Moonrakers Band - 1974 - Moonrakers Band

Moonrakers Band

1974

Moonrakers Band

01. We Got To Live

02. Cut Your Coat According To Your Size

03. Yara Manyan Gore

04. What We Did Today Is Gone

05. Enia Se Pele

06. Little Sister Of Line

07. Move On

08. Wait For Me

Frank Martins

Mike Appoh

Steve Black

An aura of mystery is hidden on this magnificent album released on EMI Nigeria in 1974 and today a collector’s cult object was the only one named Moonrakers Band.

Steve Black tells: “We were the original members of The Moonrakers and were based in Zaria, then in 1972 we left band management and started The Elcados. The original management of The Moonrakers sold the name to his elder brother who had a club in Kano and they brought Prince Bola Agbana to get other musicians to continue The Moonrakers while we moved in as The Elcados.”

Moonrakers Band and Elcados were the two bands that inflamed northern Nigeria in the early 70s with a more rocking and virtuoso sound, and especially with tons of rare grooves, then everything else around it.

Elcados - 1979 - What Ever You Need

Elcados

1979 

What Ever You Need

01. What Ever You Need

02. Cross Over Reggae

03. The World Is Full Of Injustice

04. Marry The Poor

05. Funky Music

06. This Is Life

Bass – Geoffrey Johnson

Drums – Rocky Mustapha Philip

Guitar – Tony S. Nosika

Organ – Dave Crown Olugbade

Percussion – Joe Edet

Saxophone – Virgil Kojia

By the 1979 release of Whatever You Need, the Elcados were ready to party. “We got rhythm, we got sound,” they declare on ‘Funky Music’. “You’re going to dig it!' Starting out as the Moonrakers in Kanu in 1968, Steve Black, Rocky Mustapha, Tony Nosika and Frank Martins, spent the next decade gigging their way out of the north, including a surreal set with Khalifa Baba-Ahmed at the Miss New Nigeria contest. They released two rock-oriented albums in the mid ‘70s before hitting a disco/reggae groove on Whatever You Need. The album starts with the title track, a bouncy reggae number guaranteed to fill the dance floor. ‘Cross Over Reggae’ keeps the mood light before ‘The World Is Full Of Injustice’ delivers a bit of Rasta indignation. Funk monsters ‘Marry The Poor’ and ‘Funky Music’ bring it all home, reminding listeners that the guys didn’t drag out their best shiny suits just to smoke spliffs. Sadly, Whatever You Need, was the last record the Elcados released. But they went out with the glitter ball burning brightly, dimmed but a little by the fug of the righteous herb.

Super Elcados - 1976 - Togetherness Is Always A Good Venture

Super Elcados

1976

Togetherness Is Always A Good Venture

01. Tambourine Party

02. Afro Funk

03. Xray Gun

04. How Much I Love You

05. Ejole

06. Tribute To Murtala Mohammed

07. Get Up And Do It Good

08. Price Of Fame

Bass Guitar, Vocals – Tony Steven Nosika

Congas, Percussion – Joe Edem Bassey Edet

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Rocky Mustapha Philips

Electric Piano, Synthesizer, Tenor Saxophone, Vocals – Dave Crown Olugbade

Lead Guitar, Vocals – Frank Martins

Organ, Guitar, Vocals – Geoffery Johnson

Trumpet – Bola Adex

Valve Trombone – Jarret Effiong

Vocals – Christe Black

Aside from its rather enticing and attractive name, Togetherness is Always a Good Venture just also happens to be one very funky record; and a highly sought after one at that!

Initially released as an album by EMI Nigeria in 1976, this eight track collection fuses a hefty dose of Nigerian funk, soul and disco.

Recorded by the Super Elcados (and Elcados on other recordings), the band’s repertoire consisted of three albums, all of which were released throughout the mid 70’s. At the end of this month Brighton’s Mr Bongo are to reissue the first of these three albums and this is where today’s groove-laden instrumental can be found!

Elcados - 1973 - This World is Full of Injustice

Elcados

1973

This World is Full of Injustice

01. I Was Stunned Into Speechlessness

02. Run Away Girl

03. The World Is Not Straight

04. Power To The People

05. Time Waits For No Man

06. Ku Mai Da Hankan (Let's Be Polite And Together)

07. Loving Is Right

08. Chokoi And Oreje

Dave Crown

Tony Stephen

Geoffrey Johnson

Frank Martins

Abu Rasaq

The ultra-rare holy grail masterpiece by Elcados originally released by EMI-Nigeria in 1973 and recorded by Kayode Salami. It's their debut album, a real gem played in an extraordinary inspired moment. Top shelf heavyweight Afro-psych funk-rock. Leader of the band is the great guitarist Frank Martins.

A set that's a bit early in that moment when psychedelic elements were moving into the scene in West Africa – served up by a group who really helped forge a way forward for the new style, by mixing heady guitars and vocals with some mighty nice rhythms! There's already echoes here of styles that other acts would put forward even more famously in the next few years – but The Elcados already seem to have them beat, with a lean sort of energy that uses plenty of English lyrics to create a more international vibe in the music – alongside swirling organ lines, fuzzy guitar, and lots or earthy percussion!