Miriam Makeba’s One Hit Wonder

Miriam Makeba earned international notoriety more for her political involvement than for her music, but in 1967, her recording about “Pata Pata“, a South African dance loosely translated as “Touch Touch” had a 5 week run on the WKNR Music Guide, peaking at number 9. Her husbands included trumpeter Hugh Masekela, and later black activist Stokely Carmichael, and she worked with a diverse cadre of artists from Harry Belafonte and Dizzy Gillespie to Paul Simon. Makeba died November 10th of a heart attack after collapsing on stage at the end of a benefit concert.