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King Sunny Ade
Synchro Series
$16.99

A vital reissue of two of King Sunny Ade's most powerful recordings from the era around his first steps into international fame in 1982-83.
"Gbe Kini Ohun De" - 1982
"Synchro System" - 1983

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From the record label:
The year was 1982 at the height of Nigeria’s Second Republic. The future was looking bright. The oil discovered in the 1950’s was flowing freely. Nigeria’s second try at democratic government was still in its early and optimistic stages, with President Shehu Shagari at the wheel, money was flowing all around Nigeria. Imported consumer good were cheap, and the urban culture of Lagos, Africa’s biggest city and then capital of Nigeria was enjoying the peak of an artistic and cultural renaissance in the arts. The arts and culture industries were strong. Nightclubs, galleries and theaters were packed with the works of Nigeria’s innovative artists. Television and radio were broadcasting local innovation and national pride out to Nigeria’s 80 million citizens. Riding the crest of this wave of high times was King Sunny Ade, Nigeria’s King of Juju music. Young, sexy elegant and charming, Ade had it all going for him. His brilliant sense of composition and, more importantly, his powerful lyric abilities with the deeply metaphorical Yoruba language were evolving in high gear as ever more and more great music emanated from the African Beats on his Sunny Alade Records label. Fueled in no small part by his ongoing competition for the juju crown with Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Ade was determined to not slip from the Number One spot. Against this percolating domestic backdrop, the international pop world was looking for new grist for the mill. In the ever hip urban subculture of Paris, a young producer named Martin Messonier latched onto Sunny Ade as a hot young talent, while in London Island Records was looking for a new standard bearer of music of the black world to fill the void left by the 1980 passing of Bob Marley. All these events colluded and led to the eventual release on Island records of Sunny Ade’s Juju Music, followed by Synchro System. These critically acclaimed and heavily promoted albums represent the actual dawn of the modern World Music movement (though the term was yet to be coined) and the first of many attempts at the mainstreaming of African music. This period and after are well known to World music fans and the multitudes of King Sunny Ade Fans around the globe, but the musical evolution which King Sunny Ade went through during that seminal period has probably remained a mystery to most of his international audience. It is upon this era that we wish to shed some harmonious light as it were.

From his earliest music with the Green Spots through to this era one can witness the musical evolution of his music. His first recordings in Nigeria were released on Chief Abioro’s Take Your Choice / African Songs label (some of these tracks are captured in Shanachie Records’ 2003 release “The Best of the Classic Years”) By 1975 King Sunny Ade had established his own Sunny Alade Records and he began to produce and release a steady stream of increasingly rich recordings. By the early 1980’s King Sunny Ade was typically releasing four full albums a year in Nigeria (one for Easter, one for summer, one in the fall and a holiday record around Christmas). This steady stream of records became like the local soundtrack for the seasons. Musically King Sunny Ade’s music was primarily groove oriented. At the heart of the music was an interwoven mesh of interlocking guitar riffs and hand percussion insistently pushing the rhythm forward? Punctuating this groove to lead and drive the band were the percolating talking drums and Sunny Ade’s lead guitar riffs. On top of this rhythmic soundscape would sit the call and response vocals whose eloquence is at the heart of King Sunny Ade’s domestic popularity. The texture was open and the feel was loose. Songs which were generally full album sides evolved gradually over the 16 to 18 minutes which fit on the vinyl, sometimes starting a little sloppy but tightly locking into unbelievably funky grooves by the climax of each track. Since 1977 King Sunny Ade had begun to travel internationally performing in Europe and the US for growing crowds of Expatriate fans on both continents he had event done some recording at London’s famous Roundhouse studios and others in the late 1970’s On the eve of his journey to the UK to record with Martin Messonier for Island, King Sunny Ade release Gbe Kini Ohun De [ Brought that thing out] (SALPS 27 February 1982) a scintillating album loose grooves and tight harmonies in the classic Ade style. The A and B side of this 1982 Album make up the first part of this CD and are a classic example of the pre-Island Sunny Ade at his peak. By the time he had recorded in England there were extensive tours and publicity appearances which kept Sunny Ade away from his domestic fans for an unusually long period. Finally in 1983 returning triumphant, Ade release the album Synchro Series SALPS 37 (September 1983). This album was a medley of remixes of earlier tracks, dub versions and outtakes from the Island sessions. The tracks from Synchro Series which make up the other part of this release, exhibit an entirely new production sensibility and in addition to their impact on opening the West to African music, they had a marked impact on the musical landscape of Nigeria. The new Sunny Ade sound was tighter, more produced and deliberate. It exhibited more complex riffs, elaborately evolving song structure heavy use of compression and the beginnings of drum machines and programming. So have a comfortable seat, or get on your dancing shoes, either way you are sure to be satisfied as these incredible King Sunny Ade grooves will not disappoint even the most discriminating listener. Consider this Installment one of a giant work. Though the Island Records experiment was dubbed a commercial failure, the contract cancelled after three albums and the parties amicably going their respective ways, the long term effect on Ade and the Nigerian scene in general were profound. The records which King Sunny Ade release from 1983 through 1992 represent some of his most complex, his most brilliant and to many his most popular release to his Nigerian audience. A subsequent release on IndigeDisc will focus on the seminal recordings of this 80’s – 90’s era.