funkees: dancing time the best of eastern nigeria's afro rock exponents 1973-1977

Dancing Time: The Best Of Eastern Nigeria's Afro Rock Exponents 1973-77 by The Funkees is the latest title on Soundway to mine the rich musical output of '60s and '70s Nigeria. For the 5-year period this compilation spans, The Funkees' output crackled with dancefloor fire. Having featured on three of Soundway's most popular titles, across the definitive Nigeria Special compilation series, Soundway felt The Funkees' output deserved closer inspection. Presented here are 18 slices of funky Afro-rock grooves, hand-picked by Soundway's Miles Cleret from a selection of the band's 45s and two full-lengths. In the early 1970s, The Funkees were the #1 east Nigerian band and the only outfit to seriously challenge the popular Lagos-based rock combos MonoMono and BLO. It wasn't long before promoters in the UK came calling and The Funkees packed up their instruments and moved to London, where they quickly established a fierce reputation on the live circuit. Here, they recorded two seminal albums before finally breaking up in 1977 amidst some controversy. This collection features for the first time all of their Nigerian 45s alongside the best of their UK album material and is accompanied by a full interview with original member Sonny Akpan, who still lives in the capital.