HOW PMAN CHANGED MY LIFE

THE UNWRITTEN BOOK OF THE NIGERIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY AND THE TALENTS THAT PROPELLED IT – (4)

THE UNWRITTEN BOOK OF THE NIGERIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY AND THE TALENTS THAT PROPELLED IT – (4)

The vibrant activities and good profit in the Nigerian recording industry in the first half of the 1970s resulted in substantial local and foreign investments in the second half of the 70s and early 80s.

Before these new investments, professional recording facilities were limited to the three studios in Lagos. The first was the EMI 8 track studio on Wharf Road Apapa set up with EMI technology, a smaller version of the set up at the EMI Abbey Road Studio in North London where the Beatles recorded their big hits. The engineering team was led by Emma Odenusi. The second was the Philips 2 track studio situated at Ijora Causeway in Ijora which was driven by Philips machines and headed by Inyang Henshaw who was a successful Highlife artiste in his own right. The third was the Decca 8 track studio at Lawani Street in Abule Oja, Yaba set up with 3M technology. The lead engineer, Emma Akpabio, had a team that included L.A.K. Adeniran, John Malife and Martin Ikebuaku.

Manufacturing of black vinyl records took place primarily at the Phillips factory at Ojota and that of Record Manufacturers Nigeria Ltd (RMNL), at the same premises as the EMI Studio in Apapa. People came from all over West Africa to make use of these facilities.

Because of the heightened activities in the industry, there were several rapid developments. Phillips which had been acquired by Phonogram, bought from Ibadan based businessman, Bayo Akinnola, the 16 track ARC studio on Alhaja Kofoworla Street in Ikeja. The studio was originally set up by world renowned drummer, Ginger Baker during his tour of Nigeria. The engineering team was led by Demola Odebiyi assisted by Raymond Njoku. The company now known as Phonogram expanded and moved its manufacturing facilities from Ojota to Satellite Town in Lagos. The manufacturing facility was later taken over by the foreign owned NIRA Sounds which also turned it into a CD plant.

Apala music maestro, Haruna Ishola set up the 24-track Phonodisk studio with MCI technology and a manufacturing facility at Ijebu Igbo and a major rehearsal facility on Ikorodu Road in Lagos.

One of the foremost indigenous players in the industry, Chief G.A.D. Tabansi set up a 24-track Tabansi Studio and a manufacturing facility in Onitsha and another manufacturing facility on Oregun Road in Ikeja.

Rogers All Stars, fresh from its huge success with Ikenga Superstars and Prince Nico Mbarga, set up a top class 24-track studio in Awka Anambra State with engineering talent like John Malife, formerly of Decca, manning the console.

Shanu Olu Trading Company, the frontline distributor for Decca West Africa, also set up its own 24-track studio and manufacturing plant in Ijebu Ode.

Record Manufacturers of Nigeria Ltd (RMNL) expanded its operations and moved its facilities from Apapa to a more modern and spacious location in Ogba near Ikeja.

Simeon Anochie of Anodisc Records, began arrangements to set up state of the art recording and manufacturing facilities at Ogbor Hill in Aba.

The Afrodisia Studio in Abule Oja took delivery of a brand-new Neve console and 24-track Studer recorder to replace its 3M equipment. This new set of equipment was some of the most expensive in the world.

EMI moved from Apapa to Ikeja and set up two studios at its new location on Oregun Road. Studio 'A' was a fully automated 24 track facility driven by MCI technology. Studio 'B' had the cherished EMI 8 track console which had hosted many great recordings including Fela's Shakara and Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run". The new EMI studios which had an engineering team led by Monday Oki also had Bayo Aro.

Olumo Records boldly gave birth to Recordisc in the Iju area of Lagos with another 24-track studio based on Neve technology and a record manufacturing plant. The engineering team at the studio was led by Raymond Njoku who used to work with Demola Odebiyi at Arc Studio.

CBS Records which previously had its repertoire distributed in Nigeria by EMI, set up offices at Allen Avenue in Ikeja headed by Keji Okunowo who had previously managed A&R and Public Relations operations at Phonogram. The offices eventually moved to Aromire Avenue and later to Adeniyi Jones Avenue, all in Ikeja.

Apart from the above investments, there were countless smaller investments in the industry with many millions sunk in with the cumulative potentials to provide thousands of jobs.

As proof of the wisdom in the several millions of Naira invested in the industry, a new string of hit records with substantially improved audio quality, followed. Haruna Ishola's Phonodisk Studio opened the floodgates with the sleek recording of the young and very charismatic law student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Kris Okotie. The album, "I Need Someone" was produced by Odion Iruoje. The Odion Iruoje magic obviously was still at work. Odion had left EMI and made a successful recording at Decca with Cameroonian superstar, Manu Debango called "Home Made". The success of Kris Okotie's "I Need Someone" was a defining moment for the industry. Odion once again had in session his old partners from BLO, but this time the 'O' was a massively creative keyboard player, Lemmy 'Otu' Jackson.

