Forgotten Treasure: The Cannibals “She Knows” (1981)

“Is there anything more anti-climactic than New Years?” my friend asked. Finding myself in King’s Cross Station at 5.30 am with nothing but a 6-inch Chicken Teriyaki sub under my arm, my response was a resounding, “No”. Sensing my rapidly increasing despondency, he rescued me with his iPod; “Here, listen to this”.

Within five seconds, I felt like I knew where the track was going. But then a drum fill came out of nowhere, knocking the groove into a delirious spin. Then that perfectly harmonised refrain, “Oh Lord, please help me! My neighbour has something that I haven’t got!”. It was like the Ten Commandments being shouted by some overgrown, petulant child. I dropped my Subway Sub and boogied until my friend asked me to stop .

From what I can tell, “The Cannibals” were a South-African disco-boogie band active in the early 80s. That’s all the information I could gleam from my minutes of online research, but it’s probably all we need to know. This sublime track, “She Knows”, is taken from their 1981 LP entitled, “Put Your Dancing Shoes On”. That’s not a request, by the way, it’s an order.

The Cannibals - She Knows (1981)