Disco | Boogie 306 Items

Jake Sollo (Born in Nigeria as Nkem Okonkwo) started his career in the 1960s as a member of The Hykkers, a popular band that drew large audiences across the country (even during the turmoil of the Biafra civil war). After The Hykkers disbanded, Jake joined the Aba-based super-group The Funkees…a musical outfit turned into instant superstars due to the State Broadcasting Service's heavy rotation of their demo tracks. The Funkees became a phenomenon that spread across the country fast (and eventually to England where they were championed by the legendary John Peel). By 1976, due to creative and personal tensions, The Funkees slowly started disintegrating. Jake Sollo was soon offered the golden opportunity to join the ‘crème de la crème’ of Afro-rock groups: Osibisa. Jake’s distinctive rhythm guitar graced their hits, but his tenure with them was short-lived…in 1977, Sollo and two other members left the band because of financial disagreements.

Jake Sollo quickly moved on and did just fine after his experiences with said bands…he got steady work as a session musician and became a hot producer in the London scene. Eventually, that chapter came to a close as well (with budgets and visas to record in the UK becoming increasingly scarce at this point). Jake returned to Nigeria where he started recording and producing albums, during this period he became the MOST in-demand producer in Nigeria.

Sollo’s specialty was bouncy ‘high-gloss’ boogie (though he occasionally produced artists in other genres as well). Regardless of which style he was working in, a ‘Jake Sollo production’ was always instantly recognizable and his records’ main sonic signature was probably the distinct sound of the Prophet "V" synthesizer (a hot piece of hardware that was transforming music in Europe and America). Rumor has it that Sollo owned one of the two only Prophet synthesizers present on the African continent (the other one belonging to William Onyeabor). Without exaggeration and according to his peers…Jake was the hottest and most prolific music producer in Nigeria between the late 1970s and mid 1980s.

Next to his productions for other artists and major labels like EMI & Polydor, Jake Sollo would go on to record a total of three astonishing albums: ‘Coming Home’ (1977), ‘Show Me How’ (1979) and ‘Boogie Legs’ (1980). Boogie Legs would be Sollo’s final album, his career was cut short when he tragically died in a car accident in 1985…depriving the world of what no doubt would have been decades of more innovative and creative music.

On Boogie Legs, the listener is treated to Jake Sollo’s trademark sound with touches of pop, plenty of African groove disco, moments of psychedelic reggae, chattering guitars, mad synth skills and fat angular basslines … all bound together with Jakes distinctive guitar playing and smooth production. A triumphant album that combined the raw power from his roots with the slick tricks he learned in London. Also featured on these recordings are some ‘all-star’ guest appearances by musicians from the likes of Trevor Murrell (Kim Wilde, Sade) and Ray Carless (Maxi Priest, Adele).

Boogie Legs is a sexy monster of an album that shows off Jake Sollo as the multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire and Apostle of Nigerian music he was…the sound of an artist at the height of his power, with a career that came to an untimely end…but leaving us with a BIG legacy.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of Jake Sollo’s ‘Boogie Legs’ album (originally released in 1980 on Taretone). This rare Nigerian record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork.

The official re-release of the scarce DJ classic. Ralf Nowy produced this unique mix of Krautrock, Space Disco and proto Techno vibes in Berlin in 1980. The collaboration featuring also famous German star producer Jack White and Tom M?ller aswell Vicky Brown from UK as singer who worked together also with bands as for example Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Cerrone and Bryan Ferry.

1983, in the history of synths, is a key year. During the January edition of NAMM (the most important music fair in the US), indeed, MIDI - the standard protocol for electronic instruments interaction - was introduced to the world. Until then, programming and making synths work together was something practiced by a restricted elite of “wizards", explorers armed with cables and analog patches, who could create new sonic worlds - but totally temporary, not replicable. Real superheroes of sonic synthesis, scientists of filters who, nowadays, are highly considered by musicians all over the world, after decades of forced exile. In Italy, the seeds of this tradition were planted in RAI’s Laboratory of Phonology (in Milan), in the middle of the 1950’s; later, pioneers like Piero Umiliani, Federico Monti Arduini (aka Il Guardiano Del Faro), Marcello Giombini, Giampiero Boneschi and Fabio Borgazzi (Fabio Fabor) introduced electronic music in pop. Fabor (together with Antonio Arena) is the protagonist of “Superman", an album of library music released by the World label (owned by Minstrel group) in 1984. Borgazzi, born in 1920, lived through the whole saga of Italian easy listening music (from big orchestras to the digital revolution), always keeping up with the latest styles and trends.

The elegant City Pop album released in 1979, which shines with Junko Ohashi's unchanging overwhelming singing and the sophisticated performance of the second generation Minoya Central Station, which added new members, is available exclusively on milky pink vinyl. Re-release!

Official reissue with same original packaging of 1973 The neapolitan singer Gigi Pascal (real name Giancarlo D'Auria) had a long career as soloist in the melodic pop field, with some singles dating from the end of the sixties.
As many others he was attracted by the newly born rock groups of the early 70's, and assembled one with the odd name Pop Compagnia Meccanica. This group had a similar story to Fabio Celi & gli Infermieri, also from Naples, as they released an album in 1973 that sounds like it had been recorded three or four years earlier.
Only the first names are known of the other musicians playing with Pascal, the only known member was drummer Fulvio Marzocchella, that played with pop artists such as Umberto Bindi, Nico Fidenco, Patty Pravo and Orietta Berti. Debut is a very short album (eight songs for around 26 minutes) with the organ as main instrument and, where Fabio Celi's album had frantic vocals, this has a softer, more relaxed voice that owes much to the melodic Italian pop of the 60's, but always well mixed with the band's sound.
The music has some nice classical influences, like in the instrumental Fuga in Si minore, or Crescente and the long Un concerto with a very good and complex arrangement, but sometime the sixties' sound is more evident, like in the opening La tua voce.Gigi Pascal released two more singles in 1975, one of them still with the name of Pop Compagnia Meccanica. In the 80's he released singles and LP's under the nicknames Jaco D. and Jaco

Legendary Japanese guitarist Masaki Matsubara’s two solo albums will be reissued on Pure Virgin Vinyl by Canyon/agharta label, which is known worldwide for its “city Pop” works in recent years! Scheduled for release on August 3rd 2024! A City POP classic album “sniper” featuring vocals of popular AOR singer Jesse Barish, known as the composer of Marty Balin’s hit single “Hearts”, which was also a worldwide hit tune. “Painted Woman” includes the popular song “Silly Crush”, features Eric Tagg of Lee Ritenour band on vocal, which has been played 2.5 million times on Spotify (as of March 2024) and is enjoyed by listeners worldwide, including in L.A. and Jakarta, Bangkok, Santiago, Seoul, etc.

Kyohei Tsutsumi, a composer and arranger representing the Japanese music world, led the masked disco unit Kyohei Tsutsumi AND HIS 585 Band in 1976, making full use of the best technology for audio fans [Toshiba Pro-use series]. This rare and legendary album is now being reprinted for the first time! 'Hit Machine' is a disco-arranged project that includes not only self-composed songs, but also various covers of disco hits.