Another development was the arrival of a deluge of Cameroonian instrumentalists that flooded Nigeria, apparently to exploit the fruits of the vibrant investments in the industry. While Kris Okotie released 'Just for You', another successful album at Phonodisk, the attempt by Phonodisk to achieve the same success with Gbubemi Amas, whose album, "Grill" was massively promoted, was unrewarded.

With the opening of the EMI Oregun Road studios in 1981, activities shifted from Phonodisk to EMI. In a great example of half-truth advertising, the EMI studio was advertised as a 32-track facility. While in theory the 24 track MCI recorder could be linked to another 8-track recorder in the studio resulting in 32-track operation, the studio was basically a 24-track set up running on 2 inch tapes.. Say what you might, the advertising worked and all roads led to EMI. The opening of the studio also marked the second coming of Odion Iruoje to EMI. At 23 years old, this author who had previously done some production work with Odion Iruoje at Decca, on the recommendation of Iruoje,.was engaged at EMI as part of the production and A&R team,

Odion came back to EMI with the undisputed hottest act of the time, Kris Okotie and quickly set about recording a new album. Simultaneously, Sonny Okosun was in the studio, not as a performer, but as a producer of a brand new female singer that people had seen on TV before, reading the news. Her name - Onyeka Onwenu! The author was also in the studio at the same time, both as producer and performer, on another album project. Onyeka Onwenu's "Endless Life", Tony Okoroji's "Juliana" and Kris Okotie's "Show Me Your Backside" were released almost simultaneously and all went into the charts. Shortly after, Sonny Okosun's "Mother & Child", Dizzy K. Falola's "Excuse Me Baby" among other recordings done at the Oregun studio were released and EMI was riding high!

Down the street on Oregun Road was the Lagos Headquarters of Tabansi Records which appeared to have caught the bug from EMI. Tabansi's response to the noise from EMI was profound. First, was the release of "Kill Me With Love" by Jide Obi who was incidentally a colleague of Kris Okotie at the University of Nigeria. The second was Bunny Mack's "My Sweety, My Sugar". The third was the release of "Lover Boy" by Felix Lebarty who had played guitar on the successful recordings of both Kris Okotie and Dizzy K. Falola. The public response to "Ngozi", a song from Felx Lebarty's album "Lover Boy" was phenomenal. A lot of activities were also going on at other recording companies and labels throughout the country.

Watch out as the tale of 'the Unwritten Book of the Nigerian Recording Industry and the Talents that Propelled it' continues.

See you next week.

THE UNWRITTEN BOOK OF THE NIGERIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY AND THE TALENTS THAT PROPELLED IT – (2)

Sir Victor Uwaifo was one of the major acts whose influence before the Nigerian civil war transcended the war. His monster hit "Joromi" released on the Philips label just before the Nigerian political crisis flared up in 1966, remained a dominant force as the war ended in 1970. The "Guitar Boy" of the Sweet Banana fame went on to score significantly with his Ekassa, Titibiti and Sasakosa series.

About 1971, the post war Nigerian recording industry began to gain tremendous strength. Sonny Okosun, who had operated under the radar for a while in the showbiz circle, used the period around 1972 to positively announce himself as a major act at EMI Nigeria. Okosun had performed in Benin City for a while as a second guitarist in Victor Uwaifo's Melody Maestroes and then experimented in Enugu with bands like "The Postmen" and "Paperback Limited". His 7" single, "Help" which had as its flip side another great song, "Don't Cry" recorded at the EMI Wharf Road Studio in Apapa, was a major hit. Both songs had the immensely gifted singer, Perry Ernest Okocha on the vocals.

In 1972, a Briton named Peter Bond, touched down in Nigeria as Managing Director of Polygram which had acquired Philips. Bond appeared to take a big liking to Perry Earnest who sought a solo career at Polygram. At this point, the dashing Keji Okunowo who later became CEO of CBS and Sony Music Nigeria was cutting her teeth in the music industry as Public Relations Manager at Polygram, operating from Polygram's Warehouse Road, Apapa head office.

With Perry Ernest gone, Sonny Okosun decided to grab the bull by the horn. He took over the mic and the lead singing in his band. Okosun added a big horn section to the band which section was led by trombonist, Fred Fisher who used to lead a band called the Granadians, resident at Granada Hotel at the Ojuelegba junction of Surulere. Okosun also brought in the locomotive drum sounds of Mosco Egbe, the keyboard wizardry of Jonny Woode Olimah , the guitar riffs of Spark Abiloye, the thumping bass of Ehimme Ottey and the group, Ozzidi took off like a bomb! To top up the attraction, a sexy group of female back-up singers and dancers like Claudia Pepple, Floxxy B, Margaret Akpan and Julie King became part of the group and Ozzidi was unassailable on stage! The rhythm section of Ozzidi was the core of the group that became known as SJOB Movement which subsequently with Prince Bola Agba, who passed on recently, became known as Jambos Express and released a significantly successful song called "Mother Africa". 

