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Phuzekhemisi wants his gold - Discs are important to me1

Maskandi legend Phuzekhemisi Mnyandu wants his former record company, Gallo Records, to hand over his gold discs.

Phuzekhemisi told Sowetan yesterday that he had been waiting for years for Gallo to present him with his discs after he was told that his albums had sold more than 20000 units.

He said the last time the company presented him with gold discs was after his albums Imbizo, Ngo 49, Emaphalamende and Phansi Imikhonto achieved gold status in the 1990s. He said the gold discs were important to him because he wanted to display them in his home.

"Before, they used to show us how [much] our albums sold. I used to see these sales on the computer. If they achieve something, they used to give us," Phuzekhemisi said.

He said he wanted the gold discs for his albums Inkunzi ka Bhejane, Izwe Alithuthuki, Ake Nibheke and Nginenkinga.

"These gold discs are important to me. I want them to show people that my albums do sell. I now look like a liar when I say I have achieved gold status with most my albums because I have no discs to prove it."

Gallo general manager, Neil Greenburg: "I have requested statistics from the Recording Industry of South Africa. Once we have these, we can look at the years and check if the albums achieved any status."

Greenberg added: "It is not mandatory to present a special award. Where an artist has left, we supply the certification documentation from Risa to the artist or management."

Asked what took him so long to ask for his discs, Phuzekhemisi replied: "I did speak to them before I went to Scotland last year. When I returned I was told that Gallo had closed down. The woman that we used to deal with had left."

bambalelep@sowetan.co.za