John Edmond

{{Infobox person

| name = John Edmond

| image =

| caption = John Edmond in 2016

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1936|11|18}}

| birth_place = Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia
(now Zambia)

| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|musician}}

| years_active = 1956 – present

| spouse = Teresa Edmond

| children = 4

| website = {{url|johnedmond.co.za}}

| module2 = {{Infobox musical artist | embed=yes

| genre = {{hlist|Skiffle|pop|country|folk|rock and roll}}

| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar|bagpipes}}

| label = Roan Antelope Music

}}

{{Infobox military person |embed=yes

| allegiance = 25px Rhodesia and Nyasaland{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecornellreview.org/exclusive-interview-with-rhodesian-singer-songwriter-john-edmond/|title=Exclusive: Interview with Rhodesian singer/songwriter John Edmond|website=thecornellreview.org|date=6 October 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250526191100/https://www.thecornellreview.org/exclusive-interview-with-rhodesian-singer-songwriter-john-edmond/ |archive-date=May 26, 2025}}
{{Flag|Rhodesia}}

| branch = 23px Rhodesian Army

| rank = Trooper

| unit = 3rd (Northern Rhodesia) Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment

| serviceyears = 25px (1960–1963)

23px (1971–1979)

|battles = Congo Border War
Rhodesian Bush War

}}

John Edmond (born 18 November 1936) is a Rhodesian folk singer and retired soldier who became popular in the 1970s for his Rhodesian patriotic songs. He reached the height of his fame during the Rhodesian Bush War where he was sometimes known as the "Bush Cat".

Background

Edmond was born on 18 November 1936 in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (modern day Zambia) to a family of Scottish descent; during his childhood, he and his parents moved between Scotland and Central Africa. He went to school in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia; Edinburgh, Scotland; and in South Africa at Christian Brothers College in Pretoria. He 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. John 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. He was regularly featured in lead roles at Christian Brothers College in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Edmond was 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 was employed at the Roan Antelope copper mine.

After some time there, 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 was a success among its peers and progressed into cabaret and rock 'n' roll.{{Cite web|url=http://johnedmond.co.za/biography.html|title=John's Biography | John Edmond – legend campfires zambia zululand Walvis Bay Vilanculos Singer songwriter entertainer storyteller author bush pilot musical career 60's 70's pop country TV 7 smash South Africa hits|website=johnedmond.co.za|access-date=28 August 2021|archive-date=14 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114113455/http://johnedmond.co.za/biography.html|url-status=dead}} After his military service was up, Edmond went to England to study computers and moved to South Africa during the mid-1960s. He became famous in Rhodesia during the Bush War with his album Troopiesongs.{{Cite web |title=Welcome to | John Edmond – singer songwriter entertainer storyteller light-hearted tragic children outdoors wildlife aviators pop love autobiography |url=http://johnedmond.co.za/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402004837/http://johnedmond.co.za/#readBio |archive-date=April 2, 2025 |website=johnedmond.co.za}} He was also a composer, writing such hits as "The UDI Song". After the war, and Zimbabwean independence, he continued to record albums such as Zimsongs and Zimtrax.

In 1982, Edmond's label RAM published The story of Troopiesongs and the Rhodesian Bush War, a collection of lyrics for Troopiesongs, in Johannesburg.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18508621|title=The story of Troopiesongs and the Rhodesian Bush War|last=Edmond|first=John|date=1982|publisher=Roan Antelope Music|location=Johannesburg|pages=50|oclc=18508621|language=en}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.kunkuru.co.za/ |title=index.jpg |website=www.kunkuru.co.za |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040829101848/http://www.kunkuru.co.za/ |archive-date=2004-08-29}} Edmond also has his own record label, Roan Antelope Music (RAM).{{Cite web |last=Worley |first=Terry |date=2014-10-17 |title=Legendary singer, songwriter John Edmond in Dundee |url=https://www.citizen.co.za/northern-natal-news/news-headlines/2014/10/17/legendary-singer-songwriter-john-edmond-dundee/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241110160518/https://www.citizen.co.za/northern-natal-news/news-headlines/2014/10/17/legendary-singer-songwriter-john-edmond-dundee/ |archive-date=10 November 2024 |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Northern Natal News |language=en-US}}

Discography

class="wikitable" !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 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 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 \| \|

class="wikitable" !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{{Citation needed\|reason=See Talk\|date=May 2021}}
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 124th Cavalry Regiment Association.