Who can school me on William Onyeabor?

lol @ myself two years ago. actually atomic bomb surfaces quite a bit, but at o_O prices.

this record is even more insane, check out the sound samples before the guy pulls them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/William-Onyeabor-Anything-RARE-80s-Nigerian-funk_W0QQitemZ160192380709QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:US:101

for posterity's sake:

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/4062/21a01xu9.jpg

William Onyeabor - Anything you sow
Stupid rare mid 80s Nigerian proto detroit techno funk... private pressing!
Label: Wilfilms WLP033
Year: 1985/1986?

Detroit techno / electro recorded in Nigeria in the mid 1980's on analog synths? Sounding like it comes straight off the latest M.I.A. record? Yes that's what this is all about... add in some sweet female singer choruses and the moralistic lyrics of mr Onyeabor, and you got an essential record that is waiting to be rediscovered and compiled! This album NEVER shows up so here is your one chance to own it.

You may know William Onyeabor from his tracks on afro funk compilations such as the great jam 'Better change your mind' which appeared on Nigeria 70 and on 'World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing'. The original album 'Atomic bomb' is a popular and expensive item on Ebay. His lp's are hard to find as he released them on his own record label, Wilfilms. Another of his records that shows up sometimes is 'Tomorrow'. Both albums are heavy afro disco boogie bombs.

William Onyeabor has released at least one more record though, and it's so obscure that I haven't found any references in google or previous Ebay sales. 'Atomic bomb' was already an experimental album on which Onyeabor plays around with his collection of synths. But on 'Anything you sow' he really goes all-out to create a musical landscape that proved to be far ahead of its time.

The album cover (which looks more like mid 70s) shows Onyeabor behind a huge collection of synths and other hardware, including the Moog which was an expensive gear at the time. On this album, the music is all produced with analog synths, even percussion.

The effect is mind blowing... 20 years down the line its clear that Onyeabor was way ahead of his time, the sounds he created here are unlike anything else I have heard coming from Africa. It's more closely related to Detroit techno or electro but in reality he may just have been influenced by Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and the like. The slight 'out of this world' sound of the fragile synth (Moog, Elka etc) melodies are accentuated by the sweet chants of William and his background singers. This piece of vinyl is just waiting to be sampled or re-edited, it would fit nicely on a Moodymann or Theo Parrish re-edit 12 inch. Three out of four tracks are in this style, the fourth is a ballad which is less interesting. Just check out the audio samples above.

Tracklist
A1. When the going is smooth & good
A2. This kind of world
B1. Anything you sow
B2. Everyday

wow. i would have bid on that. maybe not 124 dollars, though.

it would fit nicely on a Moodymann or Theo Parrish re-edit 12 inch

yeah, judging from those samples this is true.

wow. i would have bid on that. maybe not 124 dollars, though.

-- elan, Thursday, 3 January 2008 23:17 (4 months ago) Link

lol that shit finished at like $300 actually. and the audio samples were beardo as fuck.

this thread is like a time capsule for me

this went for $100

ace cover art, he looks almost like a one man band:

-- brokeback titty sanskrit (sanskrit), Sunday, January 22, 2006 6:55 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

LOL am i pretend britishes?

ok, another has surfaced, this time with music samples:

http://cgi.ebay.com/WILLIAM-ONYEABOR-BOOGIE-FUNK-AFRO-FUNK-SOUNDCLIPS_W0QQitemZ4847179581QQcategoryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

-- gritty sanskrit (sanskrit), Sunday, March 12, 2006 3:51 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

so a month ago i got a clean Atomic Bomb off a french dude on eBay. wasn't cheap but wasn't painful. the weird thing is i have listened to Better Change Your Mind so many times over the years that it was not that big a deal. Beautiful Baby is totally different than on an iPod. what was once overly long turned into a lilting ballad that is far too short.

btw i am not a breakhead

btw this revive is courtesy of a Body and Soul Scientist remix that i missed on dmr's blog. like 2 years later it appears in my open slsk window.

