October 04, 2008

The consistent highlife king

To me Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe has always been just that: the consistent highlife king. I mean, you can buy any of his albums. They are all great.

My first lp of the -unfortunately late- chief was cleverly disguised as the work of the 'People Star'. It took me a while to find out who this master of mental massage really was.
By then I had already found the first volume too.

I have never understood why the albums are called Festac Explosion 77. They were recorded four years earlier in 1973. It is suggested that the release under a different name was due to "a licensing or copyright dispute", or that this record is a 'pirate' record. There may be a link with the departure in 1973 of members of Osadebe's orchestra to form the Ikenga Super Stars.

But who cares, - after listening to this?

EDIT (June 15, 2013): I've removed the dead link...
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7 comments:

  1. moos4 October 2008 at 14:04

    You have got no idea how I am enjoying your posts,
    words can't express..

    ReplyDelete
  2. John B.4 October 2008 at 16:45

    Thanks for posting this. My copy of this record is hopelessly scratched and unplayable.

    "World Service" is off to an incredible start!

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  3. John B.4 October 2008 at 16:54

    P.S.: Any chance you can post Vol. 1 also? I'm listening to Vol. 2 now and it's great!

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  4. WrldServ5 October 2008 at 06:47

    I will post Vol. 1 in the near future (and more from Osadebe). I am trying to keep a bit of variation going....

    ReplyDelete
  5. avocado kid5 October 2008 at 18:18

    wow, so many treasures here! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous30 December 2008 at 21:32

    Please post any Ikenga you have
    thanks
    wuod K

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jideofor11 April 2021 at 13:20

    Thank you so much for posting this gem. You're a great guy yourself, you like good things

    ReplyDelete