McCully Workshop has had so many chart-topping hits, it’s hard to keep track. From Buccaneer to Chinese Junkman, the #1 hits just kept on coming. And now, some 30 years later, they’re pulling a Bowie!

If you DON’T know who McCully Workshop are, just asked your parents (if they’re over the age of 50) and be sure that they will lose their minds at this news! And you should too – you’re dealing with genuine SA rock music legends here. If you don’t know the song ‘Buccaneer‘ (listen to it HERE), you haven’t lived!

Lest we forget Chinese Junkman!

Just to recap:

The 4th McCully Workshop album, ‘Workshop Revisited’, released in late 1977 shot them to prominence when it introduced South African fans to the hits ‘Buccaneer’ and ‘Chinese Junkman’.

‘Buccaneer’ entered the Springbok Radio charts on 11th November 1977 and spent 15 weeks on the charts, reaching the coveted top spot on 30th December that year and staying there for 2 weeks. ‘Buccaneer’ also hit #1 on the Radio 5 charts and Mike McCullagh won the 1978 ‘Songwriter Of The Year’ award for this composition.

The follow-up single ‘Chinese Junkman’ entered the charts in March 1978 and peaked at number 9, spending a total of 8 weeks in the top 20. However on the Radio 5 charts it followed ‘Buccaneer’ to number 1.

The new album, ‘Work in Progress‘ (iTunes here) is the fifth McCully Workshop album of all original material, and the second one featuring songs written and performed by founder members Mike and Tully McCullagh with Rupert Mellor and Richard Black.

Five years ago the group got back together after 28 years, and performed a number of live concerts, some big ones in aid of various charities. The group was still able to pull crowds of 2,500 at Buitenverwchting and 4,000 at Kirstenbosch.

Recording of the new album was done at Spaced Out Sounds and engineered and mixed again by Tully.

Some facts on the new album:

– There are 16 new tracks, including ‘Money In Your Pocket’ in which they collaborated with American rapper ‘Brown.’

– All lead vocals by Tully McCullagh except for ‘Money’ (Richard Black) and ‘100 Miles & All I Ever Wanted (Rupert Mellor).

– All rapping in ‘Money In Your Pcket’ by Brown.

– All tracks feature Mike McCullagh (drums), Tully McCullagh (bass and guitar), Rupert Mellor (keyboards) and Richard Black (guitar) on backing vocals.

– All recordings used exclusively TUL MICS – these were invented by Tully specifically for recording and are now being used and raved about by leading artists and engineers in the USA.

– All the songs are original and the band members each had a hand in the songwriting, resulting in a very eclectic mix showcasing their various styles.

GET IT NOW ON ITUNES