"I FEEL ALRIGHT Music"

My blogging has been quite sporadic in the recent. Apologies will be dished out in mailed cards to each and everyone of you the soonest... SCREW IT!!! You're gonna have to deal with a goddamn mass apology *gives mean face* ;-)

Truth is, I had been under pressure to deliver a first cut of a documentary I have been shooting for almost 3/4months in 3days. HOW THE HECK IS THAT HUMANLY POSSIBLE. Only going through the BLEEDING footage would take three days. But as all good 'thrillers' go, theres is ALWAYS an added conflict. Such was my case as... ofcourse. I had to chop up miles of footage in just two days and courier to Nigera with only 3days allowed to be dedicated to transport, when all courier services were giving me an earliest delivery date of 4 days. WHAT THE HECK!!

To make matters worse, when i FINALLY find a loop hole, which I admit was achieved through devious means (hey! You gotta do what you Gotta Do.. DONT JUDGE ME :-(  ) and my package is merrily on its way to Abuja, Nigeria, I decided to track it online only to find out my 'precious' package is on its way to... wait for it. . . 'ABIDJAN', COTE D'IVOIRE!!!!!! Are you kidding me? Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME!! ARE ALL THE F*CKING COURIER gODS OUT TO GET ME? PLUS (okay Ill stop with CAPS now) the Nigeria angle remains BLOWING (sorry) up my phone tryna find out when it gonna get there.. "It MUST get here LATEESSST Friday", said in the thickest Nigerian accent.. phew!! 

Anyway, status Update... Its 10am in NYC and about 4pm in Nigeria (they are 6 hours ahead) DHL tracking site says its now in Abuja, and the contacts in Nigeria have admitted to hearing it has been delivered and is somewhere in the building. SOMEWHERE IN THE BUILDING? Oh well... thats THEIR problem. Im not gonna think about it anymore, MY thriller movie is running end credits.

Anyway through the vicissitudes of my life, there should be no excuse for not fulfilling my obligation to blog and help in updating your iPOD. Even NYC rats have days when the garbage man makes his runs early and on time, leaving them with no trash to seductively roll around in.. Oh well!!

So on to today's music. I stayed up till about 5am the other day searching for downloads of old classic Nigerian music I heard while growing up. You know the ones that take you back to time where things could have not been better. Before the responsibility of bills, children, nagging wife, inattentive husband, car notes, McCain, Sarah Palin, bills (didnt i already say that? Oh well you know what I mean).

Like Ive said a million times, I was pommelled with music growing up from the 'parental units', Back then i thought it was a chore, but now I believe it was a blessing to be put in such an eclectic musical environment. I tell you this, my children WILL run the same course. They'll probably be complaining on the phone, internet (or whatever other contraption is invented by then) to their friends how uncool their parents are for forcing them to listening to Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Tupac, Biggie, Slick Rick, Outkast, Big Daddy kane, while they'd rather listen to some guy that raps/sings/rap-sings :-? about killing his wife and driving state wide with her dead in the trunk (oh wait! Eminem already did that). But I WILL do it! Curse words et al. They need to appreciate HipHop music as much as Soul, R&B, Jazz, Blues, Rock and Country (eerrrr..maybe to much of the last).

Anyway, back on course ( I can TAAAALLLK), Im gonna post some songs that immediately throw me back and open my heart to sunshine and fondness. There are alot of classic cuts I'm still trying to get, so if anyone has any ideas where I can download old Nigerian classics (e.g Tunji Oyelana, Bright Chimezie, Christie Essien, Felix Liberty, Sonny Okosun, Chris Okotie etc PLEASE send a link)

Ill start with one that would have driven me to sell my ass on the street in order to get that sh*t on my iPOD. I have it now.. Dont ask what I did to get *Kemi covers head in shame*

I had to call my dad to ask for the name. Ahhhhhh... Nelly Uchendu!! How could I forget the almost chilling background voices singing, 

            If you want to marry a husband/Never you marry a waka about/

            If you marry a waka about oh/Tomorrow trouble, Trouble... TROOUUBLE"

The cautionary tale speaks of a young woman attracted to 'bling' and the 'highlife' who marries this man who is handsome with "a moto/ a very BIG moto/With aircondition and Fridge oh"

You have to understand, for the time when this song was recorded, having aircondition and fridge in your 'moto' is the equivalent of today's cars being able to gear up and head into space at will.

Nelly's voice should not be confused with the 'chipmunk' sounding background singers. Miss Uchendu is like a nightingale riding the palmwine guitar riffs. I especially love that the download I got still has the scratchy vinyl sound. It just COMPLETES the feeling.

Ofcourse this girl in the song's story ends in tragedy. Nelly tells us that this 'white knight' is actually a 

               "Wayo Number ONE, A drunkard, a Gambler

                 a father of MANY children, a Thief and a Rogue oh

                 Money dubbler, and a Smuggler, maker of Counterfeit oh..."

Hmmmm...Obviously a 'jack-of-all-trades! I dont know what Nelly was bitching about. In todays's economy, is PAYS to be multi-faceted in your ability to bring home the doe. 

However, not only was he an 'economist', but

                    "The man nah boxer before/wey dey practise on him wife oh

                     When him drunk oh... 

                  Ahhhh 'IGGAAAADAM' (sound efx of him beating his wife) on 'im wife oh

                   When he vex oh...

                   Ahhhhhhh.. 'IGBAAADAAMM' on 'im wife oh

                  Even when he tire oh

                   Ahhhhhhannnn, 'IGBAAAADDAAAAMM' on him wife oh

Okay, so i draw the line on wife battery. :-)

Nelly is a expert story-teller on the song. Backed by Sonny Oti and his Group, "Late Night Husband" is a blissful 15:21min journey. Enjoy it.. You wont regret it!!

NELLY UCHEDU (with Sonny Oti and his Group) - "Late Night Husband"                   

	Sonny Oti & his Group w. Nelly Uchendu - Late Nite Husband
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Above is one of my FAVORITE song of  yesteryears. If anyone has a link where I could download this song I'd be ESTATIC!! Another homorous story telling song, tells of Bright's  journey to the 'white man's' land for the first time in 1974.  He doesnt like their food, so he brings along his own and when they (white man) witness him eating his 'African Dishes' (by hand, i might add), specifically the cassava meal called Eba with Ogbono soup, its so strange, they think he's performing 'Magic tricks' HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

Wait.. it doesnt end there... When he tells them he isn't performing Magic Tricks, they then report him to the police, insisting that "The Black man wey dey here is committing SUICIDE"

I Just LOOOOOOVE this song. The beat, the melody, the lyrics all come together for a perfect 'touch down'. Even if your not Nigerian, or African, you CAN'T help but find the melody contagious. I almost want to get up from my laptop (its playing as i write this) and do the wicked shuffle, like Mr. Chimezie's background dancer to the left (0:32mins- 0:34mins). HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA... PRICELESS!!!   BRIGHT CHIMEZIE - "African STYLE"

OSIBISA - "Woyaya"