John Kongos is a fascinating figure, a South African figure who scored two major early-’70s UK hits with songs that still sound strange and futuristic. Kongos started making music with his band Johnny And The G-Men. He moved to the UK to keep his music career going, and while his early experiences with bands went nowhere, he eventually went solo and made two pounding, rhythmic pop smashes that had long tails. His 1971 singles “He’s Gonna Step On You Again” and “Tokoloshe Man” both reached the UK top five. “He’s Gonna Step On You Again” made extremely early use of sampling technology, and it eventually served as the basis for the Happy Mondays’ 1990 rave-rock classic “Step On.” Kongos continued to work in the music industry in the years ahead, and he programmed the Fairlight on the 1983 Def Leppard classic Pyromania, but he hasn’t released any music in a long time. Today happens to be John Kongos’ 80th birthday, and now he’s back with his first new single in 40 years.
