Music in my ears: The Nigerian music history stories
By Joseph Asikpo
Music in my ears: The Nigerian music history storiesSep 03, 2022
The Story of the Apostles of Aba
The Apostles of Aba were a Psychedelic Rock band of the 70s. The band was led by Walter Arungwa and other members like Barry Uba, Murphy Williams, Papa Doe, and others.
Higlife Music: On the path to extinction or revival?
Highlife music was the definitive music of West Africa in the 60's. , but has gradually declined in dominance over the decades. Is the genre going into extinction or is there hope for a revival?
What was the London era of Nigerian music?
The London era of Nigerian music was the time when most post-production of Nigerian music such as mixing and mastering was done in London.
A peep into Universal Music Group and Mavin Records Deal
Global music giant Universal Music Group announced an acquisition of majority stakes in Top Nigerian music label Mavin Records led by Don jazzy. What does it hold for Afrobeats genre, and to Nigerian music in general
Voice of the Cross, the Fathers of Contemporary Gospel Music in Nigeria.
The duo of Brother Lazarus Chukwuoma and Brother Emmanuel Ogbonna met in the early 1970s in a Church in Aba. They started singing when they discovered that they were musically compatible. The duo released a couple of albums through the 70s and 80s. In 2000, they relocated to the United States of America for different reasons. Lazarus later returned to Nigeria where he has a Ministry in his native Imo State, while Brother Emmanuel Ogbonna now Rev.Dr Ogbonna is still in the United States of America.
Larry Edun the Legendary AfroReggae Creator
Dr Larry Edun is the Creator of AfroReggae, a fusion of Reggae, African Rhythms and Jazz. An intellectual who believes in using music as a weapon for fighting corruption and underdevelopment in Africa.
How did reggae music decline in Nigeria?
The Nigerian music scene witnessed a dominance of reggae music in the 80s. The genre declined at the close of the decade. This episode examines the rise and decline of the genre in Nigeria.
Grammys 2024: A big win for South African girl Tyla, No win for Nigerian artistes
The events of the 2024 Grammys have come and gone. The major talking point in Africa is the win by Tyla for the Best African Music Performance Category in a field that had four top Nigerian Artistes like Burna Boy, Davido, Ayrra Starr, and Asake/Olamide.
How Nigerian music evolved from Highlife to Afrobeat
Nigeria is a multicultural and multiethnic multicultural and country. It has diverse music forms across the length and breadth of the country. This is reflected in the music forms that developed post-independence. However, the more predominant genres over the years and decades had been highlife, Afrofunk, pop, reggae, Afro HipHop and subsequently Afrobeats. This video is a summation of the transitions between the music forms.
The Story of King George Emah
Born into a musical family, King George Emah's parents were singers in church. His journey into music began during his tender years in Primary school, where he was a flutist extraordinaire. King George's dexterity on the flute saw his first year in college take a new turn as his teachers who were astonished at his raw talent on the flute made it pertinently compulsory for him to be professionally taught the trumpet. During his college days, King George began playing for bands in and around Akwa Ibom State where he hails from. During one of such gigs was he spotted and contracted to sing for the SUPER WINGS of ABA under the stage name GEORGE BLACK. King George Emah's journey into becoming a professional musician started with his hay days performing for the popular rock band SWEET UNIT which was also known at the time as ROCK OF AGES Band after which he moved on to play for the FRANK FYNES EXPRESS BAND along with the likes of Billy Bayanak and Ethonde Roddy; both musical bands were native to Aba in Abia State but went on tour nationally. Fate saw to it that through the late ESSIEN AKPABIO, King George Emah climbed yet another rung of the ladder by joining the very popular ANANSA PROFESSIONALS Band which at the time was based in Calabar, Cross River State. King George later broke away from the FUNKY ANANSA Band as it was later called and moved back to Aba to pursue a solo career in music. His first outing as solo artiste LETS DANCE was in collaboration with FELIX LIBARTY (Guitar), BOB OKU (Vocals) and ETHONDE RODDY (Bass Guitar). King George's 1979 second solo effort EXECUTIVE THIEVES was a launchpad which saw the hit tune trend in the West African region especially in Liberia under the pseudonym Paul Warren. King George Emah's fourth L.P titled SWEETER THAN HONEY came under the popular PHONODISK Record Label in 1981, the hit album was cooked by