Nico Carstens

South African accordionist, band leader and songwriter. Born 1926 in Cape Town, South Africa. Died 1 November 2016 in Cape Town. As a songwriter, he charted with two songs covered by five artists. The song "Zambezi" (co-written by Anton De Waal) charted three times, the highest by Lou Busch in 1955--it hit #75 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K. Eddie Calvert took it to #13 the following year in the U.K. and the U.K. band The Piranhas took it to #17 in 1982. The song "Sadie's Shawl" (co-written by Sam Lorraine) by Frank Cordell made it to #29 in the U.K. and by Bob Sharples (#52 in the U.S.), both in 1956. He often collaborated with Anton De Waal.