Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels

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Last updated 25 07 11

About Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels:

Victor Khojane (Dr Victor) was born and raised in South Africa, Kimberley, where he attended school up to matric. He formed a school band called CC Beat that performed mainly on week ends, as youngsters they were influenced by bands like Blondie and Papa, Harare, Jonathan Butler and American teen sensations The Jackson five. In 1984, shortly after leaving school, Victor and his friends were heading for Johannesburg in search of their dreams, where they became very popular as a nightclub band.

They managed to get a deal with CCP Records (EMI South Africa), where they released two albums for that label. After a two year unsuccessful musical relationship with CCP, the band got a clearance. The band went touring the South African nightclub scene, when Victor met producer/songwriter Al Etto in Cape Town and played him a few demo tapes.

They soon got back into the studio to record and album for Dephon Records. The band decided to work under the name Taxi as an in house session band for Dephon Records. During this time, the band started backing such luminaries as Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Ricardo, Chicco Twala and were part of the ground-breaking tour of France with Lucky Dube, Stimela and Zia. By the end of the 80's, although they gained respectable recognition as a tight live band under Victor's leadership, the group was craving for center stage attention. They were once again released from Dephon Records and in 1991 they were introduced to nightclub owner Chris Ghelakis who had just started his independent CSR label.

Victor was flat broke and soon found himself in the studio with a project doing Eddy Grant classics for CSR Records. The cover project was recorded as The Rasta Rebels and became a major success that contained such hits like "Give me Hope Jo'Anna", "I don't want to dance" and others. The band later changed their name to Rasta Rebels and enjoyed the stardom they received countrywide.

Victor felt empty inside and wanted to record his own songs, he then recorded two solo albums for CSR Records "Badayo" and "Hello Africa" with new original material but the song that became his smash hit of these albums were Cooks and Motambo's "Tumbai".

The name Dr Victor was born and slowly became a household name throughout South Africa and in 1994 he went back into the studio and released his "One Goal, One Wish" album of which "Shambala" became the FNB Sama single of the year.

His talent was soon spotted by Peter Styuvesant promoters and he got the opening act slot for internationals acts such as Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Gloria Estefan and Janet Jackson. After a six year long relationship with CSR Records, he moved on to Gallo Records, where he released a live studio album called "Faya" with favourites like "Tsoang Tsoang Tsoang" and "Kalimba". Dr Victor was invited to perform at MIDEM in France and managed to get the "Faya" album released in France.

Two tracks of the album have received enormous airplay with a licensing deal in Mexico, The Middle East and Japan. He once again teamed up with his session friends, The Rasta Rebels and released "The Best of The Rasta Rebels" with the hit song "I love to truck". He went back to his passion for song writing and started writing again, his latest album "Stress" is receiving extensive airplay and has been nominated for this year's FNB SAMA AWARD as the "Best Adult Contemporary Album". Dr Victor also produces up and coming artists and is still touring and enjoys doing live shows.

Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels:

For more than 15 years Dr. Victor, Victor Khojane as he is also known, has been crafting and creating an uplifting, up tempo sound that has earned this singer, musician, songwriter and producer an enviable reputation on the South African music scene and many devoted fans all over the world.

Indeed, Dr. Victor has enjoyed a fabulous 2006 already. Together with his group, The Rasta Rebels, he is on...e of the busiest live musicians, doing a range of events from corporate gigs to headlining shows at The Blues Room in Sandton, Tempo’s and Cantina Tequila.

Dr. Victor himself has continued to have a creative hand in the lives of many homegrown artists – from both South Africa and the African continent. He produced and co-wrote Dawnay’s album, “You Touch Me (Horny)” and worked with Raymond, a Zimbabwean artist who works with Mbira music. What’s more, Dr. Victor’s love of jazz and his skills as a highly accomplished musician (he plays guitar and piano) have also had an outing on the album, Laid Back Sunday, with the group Kalimba. The latter is expected to be an on-going affair – a side project that will see the group produce an album a year.

It’s all a long – but very satisfying – way from Dr. Victor’s roots in Kimberley, South Africa where he first formed a group called CC Beat while still at school.

Influenced by the likes of South African bands such as Blondie and Papa, Harare, Jonathan Butler and American teen sensations The Jackson Five. The group was determined to find success, 1984, shortly after finishing school, Victor and his friends headed for Johannesburg where they became a popular nightclub band.

A deal with CCP Records (EMI South Africa) saw Victor and his friends release two albums but it wasn’t until a few years later when Victor met producer/songwriter Al Etto in Cape Town and played him a few demo tapes, that things really got into full swing. Taking the name Taxi, the band became an in house session band for Dephon Records and backed such high-profile SouthAfrican acts as Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Ricardo, and Chicco Twala. Taxi was also part of the groundbreaking tour of France with Lucky Dube, Stimela and Zia.

But by the end of the 80s, although they had gained respectable recognition as a tight band under Victor’s leadership, the group was craving for center stage attention. Released from Dephon Records, in 1991 they were introduced to nightclub owner, Chris Ghelakis, who had just started his independent CSR Label. Victor soon found himself in the studio with a session project doing Eddy Grant classics for CSR Records. The cover project was recorded as The Rasta Rebels and became a major success that contained hits like “Give Me Hope Jo’Anna”, “I Don’t Want To Dance” and others. The band later changed their name to Rasta Rebels and enjoyed the stardom they received countrywide. The creative soul that Victor is, he was soon also branching out and recording the solo albums Badayo and Hello Afrika, scoring a big hit with his version of Cooks and Motambo’s “Tumbai”.

Dr Victor rapidly became a household name throughout South Africa and in 1994 he went back into the studio and recorded One Goal, One Wish, which contained the South African Music Award-winning Single of the Year, “Shambala”. Dr Victor was soon taking the opening act slot for international acts such as Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Gloria Estefan and Janet Jackson and he also performed at MIDEM in France.

After a six-year relationship with CSR Records, Dr Victor moved to Gallo Records where he released a live studio album called Faya, with favorites like “Tsoang Tsoang” and “Kalimba” included. Several tracks off this album have received enormous airplay and earned Dr. Victor a licensing deal in Mexico, the Middle East and Japan. More recently, Dr. Victor once again teamed up with his session friend and The Rasta Rebels and released The Best Of The Rasta Rebels with the hit song “I Love To Truck” featured on the album.

Returning to his songwriting passion, Dr Victor wrote and recorded many tracks on the album, Stress (released in 2000) which also received extensive airplay and was nominated for the 2001 FNB SAMA AWARD as the “Best Adult Contemporary Album”.

2003 saw the release of Sunshine Daze which won the SAMA for Best Dance Album – and 2004 saw the release of “If You Wanna Be Happy” which shot to all the charts within the first few weeks of it’s release.

In 2006 Dr Victor & The Rasta Rebels released a 14 track album titled “When Somebody loves you back” with hit singles like “My Number 1” and “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” and other funky tunes which stayed on the S.A Radio charts for several weeks

The man just never stops because he released a brand new album in 2008 titled “New Flame” with the first single out on radio “Love you so”
Dr Victor & The Rasta Rebels are currently working on the release of their first live DVD.