the best hands in the industry at the time with likes of LEMMY JACKSON and WILLY ROY on keyboards, the late WILLY NFOR on bass guitar, FELIX LIBERTY along with EUGENE NDEMA on guitars while STEVE BLACK did justice to the drums. The SWEETER THAN HONEY album had an evergreen track in it titled I AM GROWING OLDER which is still a popular tune to this day. King George in his fourth album DO AS I SAY which was released in 1987 did a crossover stunt on the L.P which saw it trend massively in Ghana and did put King George on the road, as he went on a tour of the West Coast; it was a household song at that time in Ghana. The then President of Ghana Lt. Jerry Rawlings identified with it as a revolutionary hit and it had the likes of LEMMY JACKSON, NKONO TELES, BASIL BARAP, RICK ASIKPO and OSSEI YAW (a Ghanaian saxophonist) on the project. King George Emah's fourth solo album saw a total turnaround in his fortunes in the music industry as he became a musical icon in Ghana which saw him play with the biggest bands at the time, like POZO HAYES, JOEL ACKAH etc., the media industry in the country at the time, especially gave him the nickname THE LITTLE GIANT. On returning to Nigeria after a long successful musical career in Ghana, King George is now a born-again Christian in Christ Embassy church, Nigeria. Being highly passionate about his musical, King George recently came out with a popular song titled AIDS DEY KILL which saw massive airplay and acceptance in Kaduna and Jos, the song did win an HIV/AIDS musical contest in Lagos which was hosted by the then First Lady, Stella Obasanjo. In a recent effort to show his mettle, King George has teamed up once again with legendary Nigerian music Producer Lemmy Jackson to produce 4 hit tracks to storm the gospel music scene, they include: WEEKEND JAM, LAMBANO THE WORD, LOVING JESUS and GOD IS GOOD.
Sharing Nostalgia, and listerning experiences on Nigerian music
I shared experiences on my music listenership over the years.
Nigerian Music Industry Introductory Live talk
We went live for the first time to discuss Nigerian music history and the industry as a whole. Joined by Nigerian Afrobeats artiste Gabriel Ashibi. Gabriel Ashibi popularly known as Paparazzy or Breeze gave his insight to the Industry. We will continue to do live recordings with guests this 2024.
List of International Artistes that contributed to the Nigerian Music Industry
The Nigerian music Industry has always had some collaboration with its foreign counterparts. Indeed the rise of the Afrobeats genre can be attributed to some of the collaborations that took place from the early 2000s till date. However, there have always been collaborations in the early days of the music industry. In this episode, we explore some notable collaborations that took place in the 70s and the 80s.
Top Cover songs by Nigerian artistes Part 1
One World Band, the elitist band from Nigeria's Afrofunk music era
One World band was an offshoot of Bob Miga-led Strangers of Owerri. It is not entirely clear what led to about five members of the Strangers leaving the band to form One World, but the split proved to be the end of the Owerri-based Strangers. The Ani Hofner-led One World band grew to become a fan-favourite band churning out a somewhat mellow funk compared to other bands of that era.
One World's discography includes five albums released between 1975 and 1978. Two of the albums were released in 1978 including the reggae album Mama and Papa, a clear departure from their mellow rock sounds. One World was also regarded as an elitist band which appealed to the upper class of society.
My thoughts on Nigerian artistes shifting to Amapiano sub-genre.
The Headies and Timeless Album by Breeze
The Strangers of Owerri were really no strangers in Nigerian music history
Years Active: Late 60’s – Early 70’s
Members: Bob Miga, Felix Umeoffia, Gab Ozani, Ani Hofnar Umebuani, Geoffrey Imadhebo, Joe Arukwe, Joni Haastrup, Samuel Ifeanyi, Samuel Mathews, Tammy Evans and Timmy Nebuwa
The Strangers were one of the early funk rock bands of post-civil war Nigeria and had a significant impact in the Eastern part of the country in the late 60s and 70s. The Owerri-based band was founded by late organist Valentine Soroibe Bob Agim, more popularly known as Bob Miga.
Miga was with the Hykkers, a Lagos-based military-affiliated band that toured the South East States. It was time to return to base in Lagos, but Miga preferred the band to remain in Owerri where the band had already established a strong fan base and convinced the Military top brass to that effect. While other Hykkers members returned to Lagos, Miga remained in Owerri and regrouped with new band members to form the Strangers of Owerri. The band also had Joni Haastrup in its lineup who later formed the Lagos band Mono Mono .