I just downloaded the Atomic Bomb LP. You can find it easily if you look. Sound quality not very good though

that's what hipped me to onyeabor

btw, does anything you sow ever pop up on slsk?

youtube clip from "when the going is smooth and good": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HleCMcs_ybg

this deserves wider exposure

wow. i would have bid on that. maybe not 124 dollars, though.

-- elan, Thursday, 3 January 2008 23:17 (4 months ago) Link

lol that shit finished at like $300 actually. and the audio samples were beardo as fuck.

-- sanskrit, Wednesday, May 7, 2008 9:05 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

oh damn dude that is the very audio clip from the auction. or the buyer shared it (yeah right). smart move someone moved it to a youtube for momentary posterity.

it sold for like $17 on dutch ebay in march

judging by all the youtube and forum comments about "when the going is smooth & good", it seems to have been a nigerian radio hit. the album is apparently available from street vendors (on cassette, i guess). so why can i not find it anywhere?

are you sure it didn't go for 17 euros? because that is about $300 american.

oh, you're right. 16.75 euro. that's still only $25.79 at today's exchange rate.

http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/William-Onyeabor-Afro-proto-techno-Nigeria-LP-LISTEN_W0QQitemZ160220584129QQihZ006QQcategoryZ1582QQcmdZViewItem

if i knew dutch i might make the winner an offer....

i don't know about grading record sleeves, so if that cover isn't actually G-, i could see the price dropping. but a G- record grade would sound like that cover looks, so maybe the seller knows what's up.

he posted it for me! i didn't see it for one (1) month!

http://combandrazor.blogspot.com/2008/05/for-leo.html

the hi-hats do something amazing in the sixth minute. this is the bomb.

this is sick: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140278397762

my rss hasn't seen that title in four years
sick sound clip, and my snipe won't even register now / won't meet reserve anyway

every couple months i'll trawl through the blogs in hopes that more of his stuff has surfaced (beyond the Atomic Bomb lp and two or three other scratchy tracks), but still no luck. and the copies that do show up on ebay seem to go way outside my budget. i'm led to believe some of his records were hits in Nigeria, so how hard can it be to get/hear more of his stuff? guh.

well, this is at least something http://dailyleftover.blogspot.com/2009/12/tribute-to-william-onyeabor.html

really enjoying this, thanks. so far i'd only been able to find the atomic bomb LP.

it seems he released at least 8 LPs (Discogs plus Crashes in Love), meaning we (I) have heard roughly 14 of 32 total tracks. which is not too bad for some Nigerian private press stuff. only 1982's Hypertension seems to be completely unrepresented.

it would be very nice to have this on vinyl in all its artifact-y goodness, but yeah those prices are crazy.

Here is a link to this William Onyeabor's "Atomic Bomb" CD.Check it Out!

http://www.myafricanbargains.com/index.cfm/fa/items.main/parentcat/23717/subcatid/0/id/464161

Just got this email:

Question: do you guys still sell many 12"? The reason I am asking is because Luaka Bop will be releasing a CD by William Onyeabor in the early part of next year. But here's the dilemma - the songs are like 12 minutes long each. We are thinking about releasing them on a group of 12" singles one release after another (collect 'em all!) and then compiling everything on a CD for a slightly later release.

in light of Daphni/ Caribou sampling Onyeabor's "When the Going..." i was wondering if factcheckr ever heard any more about these 12"s form Luaka Bop?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Kg-iBeDyg&NR=1

this is one of the sickest tunes i've ever heard.. someone reissue this fucker on vinyl!

this guy featured on 69's all hits radio show iirc, some slinky jams

B-D urc!

this is what I was just told re: luaka bop: "it is supposed to happen" but no date yet

Oh weird, randomly I just started getting into this. this month. "Fantastic Man" is my favorite tho

The B-side to Good Name is like the best song I've heard all year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_eps4BlTQ

someone reissue this fucker on vinyl!

yeah just waiting for whatever it is that'll presumably soon come out to represent this guy. you would think only a matter of time

