border, in Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia. During this time, he bought a guitar at a trading store and met Bill Coleman while in the army. After learning to play the guitar with Coleman, Edmond formed the Bushcats Skiffle Group in 1958 along with two friends from the army, Eugene van der Watt and Ian Kerr. The group succeeded among its peers and progressed into cabaret and rock 'n' roll. After his military service, Edmond went to England to study computers and moved to South Africa in the mid-1960s. He became famous in Rhodesia during the Bush War with his album Troopiesongs. He was also a composer, writing hits like "The UDI Song". After the war and Zimbabwean independence, he recorded albums such as Zimsongs and Zimtrax.

In the 1980's, Edmond founded his own record label called Roan Antelope Music (RAM); since the 1980's the majority of Edmond's music has been published under RAM. One of the first notable works published under RAM was The story of Troopiesongs and the Rhodesian Bush War, a collection of lyrics for Troopiesongs. Prior to the creation of RAM, Edmond's music was published under labels such as Gallo and the now-defunct Satbel.

Since 1987, Edmond and his wife, Theresa, have owned and maintained a resort in South Africa named "Kunkuru". The resort is located in the Bela Bela area. Edmond also has his record label, Roan Antelope Music (RAM).

In 2018, Edmond released the album Legends, an album that was written in honor of notable figures of the various peoples and time periods of South Africa, including State President of the South African Republic Paul Kruger, Zulu Kingdom king Shaka kaSenzangakhona, better known as Shaka or Shaka Zulu, legendary folk hero and farmer Wolraad Woltemade, and anti-apartheid leader and former South African president Nelson Mandela. Edmond released his 50th album, Tales of the Birdwatchers.

Discography

Album	Year	Label	Notes
Troopiesongs – Phase 1	1976	Map
Boom Sha-la-la-lo	1971	Storm
Troopiesongs – Phase 2	1977	Map
Johno!	1972	Storm
Goodbye Is The Saddest Song	1975	Satbel
The Greatest Hits of John Edmond	1975	Sounds Superb/EMI	Note on back of cover by John Edmond, written in English and Afrikaans, dated May 1975
Wild And Beautiful And Free	1976	Satbel
The Best of John Edmond	1976	Satbel
Troopiesongs – Phase 3	1978	Jo'burg
Rhodesia The Brave	1979	Trutone
Hit Songs of John Edmond	1975	MFP	This may also be known as the "Greatest Hits of John Edmond" (1975), as the inside record label on the Greatest Hits states that it is the "Hit Songs of John Edmond". The songs on the Hit Songs label match the jacket of the Greatest Hits (Sounds Superb/EMI).
Troopiesongs – Phase 4	1979	Gallo
Immortal Hits	1980	Gallo
Country Tracks	1981	Gallo
From The Heart	1982	Gallo
Troopies in Exile	1982	Gallo
Love in the Country	1984	Gallo
All Night Razzle	1984	Principal	BUSHCATS re-formed for this recording
The British South Africa Police Centenary Album	1989	RAM
The Rhodesia Centenary Album 1890 – 1990	1990	RAM
Rhodesians of the World	1992	RAM
All Time Rhodesian Evergreens	1999	RAM	Reissued 2011.
Troopiesongs Complete	1999	RAM	50th Anniversary edition reissued in 2011.
Heritage – Where We Come From	2007	RAM
Party – All Night Razzle	2007	RAM
Aviation Songs		RAM
Born in Africa		RAM
By Request	2004	Gallo
Friends, Rhodies, Countrymen	2005	RAM
Wild and Beautiful and Free	1990	RAM
Heritage	2007	RAM
Zimsongs	2011	RAM
Songs of the African Bush	2013	RAM
Zimtrax		RAM
Tales of the Game Rangers, Vol. 1 to Vol. 4	See notes	RAM	Volume 1 (1984), Volume 2 (1987), Volume 3 (1989), Volume 4 (1993)
Stories en Liedjies van die Wildtuin, Vol. 1 & 2		RAM
The Boer War in Song	2012	RAM	Afrikaans version Die Boere Oorlog In Lied released in 2014 by RAM.
Campfire 'n Jamboree	2013	RAM	With The Campfire Singers
Songs of the African Battlefields	2014	RAM
Of Aeroplanes & African Plains	2014	RAM
Boer and Brit Battlefield Heroes	2016	RAM
Battlesongs of Brave Boer and Briton	2017	RAM
From the Pen of John Edmond	2017	RAM
Legends	2018	RAM
Tales of Bird Watches, Vol.1	2018	RAM
Songs of Kruger Park	2019	RAM
Tales of Bird Watchers, Vol.2	2019	RAM
Christmas in Africa	2020	RAM
Ian Douglas Smith: The Man	2021	RAM	A series of interviews with Ian Smith, retelling the stories of his life, with occasional songs and commentary from Edmond
Singin' with the Birds	2021	RAM
Ballads of the Bushveld	2022

Singles	Year	Label	Notes
Farewell Britannia	1969	Storm
Die Eerste Kersfeesnag	1969	Storm
Fairytales	1969	Storm	This was his first hit record
Round and Round	1970	Storm	Hit single
Boom Sha-la-la-lo	1971	Storm	Hit single written for John by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers while they were in South Africa
Pasadena	1972	Map	Hit single
Every Day, Every Night	1972	Map	Hit single
Toy Train	1973	Map	Hit single
Hello Susan	1974	Map
Jock of the Bushveld	1975	Map
Goodbye Is The Saddest Song	1975	Map	Hit single
Nomad of the Kalahari	1976	Map
One Day He'll Call Me Daddy	1976	Map
It's Good To See You	1977	Jo'burg
Blue Brown Eyed Lady	1977	Jo'burg
Louie	1978	RSA
Bye Bye Butterfly	1979	EMI
Forever Young	1980	Gallo
The Electric Thing	1981	Gallo
The 124th Cavalry Regiment Lives On	2017	RAM	Produced in cooperation with the 124th Cavalry Regiment Association.

See also

• Clem Tholet