On the band's disbandment in the late ’70s, Bob Miga relocated to London until his death in 2014, Some band members had moved on to form One World Band.
The Strangers scored a few hits including
‘Nobody Called Me’ 1972 HMV Records
‘Love Rock’(Single) 1972 HMV Records
‘Survival’ HMV single.
Introducing Gabriel 'Breeze' Ashibi and my credentials in Nigerian music history
It took a whopping 15 years of recording songs for an album to get to the point of releasing the album. Quite unusual, but sometimes things don't always turn out the way you plan. So today we are promoting a Single 'Caro' by Gabriel Ashibi a.k.a Breeze a.k.a Paparazi. The two version Single was recorded way back in 2007 or at most 2009 under my record Label EthnikHouse Entertainment. The full album was equally ready. Due to certain circumstances the album contract, missing tapes and other technical reasons, I became the only audience of the songs for many years. At some point ,I couldn't find the file of the songs on my computer. Breeze also has no copy. Running a Label has always been a fantasy business for me when I read about Berry Gordy of Mowtown, Dick Giffrey of Solar and coming down to Nigeria I don't know how many people realise how much late chief Haruna Isola contributed to the Nigerian music Industry with his Ijebu Igbo based Phonodisck Records, just one example will suffice in Kris Okotie. or Cheif GAD Tabansi of Tabansi Records. I look forward to being like them, But, running a label is not cooking beans.
Well, we have released the Sigle on Audiomack but will follow up with the album which should be on almost every digital store soon. Yes, the music has changed because Breeze came in the Afro Hip Hop era, but then that was the beginning of the renaissance until we landed at Afrobeats.
This episode of the podcast is just to introduce the artiste Breeze, who has been doing his thing since then and the Single which is in the public space for the first time and also to flaunt my little credentials in Nigerian Music History.
Presenting the story of The Doves Band
The Doves were a top-rated band in the South Eastern State of Nigeria which was later renamed Cross River State before it was split into Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. Despite their fame and popularity in the easternmost border state of Nigeria and in Umuahia which was their musical home, national acclaim was a bit elusive to the band. The Doves by all means were a great band with thirteen active years spanning 1974 to 1987 delivering eight albums and six singles, they were quite ahead of their contemporaries in terms of longevity and output.
With lineup changes over the years, the band's primary members include a multinational and multiethnic grouping from Nigeria, Cameroun and Senegal. It is not hard to understand the influx of talented Camerounians who only need to cross the sea border at Oron or Calabar to hop into Nigeria or Cross into Ikom from Mfum border. Billy Baynak Eugene and Tony Ngon and the Band's late lead singer Lawrence Ebanga represent a typical case of the Cameroon contingent. Saint Myron Kalla comes through from Senegal while the Nigerian contingent featured, Maxwell Udoh who took up lead vocal duties after the tragic death of Lawrence Ebanga in a car crash in April 1976. Al- Jackson Nakwe worked with Etubom Rex William the Highlife Supremo before jumping on the wings of The Doves while Levis Esso, Dominic Ikpe, Chikodiri Eze, Etienne Keston, Emmanson Ekeagwu, Sam Joseph were all part of the groupings. There is a certain Patrick Udoh famously acclaimed as the leader and main songwriter of the band, but the band credits are often limited in this regard, but a few occasions, Patrick Udoh actually runs the show either with a different lineup or as a label executive.
Most members moved on to pastoral work and other music-related endeavours, Maxwell Udoh became a solo artiste delving into calypso-flavoured afro music and later got caught in the Reggae frenzy of the mid-1980s sadly, Maxwell Udoh passed on in December 2014 after a protracted illness.
Introducing Moustafa Taco on Lo Siento
Mono Mono, the Lagos Afrofunk and Rock band that made Lagos Funky.
An Interlude to applaud Nigerian Afrobeats Artistes making Nigeria proud worldwide,
With Afrobeats artistes winning major awards around the world we interrupted our current run on Afrofunk music episodes to give kudos to Tems, Burna Boy and others. As usual with the music in my ears podcast, we dig into the historical perspectives of this current rave-of-the-moment scenario.