IT WAS a weekend of nostalgia as one of Cape Town’s favourite musicians, Zayn Adam, celebrated 50 golden years in the industry.
He performed to sold-out shows at GrandWest’s Grand Arena on Friday and Saturday.
Marc Lottering and Terence Bridgett took the audience down memory lane, introducing Adam’s hit songs and introducing guest artists.
Among the highlights was Richard Jon Smith, who serenaded the audience with his That’s Why I Love You. Other local artists included Sophia Foster, Terry Fortune, Loukmaan Adams, Vicky Sampson, Karin Kortje, Leslie Kleinsmith and Ronnie Joyce, many of whom are Adam’s friends.
He was born in Salt River in 1947 and started playing guitar when he was 11 years old. His father and brother captained a Cape Malay choir, The Celtics Singkoor. Adam turned “pro” when he was 15 when he joined the Golden City Dixies carnival show.
He soon went on to bigger things. “I was standing on a ladder washing windows when I was given a telephone number to call. Three weeks later I was on a train to Joburg – where I joined Majiet Omars, the Bing Crosby of the ’60s, in Stars Of Africa. I was in a calypso trio.”
Adam later shot to stardom when he fronted seminal 70s soul act Pacific Express – what some refer to as “Cape Town’s answer to Earth, Wind and Fire”. He has a new album titled Music Alla Kaap featuring some of his fans’ favourite songs such as Give a Little Love, Paradise Road and Il Mondo.