segun bucknor fell in love with american soul music as a student at new york’s columbia university. otis redding, wilson pickett, sam cooke and ray charles hadn’t made much of a splash in africa at the time and when bucknor returned to nigeria in 1968, he was determined to bring the sound to a wider audience.
the result was brand of afro-soul that in turn became a proto-type of afrobeat. with his bands, the assembly and the revolution, he released a few politically charged tracks, but even with his energetic dance trio, the sweet things, turning up the heat, bucknor couldn’t compete with fela kuti.