Living in Africa has many remarkable aspects – aesthetics, people or even just the way of life, but one often seems to forget the musical talent. Voices, songwriting, popularity, beauty and style. All this and more in one of our own remarkable talents Little Sister. While No-One Was Looking is a collection of hits spanning a retrospective of a career that started in 1990 and saw them go from a club act to chart toppers writing music that has become an integral part of the musical sound scape of the country… from hard rock to acoustic guitars with harmonies, these sisters have travelled the musical highways and byways.
Little Sister have been performing at many venues around the country, out of the eye of the media but not out of the eye of the general public. Their new album While No-One Was Looking is a retrospective featuring fifteen tracks which includes three new recordings. The album While No-One Was Looking brings out nine years of hard work and a pure definition of South African talent.
The three new tracks, “You Bring Out the Best in Me”, “Broken Heart” and “Inside Out” are beautiful lush ballads, showcasing the new harmony-direction the band has taken. “Inside Out” is the title track to the South African commercial hit movie, “Inside Out”. “You Bring Out the Best in Me” and “Broken Heart” were recorded, engineered and produced by Neal Snyman at Downtown Studios.
After releasing their debut album Ready and Willing in 1990 and having a national number one hit “Dear Abbie” drawing much attention to the controversial issue surrounding teenage pregnancy, the sisters were recipients of two OKTV awards for “Most Promising New Artist” and “Best Rock Album”. Little Sister’s Live performances included “Supermodel of the Year” at Sun City, the Lion Lager Road Show and the Easter Rock festival at the Grand Rand Show as well as the 5FM Bigger Birthday Bash.
The second album More Than Meets the Eye was produced by Grammy Nominee Cedric Sampson and engineered by Richard Mitchell. The album gave birth to the national hit “Peace on Earth” which established Little Sister as Leaders in the South African music industry.
Little Sister released their third album Along the Way which was produced by top American producer Mike Flicker, reknowned for working with American band “Heart” and SA music producer Dennis East. Along the Way gave birth to two major Local hit singles “Mystery of Life” and “Love Is a Weapon”. The album was also released in the Far East which provided the band with the opportunity to do a promotional tour in that region.
Little Sister had a constant demand for live performances. These included support acts for UB40, Bryan Adams and many tours of South Africa.
One of the bands highlights of their career was the invitation to perform at the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela. Little Sister performed a medley which incorporated their hit single “Peace on Earth” in the prestigious company of Miriam Makeba, Rebecca Malope, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Mara Louw, PJ Powers and Dorothy Mesleka to name a few.
Charity work included a tour with cricketer Fanie De Villiers. The tour incorporated a cycle ride from Cape Town to Pretoria. The funds raised were utilised for the enablement for children to have “Cochlear Implants” in 1996.
The hit single “Peace on Earth” was chosen by St Vincents School for the deaf as their annual theme. Other charity work included a show at the Sun City Superbowl for P.O.W.A (People Opposed to Woman Abuse), AIDS benefit concert at Sun City. In conjunction with Elton John. The band also participated in fund raising for Cotlands baby care, A.C.T (Against Crime Together), The Crystal Awards, Stars For Star, Seal Action Group, SPCA, Johannesburg Children’s Home and Children With Cancer benefit. Little Sister performed a medley, “Peace In Our Land” with a prestigious South African artist, Chicco, which received high TV coverage. This was to raise funds for victims of violence.
Heart of the Matter was the band’s fourth album which included the hit song “Someone like Me” and “Insensitive”. The band was a support act for Whigfield on her SA tour among many other local tours.
Later on, the band signed an international publishing deal with Peer music and then performed the title track for the South African film “Inside Out”. The sisters were also invited to perform “Amazing Grace” at the FNB Awards with renowned artists Sibongile Khumalo, Vicky Vilakazi, Wendy Mseleka and Margaret Motsage.
…all of this
“while no-one was looking”