Ernie's African Odyssey Pt 39 - Nigeria

We are onto the 39th leg of the grand tour and it is one of the big ones - Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and sixth most populous in the world. 

It occupies a similar position in my record collection, with South Africa being the only country on the continent from which I have more music. Even after getting Fela Kuti out of the way last month and leaving out personal favourites who have popped up here frequently over the years like Orlando Julius and Sir Vixtor Uwaifo I still found myself left with a 'shortlist' of 80 tracks for this post, each by a different artist. 

After several days writing and rewriting the perfect selection to the point where it was adversely affecting my work and personal hygiene I decided just to pick ten and get on with it. This is it. They are all top notch tracks in my opinion but with one exception, maybe two, it would probably be a completely different list if I did this again tomorrow. 

The two exceptions are both African standards that were very popular well beyond the borders of Nigeria. The first of them is "Papa's Land" by Sonny Okosun.    

While many countries were independent by the time it was released in 1977 the song really resonated down in the south where the Portuguese had only recently left Angola and Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe were still officially South West Africa and Rhodesia respectively and the end of apartheid in South Africa was a long way off. 

There is another version of the song from 1980 made with Eddy Grant at the controls that has featured here before. That is excellent in its own right but you can't beat the original.

The second standard is "Sawale" by self-anointed Cardinal Rex Lawson. I don't think I am giving away any secrets when I say the tune is nicked from the old Cuban classic "El Manisero", which separately reappeared in the US as "The Peanut Vendor" and in the UK in old adverts for Golden Wonder peanuts. So we will dedicate this to a Portuguese peanut farmer of our acquaintance.

"Sawale" has in turn been adapted and adopted many times by various African musicians since it was first a hit in the late 1960s. If you go back to the Ethiopian leg of the journey you'll find it in the videos there, and Flavour's remade and renamed 2011 hit version kicks off today's visual stimulation.

Having dawdled at length over the first two tracks I am going to rattle through the other eight otherwise we will all have fallen asleep before we get to the music. We kick off with Bola Johnson who, like Cardinal Rex, was big back in the high-life era, although he later became better known as a journalist and radio personality. This track from 1973 is on a compilation of his work called "Man No Die".  

The early 1970s was also when the local mutant Afro-rock scene started to emerge, and Soundway Records excellent 2008 "Nigeria Rock Special" compilation picks out many of the highlights.  I have gone with Tabukah 'X' about whom I can tell you nothing at all apart from the date of the track (1975). Soundway seem to have stopped selling the album but it is available through some other outlets.

We skip forward to the early 1980s for the next few selections. First up is trombonist and singer Fred Fisher Atalobhor with a song originally released on his 1981 album "No Way" but now more easily found on his "African Carnival" compilation. Next is Akaba Man from Benin City, one of the pioneers of what was known locally as Edo funk. You can find several of his tunes on "Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1" along with the great Sir Victor Uwaifo and others. 

Julie Coker's career was sort of the reverse of Bola Johnson's. Nigeria's first ever TV presenter, she was already a star of the small screen by the time she decided to turn her hand to music in the mid 1970s. "A Life In The Limelight" brings together some of her best bits, including this disco smash from 1981. 

I am sure the gossipers and scandalmongers Julie rightly castigates do not include any Igbo lady socialites as they are all paragons. If they were not why would Onyeoma Tochukwu Nnamani pay them such fulsome tribute. I can tell you no more about Mr Nnamani other than that this is from his 2019 album "Nnamdi Kanu Nno Ije". I found it on EMusic but if you are not a subscriber the tax dodgers seem to be your best bet.

For our penultimate tune we pop back briefly to the 1980s to catch up with juju giant Sir Shina Peters. This track comes from his 1986 album "Sewele". And we round things off, as we always do, with the Mandatory African Reggae slot. It comes courtesy of the late great Ras Kimono and I have selected the title track from his 1994 album "Lone Ranger".  

And breathe...

"Papa's Land" - Sonny Okosun

"Sawale" - Cardinal Rex Lawson & His Mayors Band Of Nigeria

"Lagos Sisi" - Bola Johnson

"Finger Toe" - Tabukah 'X'

"W.T.F.S." - Fred Fisher Atalobhor & His Ogiza Dance Band

"Popular Side" - Akaba Man & The African Pride

"Gossiper Scandal Monger" - Julie Coker

"Igbo Socialite Ladies Tribute" - Onyeoma Tochukwu Nnamani

"Yabis" - Sir Shina Peters & His International Stars

"Lone Ranger" - Ras Kimono