Celtic Rumours

For a brief stretch in the late 1980s, Celtic Rumours looked like the band that might carry Durban's new wave scene onto the international stage. Formed in 1987 by schoolmates from Westville Boys High, the group began life as Empire Rage before settling on the name Celtic Rumours, reportedly inspired by The Cure's Japanese Whispers. The classic line-up came together around vocalist Kevin van Staden, keyboardist Sean Schulze, drummer Geoff Wybrow, guitarist Gary Turner, and bassist Lars Lofstrand.

Musically, the band drew on the era's New Romantic wave, channelling the same synth-driven energy as Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, but filtered through a distinctly South African, Durban-scene sensibility. It worked. Their single Slow Rain became a genuine hit, and the band found itself topping the South African charts and touring relentlessly. Two albums followed: This Day in 1989, and Greed, which produced the single Wishing I Was Lonely.

But the pace that made them famous also undid them. The relentless touring schedule strained the group, and Celtic Rumours quietly disbanded in the early 1990s after just those two records. Van Staden moved to Johannesburg, performing covers and originals around the city while recording with a new outfit, Communique, and preparing a solo career. He never got to release it. On 26 December 1994, Van Staden was killed in a car accident that also claimed the lives of his sister and a friend. He was still a young man with, by his own bandmates' account, songs enough for eight albums already sketched out.

Celtic Rumours never became a household name outside South Africa, but within it, they remain a touchstone of the country's 1980s alternative scene - a reminder of how much promise, and how much loss, can fit into just a few short years.