I had Tunji Oyelana on the 'Pod as I jogged off an exquisitely indolent weekend this morn (Mourn/Mon/ insert any other pun). There is something so delightful about the musical inflexions in the apogee of trippy Lagos pop from the 70's that literally take your breath away- particularity whilst exerting lungs over Lekki bridge.
The production qualities on parts of "Okete o ma yiban s'oloko" for instance were at some points laughably shambolic in comparison to the slick work that even the dumbest "Yori Yori" derivative-of-a-dumbed-down-derivative can create in the flick of a wrist for N5k these days, but yet.... the melodies just sear the ears with their sweetness and musicality. Tunji strains his nothing voice pitch-perfectly when he sings "o di waju ooo" and you just wanna cry... I had to sing along, dismissing my "save your breath" rule of The Runner's Road. The lyrics were of course witty to a Jive Black Yank level.
The Oyelana mp3's had been (apparently) lying dormant in my 3 year old 'pod since I rescued it from near cultural dormancy (as far as my immediate circle is concerned) in mid-2008. A tweak of the I-tunes (manage your playlist manually dummy!) and a reaffirmed a love that I had forgotten that I had reaffirmed. It inspired me... Energized my lethargic middle-aged bod...lifted me... Gave me a Natural High. I jogged past my (usually challenging) U-turn post with brisk ease...jogged past my house and went for exercise elevenses... jogged past startled fellow-members of the Early-morn Frat with more obvious competitiveness than usually displayed or (this being Lekki after all) is "nice".
I know it's gonna be a good day because of a simple song- wierd innit?
Few other works fuel elan in my cynical-but-content-'cause-I-really-can't-be-bothered mind. Here are a few of 'em in no particular order:
- 'Round Midnight
- Breakfast at Tiff's
- FC Barca in full flow
- Songs in The Key of Life (Stevie Wonder died, went to heaven, brought us pop's BEST).
- Jennifer Knapp's...?? (What?? She thinks she's gay?? Sheege!)
- The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (could have used a female lead though)
- The Chronic
- Doctor Zhivago
- Nok culture
- Achebe's Ezeulu (a.k.a. Arrow Of God)
I think I'll write about these one-by-one... The only thing physically that makes me more than these nuggets of delight would be mind-blowing sex, and that only occurs like what? once every 2-3 years?... These can be revisited and empirically guaranty repeated joy... :)
