newsFrom Raceland to Graceland: With Paul Simon in Africa during days of miracle and wonder
Master musician and legendary songwriter, Paul Simon
In Britain, it’s the start of the 2026 August Bank Holiday, what better time to relax and read. Trevor Grundy’s choice is a book that takes him back to Rufaro Stadium in Harare on February 14, 1987, when he was lucky enough to see and hear some of the world greatest musicians at work and at play.
‘DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER’ by Ashley Kahn (White Rabbit, £23.00 /320 pp)
Paul Simon released his seventh solo album, Graceland, in 1986.
The following year, Simon, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and the Lady Smith Black Mambazo performed Graceland in concert to tens of thousands of people in Harare.
Prior to the album’s release, he was going through personal and professional hardships, and a new album should have been just the thing to bring him out of those dark moments.
However, the resulting album became shrouded in controversy and haunted by political assumptions.
The album took direct inspiration from the South African style of music called mbaqanga. Simon was given a tape of mbaqanga music, describing it as “very good summer music, happy music.”
Producer Hilton Rosenthal then encouraged Simon to create an entire album inspired by mbaqanga and South African music.
However, at this time apartheid was still a major concern. In the 1980s, the issue attracted significant attention from the United Nations. Specifically, the UN declared a cultural boycott to “prevent all cultural, academic, sporting and other exchanges” of South Africa. Paul Simon went to South Africa anyway. He told the New York Times, “I knew I would be criticized if I went, even though I wasn’t going to record for the government … or to perform for segregated audiences. I was following my musical instincts in wanting to work with people whose music I greatly admired.”
Paul Simon had support from Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, and the South African Black musicians’ union to go to South Africa and record Graceland.
Not everyone shared the same encouragement. He was criticized after the album’s release by artists like Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, and Jerry Dammers. Additionally, James Victor Gbeho—the Ghanian Ambassador to the United Nations—and the organization Artists United Against Apartheid condemned Simon for violating the boycott.
However, Paul Simon worked to make everything about Graceland above board. He paid the contributing artists $200.00 an hour when Johannesburg musicians were usually paid $15.00
Graceland remains a culturally relevant album because of when it was made. It became more than an album, but a bridge between cultures and artists. Even though Paul Simon was accused of being pro-apartheid and received threats, Graceland is still a crucial piece of work in his oeuvre, and it’s possible it wouldn’t have had the same impact if it was made much later.
This is a book that tells you why.
Author Trevor Grundy at the 1987 Graceland concert in Harare, Zimbabwe. There was top security for the performers. Some ANC and PAC activists accused Paul Simon of breaking sanctions against South Africa.