William
Onyeabor
was a celebrated Nigerian
Musician, Producer, studio and label owner who pioneered Afro Synth-Funk in the
late 1970s. He was born in Enugu, Nigeria on 26th March, 1946 into a poor family, but became financially successful enough to
travel to Europe to study record manufacturing. A classic case of grass to
grace story.
William Onyeabor composed and self-released nine albums between 1977
and 1985 on his label, Wilfilms Records. His songs were often heavily rhythmic
and synthesized, occasionally epic in scope, with lyrics decrying war but encouraging
love, good friendship and good living. William
Onyeabor sang his songs himself with some female backing vocalists.
William Onyeabor’s most popular songs include “Atomic Bomb”; “Tomorrow”;
“When the Going is Smooth and Good” “This kind of World”; and “Hypertension”.
His full discography is here:
- Crashes
in Love (1977)
- Atomic
Bomb (1978)
- Crashes
in Love – Volume 2 (1979)
- Tomorrow (1979)
- Body
& Soul (1980)
- Great
Lover (1981)
- Hypertension (1982)
- Good
Name (1983)
- Anything You Sow (1985)
William Onyeabor was awarded West African Industrialist of the Year in
the late 1980’s, and given the honorary title “Justice of the Peace. In the
early 1990’s, he became the President of Enugu Musicians Union and Chairman of
the city’s highly reputable football team, The Enugu
Rangers. He was also given a chieftaincy title by his home community for
creating many opportunities for the people in his community.
Upon his popularity as a songwriter and a recording artist in
Nigeria, William Onyeabor has not performed
live on stage! Surprised? He was also not known beyond the shores of Nigeria
until recently, 2013 to be precise, when Luaka Bop record
label released “Who is William Onyeabor?”
which was a compilation of William Onyeabor’s songs,
his music and story took the world by storm.
The release was featured in major newspapers, radio and
television stations all around the world. Time Magazine listed him as number 4
on a shortlist of that year’s best albums. In 2014, the film documentary “Fantastic Man” followed, as well as a touring
supergroup called the Atomic Bomb! Band who
came together to play William Onyeabor's music
at a series of concerts and festivals around the world. The group is led by
Music Director Ahmed Gallab and his
band Sinkane and
includes David
Byrne (of Talking Heads), Money Mark (of
the Beastie
Boys), Damon
Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz), Dev Hynes (aka
Blood Orange and Lightspeed Champion), Alexis Taylor (of Hot Chip), Charles Lloyd and Amadou and Mariam.
William Onyeabor died peacefully in his sleep following a brief illness
at his home in Enugu State on 16th January, 2017 at the age of 70. May
his gentle soul rest in peace. Amen.
Emeka Okeke www.emeksmusic.com
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
January, 2017.
