Let’s be real for a moment–I don’t know much about the sound of the underground Lagos Dance Floor during the years 1974-1979. The truth is those years were a blur for me, what with the fall-out from Watergate, the quaalude abuse and my unseemly fixation with disco, Suzanne Somers, and Farah Fawcet. It was terrible. The definition of insanity is watching hundreds of episodes of Three’s Company and expecting them to turn out differently. Dammit Jack Tripper, why won’t you just tell Mr. Roper you’re not gay! He seems swinging and open-minded. He’s wearing a leisure suit for chrissakes! But I digress.
So Nigerian disco-funk. Right. Totally passed me by. However, I have been developing a nasty addiction to this stuff these days. It might not be as good as ludes but it’s close. And you can drive while listening to Nigerian disco-funk, which is always a plus. According to Dusty Groove, these tunes are the “kind of upbeat jamming funk performed in Lagos clubs and bars at the time…a distillation of the longer grooves of Fela, pushed a bit towards an American funk sound too.” If the music is any indication, Lagos clubs and bars must have been a good time between 1974-1979. Call me crazy, but I’d rather hear this stuff than Flo Rida’s “Low” played ad infinitum. Then again, there was that whole Nigerian civil war going on, which I imagine probably put a damper on the festivities.
Some of the political instability weaves its way into the fabric of the record, with T-Fire (presumably, T-Pain’s more talented African cousin) dropping the triumphalist, “Will of the People,” and Bongos Ikwue & The Groovies’ “message of uplift in “You’ve Got to Help Yourself.” The latter is a pretty awesome song, but I would’ve expected a man named Bongos to have included more bongos. I highly recommend this record if you like funk music, dancing, or Three’s Company. This is the sort of stuff they were bumping at the Regal Beagle after-hours. Shit, give Larry Dallas an 8-ball and some African disco-funk and clear your dance floor.
Buy Nigeria Disco Funk Special
Download:
MP3: Jay U Experience-“Some More”
MP3: S Job Movement-“Love Affair”