Um: http://flashstrap.blogspot.com/2011/10/fantastic-man-william-onyeabor-atomic.html

2CD compilation out in October on Luaka Bop

http://luakabop.com/bloggo/trust-the-situation/

oh awesome! 3xlp! & a (llliimmmiiittteedddd) good name reish!

ty

Pre-orders now up... http://luakabop.com/onyeabor/

The new comp is fantastic. Shame he retired when he did because When the Going is Smooth and Good from his last album (the one that Daphni sampled) is blowing my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOf8YJLgpew

This is fantastic

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/17/five-year-quest-reissue-william-onyeabor

"atomic bomb" blows my mind. i'm kinda obsessed

Now you have me fixated on that number too. The catchy vocal melody, the groove, the almost dub regggae like feel...It's slightly more traditional than some of the other cuts

Fucking awesome.

So good.

I wonder if Rickey did have a chance to hear any more. He would have loved this.

Holy smokes!! A box set!
http://luakabop.com/news/william-onyeabor-lpcd-box-set-out-1118-2/

Who can school me on William Onyeabor?

Schooled.

i can't figure out if they actually had access to master tapes or if these are just slick needledrops.

Are you listening to the CDs? Maybe the guy in Milan had the tapes.

Just bought both of the box sets for my christmas present. Asked my wife to wrap them up for me but I may either need to torrent the files or open them early, the Spotify version of Who Is is too short.

http://instagram.com/p/wJgPRqzN2N/

http://photos-e.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xaf1/10843909_336389243231284_2074568457_n.jpg

...but when does it end?!

The spines of the CDs in the box set say "remastered in NYC," for what it's worth.

Vinyl says the same.

http://vimeo.com/116194279

Luaka Poop? What a vicious attack that really showed somebody somewhere something. Burning my boxset now.

tbf "luaka poop" is pretty funny

Luaka Plop

Pooaka Bop

Cloaca Bop

what was that vimeo link?

i kinda neglected to fully check this guy out but "love me now" off the new one they're reissuing is one of my favourite songs at the moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Osr2RL6U0

RIP.

:(

RIP

RIP :(

I know I should always be wary of the artist-focused thread revives, but I honestly thought this would be "more rare stuff reissued" or something. :(

Oh man, RIP.

RIP

rip :(

RIP

putting on atomic bomb in memory

RIP, dude was a genius.

RIP, so many great echo-dub dancefloor memories.

i was listening to the box set last night and thinking that it was really fortunate that he lived to see his music get a revival and get acknowledged as a musical genius. a few years earlier and he could've missed all of this & never known that he was going to be appreciated by a whole new audience of fans which would've been tragic bc he truly was an incredible talent + genius and deserved to know how much his work was loved.

His relationship with his music seemed conflicted at best though, he actively avoided talking about it and I got the sense it was a source of embarrassment or shame to him in his later life.

for sure tho i thought at some pt he said he was working on new music? maybe in that bbc interview

Wow, I remember first hearing his music through ILM back in the day.

I've felt so much joy in sharing it with my friends since then.

Now I'm inspired to share his tunes with new friends.

i guess his children or his church is getting that Feist 1,2,3,4 iTunes ad placement money.

I can't school you on William Onyeabor, but I can advise you to listen to Itadi - Watch Your Life (Togo, 1977)

Why late at night does ILM get all William Onyeabored
Or mooged out

The production is all 2D and flat but precise and perfect, and more than that it feels intentional and does not feel like a limitation, it gives all the feeling, and like a man doing all the instruments, it's genius really. Mammane Sani and Francis Bebey probably, both of which have a connection with Ghana, and mixing it with afro-funk / dance.

From the doc:
He's a nice guy... but
A boy sang for him and the boy claimed he wasn't paying him royalties when due, and accordingly.
He went to William and claimed that William drove him off with a pistol
So he went to the police. When he came back, the police sought for the pistol. They didn't find the pistol and the guy was charged with giving false information to the police. And sentenced.

Tough !