I went with a friend to see a documentary, Searching for Sugar Man, last night. The small description in the paper intrigued her. A Detroit musician in the 1970s named Rodriguez, who released a couple of albums that did nothing in North America (but unbeknownst to him was selling as big as Bob Dylan in South Africa and practically the soundtrack to Apartheid.)
He disappeared after his second (what he thought to be unsuccessful) album didn’t do anything, and rumors in South Africa circulated that he shot himself on stage, or set himself on fire and died on stage after a series of bad happenings at a concert (sound issues, heckling etc.) It is really quite an interesting and inspiring documentary. Continue reading