how do you follow up a stone-cold afro funk classic like village boogie? simple. gather together some of the hottest players in nigeria, take them down to the phonodisk studios in ijebu igbo and let them loose on a bunch dancefloor fillers you spent the last four years road testing in kaduna. and dont forget to get lady franka and mariam pledge in on backing vocals. those girls know how to fire up a party. it helps, of course, if youre steve dudu black. steve had a god-given knack for writing combustible dance tunes and the contacts in the industry to get the likes of willy nfor, willy roy and felix lebarty to make them explode. from the opening track, osasuima, the heat never stops. on no stopping me now and ololufe/ stay the night, its almost too hot to handle. polished in a studio in london while musical youth recorded pass the dutchie in the next room, happy birthday to u is the gift that keeps on giving an irresistible blend of highlife, afro beat and afro funk that is guaranteed to start a party on any dance floor.
(peter moore)