Lagos Disco Inferno

The song is "Boogie Trip" by Doris Ebong.
Only a few weeks left before the Lagos Disco Inferno Double LP will hit the stores...

Three killer records for sale!

As I'm planning my next trip to West Africa, I decided to do offer spare copies of three very rare and desirable LPs from Ghana for sale. I will accept offers for these items until December 31st. You can send a mail to frank@voodoofunk.com if you want to make an offer. Also please feel free to send me your wantlist since there is much, much more where these three are coming from...



This record hardly needs any introduction. According to the label number, this is the debut LP of the legendary band Marijata which evolved out of Pat Thomas' backing band The Sweat Beans. All 4 tracks are fantastic. You can listen to the entire album by clicking onto the cover above.

Let me quote the liner notes from the backside of the cover:
"'I walk alone' a cool, scintillatingly slow number, displays some interesting instrumental works. 'no condition is permanent' and 'breakthrough' exhibit originality using the funk medium. Even though the vocal rebdition sounds somewhat on the hoars and gritty side, a strong impression is left on the mind of the listener that the boys have something going for them right in there."

I would rate this amongst the 10 most powerful and roughest funk albums worldwide. All 3 funk tracks are absolutely incredible and even the slow soul track 'I walk alone' nothing short of amazing.

The condition of the incredibly clean vinyl is a strong VG+ on all three funk tracks. Only the one slower track plays with a bit of background noise and a short scratch towards the end that causes a few clicks. I recorded this LP in its entirety so you can listen to the whole thing and hear how great this record plays.

The cover has some writing on front and moderate wear. The seams are worn but not split and there are marks from the top right corner having been bent. This also shows on the backside. Other than that, the cover looks great. Like the two covers below, this is a prime example for beautifully designed and hand silk screen printed African record cover art. The labels are intact with pen writing on one side where the first owner had first written his name and (he or someone else) later blacked it out, also using a pen.



The first Marijata record already is very hard to come by. Their second LP proves to be even more elusive. This record sounds somewhat "earlier" than the blue one and some of the songs have a strong rocksteady or calpypso influence like the records the musicians recorded with the Sweat Beans. The first record being titled "This is Marijata" and this one being named "Pat Thomas introduces Marijata", it's difficult to say which one really is their debut recording. According to the label numbers 0012 and 0013 however, this is their second release.

There are three funk tracks on this LP: The soulful 'I can say', which is an earlier version of 'I need more' from their easy to find third LP, then there's the devastating instrumental funk bomb 'mother africa' and the uplifting 'my love will shine'. All these three tracks have hit qualities and are guaranteed to move people on any dancefloor I have so far encountered.

The vinyl is in VG/VG+ condition. There is noticable background npise in the quiter sections of the LP and inbetween tracks but the entire record plays through loud and proud and the funk tracks, especially 'mother africa' sound almost flawless.

Again, I have recorded both sides from start to end. I did not bring down the faders inbetween tracks. I just straight recorded the whole thing without any editing, tricks or filters. What you hear is what you get. All you need to do is click onto the the cover scan.

The cover looks great. Both sides have the indentical print design and while there is a price sticker on one side, the other side has some pen writing. There is a 1/2 inch seam split on the top seam and a 1 inch split on the bottom. The glue on the bottom seam is coming apart. There is a bit of minor wear and tear on both sides but I've never had a cleaner spare of this record as far as vinyl and cover goes. Labels are intact but have pen signatures on both sides.



The Simigwa LP by Gyedu Blay Ambolley is one of the most fun records to listen to (find out for yourself by clicking on the cover scan above).
It's funky as hell, check out 'this hustling world' at the end of the first side, but every single track on here makes it absolutely impossible to remain seated. Everything about this album is absolutely unique and as far as records go, it just doesn't get more fun than this.

Again, I have recorded one long mp3 file including this entire record from start to finish. No tricks, no filters, no editing, no digital clean-up. You can hear every crackle, every click and every pop inbetween the songs.

I would rate this the typical VG/VG+ of a reasonably used but still moslty clean and very much enjoyable African record. it looks nice and glossy but has some marks and superficial scratches. Some you can hear, others are inaudible. It's a great record and you don't often see them as nice as this one.

The cover has a bit of wear and some small pen writing as you can see. The backside has the same pen writing but this doesn't obscure the ingenious lyrics that are presented in their entire lyrical glory so you are able to check and confirm that yes indeed, he really does say "...when I see you baby, I watch you like a television...". The labels are clean and intact besides a pen signature on one side.

Trust me, you really do need this record in your life.

Unknown 45 by the African Brothers

Please click on the image to listen.
Sounds a bit noisy due to rough, local pressing.