With Ozzidi, Sonny Okosun became a big activist and major voice in the anti-apartheid and African liberation movements. On the wings of Ozzidi, Okosun toured the African continent several times and made such great recordings as "Papa's Land", "Fire in Soweto", "Mother & Child", "African Soldier", "Which Way Nigeria?" etc. and became the greatest and longest hit maker at EMI Nigeria managed by chartered accountant, Bode Akinyemi. What Sonny Okosun did was what had been expected of either Jonnie Haastrup, whose band "Monomono" had a massive hit on EMI titled, "Give the Beggar a Chance" or Segun Bucknor, whose "Soul Assembly" had experimented with some intriguing African rhythms in the evergreen song, "Poor Man no Get Brother''. There were indeed suggestions from some quarters that what we know today as Afro Beat was created by Segun Bucknor but such suggestions evaporated because of Fela's towering personality and his undisputed dominance of the music genre.

At about the same period, three urbane looking young men in Lagos, Beckley Ike Jones, Laolu Akintobi and Mike Odumosu broke into the scene with a three-piece band called BLO which had an unbelievable sound as big as a huge orchestra. The name, BLO was coined from the first letters of the names of the guitarist, Beckley Ike Jones, the drummer, Laolu Akintobi and the first letter of the surname of the bass player, Mike Odumosu. From BLO's first album, "CHAPTER ONE" released by EMI, to "PHASE II", "STEP 3" and "PHASE IV", all of which came out on Decca's Afrodisia label, BLO never quite achieved its potential in record sales but was red hot on stage and the girls simply went crazy whenever BLO came to town for a show.

Music fans thronged whatever venues BLO played, to listen to the guitar solos of Beckley Jones on his famous Fender Stratocaster guitar, the singing bass lines of Mike Odumosu and the magical drum rolls of Laolu Akins and to experience the big sounds of their flashy Orange loudspeakers and amplifiers provided by Decca. The fact that only three guys produced such great sound was part of the great legend of BLO. The group was also very professionally packaged by their manager and publicist, Tony Amadi, one of Nigeria's best Entertainment journalists and publishers of all times. There was no argument that members of BLO were the best instrumentalists around and almost every recording artiste craved for some bars of the BLO sound in their recordings. The guys naturally became the most expensive session musicians in Nigeria. When Mike Odumosu moved on to join the trans-national group, "Osibisa", Biddy Wright 'Oladele' took over as the 'O' in BLO. In later years, the 'O' in BLO was the incredibly talented keyboard player, Lemmy 'Otu' Jackson who also became one of Nigeria's most successful producers responsible for hit songs from the likes of Oby Onyioha, Christy Essien Igbokwe and Onyeka Onwenu.

If EMI was the Mecca of pop artistes in Nigeria, Odion Iruoje was the Chief Imam. The fast talking and brash Producer and Artiste & Repertoire Manager at EMI, who neither had any formal training or apprenticeship in music, became one of the most powerful people in the Nigerian music industry.  Iruoje scored a major hit with the band, "Ofege" featuring high school students from St Gregory's College, Lagos. He simply gave fillip to the sweet schoolboy voice of lead singer, Melvin Noks Ukachi by throwing in the famed guitars of Beckley Jones to accompany the recordings of Ofege and all the kids in the streets were singing, "Wizzy Ilabo" and "Ofege is our name"!

As the mid-seventies strolled by, with the Udoji awards in the pockets of the Nigerian consumer, EMI  was in business  with such hit songs as "Still Searching" by Bongos Ikwue and the Groovies; "Beautiful Woman" by "Cloud 7" led by singer, Cliff David, "She's My Choice" by "Sweet Breeze" fronted by Dallas King Anyanwu as lead singer; Basil Akalonu (Bazy Cole), who will be laid to rest in a fortnight, as drummer; Jackie Moore Anyaorah, who passed on in New Jersey a few years ago, as lead guitarist and Vincent Iketuonye as Bassist. There was also "Slim Fit Maggi" by Semi Colon led by Lasbrey Ojukwu and a couple of mild hits from Warri based Tony Grey with his Ozzimba. Later on, Odion Iruoje used the back-up sound of BLO in addition to the Cameroonian, George Achini on bass guitar, to make Kris Okotie's "I Need Someone" on Haruna Ishola's Phonodisc label, one of the most successful records in Nigerian history.

While EMI was not known for Highlife, it did extremely well with the music of Peacocks International Band of Owerri led by guitarist, Raphael Amarebem and singer, Dan Orji which produced hit songs like "Sambola Mama" and "Eddy Quansa" which will be remembered by many as the iconic signature tune of the NTA sitcom, "Masquerade". EMI also sold hundreds of thousands of copies of the music of Apala legend, Ayinla Omowura. EMI was also selling a lot of reggae music by artistes like Jimmy Cliff, Jonny Nash, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Eric Donaldson, etc and scored positively with The Guyanese singer and producer, Eddy Grant, who had established a special relationship with the company.

Next week, we will examine the Juju music explosion at Decca West Africa, the emergence of Ayinde Barrister with Fuji music as a serious popular music form, the arrival of the Highlife guitar bands of Oriental Brothers and Oliver De Coque and the Ikwokirikwo craze fired by Ikenga Super Stars of Africa; the coming of the various locally owned labels, etc. Stay tuned. It will be interesting.

See you next week.