on the familiar mbaqanga sound, a type of jive music that fused traditional and modern elements together and played on electric instrumentation. Their take on this music evolved into a unique style referred to as "mgqashiyo", featuring up-tempo female harmony combined with powerful male bass vocal. Mahlathini became well known in his own right as a groaner, the name given to male lead singers with particularly deep and "groaning" vocals. The group would have hit singles throughout the 1960s, including "Thoko", "Sithunyiwe", "Pitsa Tse Kgolo", "Ngikhala Ngiyabaleka" and "Izulu Liyaduduma". Some of their most successful singles were compiled onto albums such as Meet the Mahotella Queens (their first LP), Indoda Mahlathini, Marena, Marks Umthakathi and Umculo Kawupheli. 1972 – 1987 In 1972, Mahlathini and several of the Queens members departed the group following royalty disputes with Rupert Bopape. Many of the members joined rival groups such as Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje. Mahlathini moved to another record company where he recorded with a new group of vocalists, titled simply The Queens, and backed by a new instrumental band. Bopape worked with the members of the Makgona Tsohle Band to replace the members of the Mahotella Queens who had departed. The newer line-up consisted of Emily Zwane, Beatrice Ngcobo, Thandi Radebe, Thandi Nkosi and Caroline Kapentar. In 1972, West Nkosi was promoted by Bopape to a producing role. One of his early productions was a then-unknown choir, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The Mahotella Queens continued to record and perform successfully throughout the 1970s, on many occasions in combination with groaner Robert 'Mbazo' Mkhize, who was also the lead vocalist of Mavuthela's successful male group Abafana Baseqhudeni. Guitarist Marks Mankwane became the producer of the Queens following the retirement of Rupert Bopape in the late 1970s. The group's material included albums like Izibani Zomgqashiyo, Tsamaya Moratuoa, Thatha Izimpahla Zakho, Ezesimanje and Tsa Lebowa. During the 1980s, the Queens' popularity dipped as a result of changing musical tastes, and mbaqanga was eventually usurped as the favoured music of the townships by styles such as soul and disco. 1987 – 1999 In 1983, Mankwane reunited Mahlathini with five of the original Mahotella Queens for a spin-off group titled Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo. However, the decline of mbaqanga music meant that the project lasted only a year. Mankwane continued to produce the Mahotella Queens while Mahlathini decided to join forces with the West Nkosi-produced trio Amaswazi Emvelo, one