Taking a break

Unforseeable problems at Glasslands lead me to cancel all my further events at this venue. Thanx to everybody who made this such a happening party all over this past summer, those were some memorable nights. I'm taking a break from dj-ing right now while laying the finishing touches on the Lagos Disco Inferno compilation. I'm also planning on taking a longer trip back to Africa early next year so I'm not actively looking for a new venue but there's always a possible that I might end up behind some turntables somewhere at some point... let me know if you want to be on my mailing list: frank@voodoofunk.com

Pax Nicholas & The Nettey Family

The Pax Nicholas LP was one of the first African records I ever found. It's also one of the rarest records in my posession as I don't know of anybody else who has ever seen or heard it. Which is a shame because this also is one of the best and most unique sounding Afrobeat records out there.

It was in Philadelphia in the spring of 2005. I had made a visit to Smith's Record store. All the high caliber funk 45s had been gone years ago (many of them into my own collection), but I wanted to say "hi!" to the owner Stanley Smith. When I mentioned that I was about to go to Africa to look for Funk records, he said "I have a stack of African LPs in my office, wanna have a look at them?"

I found a few nice pieces but the Pax Nicholas LP was by far the most interesting and unique record in the bunch. A few weeks later, I embarked onto a 3 year long digging trip through West Africa. Hundreds and thousands of records were added to my collection but the Pax Nicholas LP always remained somehow special to me.

I tried to track down Nicholas with the help of friends in Ghana and Nigeria but I couldn't find a lead. All it took in the end was a simple google-search and I had found him: Ironically, Nicholas Nettey had been living in Berlin since 1978. Nic was very enthusiastic about getting his record re-issued. I approached my old friends at Daptone Records about this and after having listened to some sound clips, they decided to make this their first African release.

When I asked Nic if there were any master tapes left, he told me that years ago, he had had a big fight with his brother during which they both ended up throwing the tapes at each other until they (the tapes) were totally mangled.

Thankfully, my copy of this record was in pristine and unplayed condition when I had found it so we were able to re-master from the original vinyl. This album will be in stores worldwide by September.

Please go to Daptone Records to find out more about this album and about Nicholas Nettey.

Aliens sighting

This last trip back to Africa was amongst the best digging experiences of my life. Not only did I find some really amazing vinyl, I also managed to license a whole bunch of very exciting Nigerian and Ghanaian records for re-release, amongst other things 6 tracks by the mythical Ghanaian band The Psychedelic Aliens. I've been obsessing over this group since I first came across their 7" EP almost three years ago and now I also happened upon their second 45 that I think was previously completely unknown. Needless to say that it's absolutely incredible: A perfect crossover of Garage Psych Rock and Afro Funk. Raw fuzz-wah-wah guitar, Vox organ, vocals with loads of reverb, huge drum break... it really is unreal!

The cover of the 1969 recorded EP that I found in 2007

Below you see the label scan of the 45 I found a few weeks ago.
This track and 5 more will soon be re-issued on Academy Records as vinyl and CD in beautifully re-mastered, awesome-sounding quality..
If you dare, click on the label scan and hear a rough recording straight from the original 45. But better sit down first and have a cold beer ready. You'll need it.


This is a clipping from the program folder for the 1972 festival "Soul To Soul" courtesy of Uchenna from the always amazing and highly recommended blog With Comb & Razor. The Aliens played this festival alongside such stars as Ike & Tina Turner, Wilson Picket and Santana. Don't waste your money on the film or record of this event as none of the African artists who participated are represented. Malek said that the band was being filmed while they played. Maybe this material is still collecting dust in the vaults of MGM...

Me with Malek Crayem (organ player of the Psychedelic Aliens) and my friend Damian (Nigerian record kingpin)

African Heat mp3 mix

Check out this mix I made including a couple of new discoveries from Ghana and Nigeria.

Special thanx go out to Jonas for hosting the mp3!

Please click on the image to listen:

00:00 The Uppers -dankasa
03:30 Roy Hamilton -jack jones
06:40 Gyadu Blay Ambolley -sikape
12:14 De Frank -waiting for my baby
16:33 The Cutlass Band -obiara wondo
19:08 The Strangers -two to make a pair
21:44 The Wellis Band -bindiga
25:06 Ogyatanaa Show band -saman poriwa
29:42 Superman Tony Safro -i beg
34:54 The Hygrades -somebody's gonna lose or win
38:00 The Visitors -i believe in funky music
42:37 Akwassa -be yourself
47:45 Obanichronism -disco in danger
53:00 Georges Anderson -baby you know i know