DISKO FUNK by THE SPRINGS BAND

A Nigerian Hypnotich Afro Funk Lp originally released under licence from Love Records to Fontana Records (Nigeria) in 1977 !

The record was produced by the twenty years old Alex Tony Okoroji at the legendary ARC Studios in Lagos, a facility set-up by Ginger Baker. This is the third production for the Alex Tony Okoroji’s fledgling independent label Love Records, the previous record was the pioneering release by Udu - Sound of the People (Love Records, Nigeria 1976) also reissued by Dig This Way in 2020. Musically these two records are poles apart but similar in as much as both the band and producer present a personal musical vision that sounds nothing like their piers’ at the time…

The Springs Band formed in Ibadan (Oyo State) which is roughly 130km northeast of Lagos. The seven members met while training to be Reverend Fathers for the Catholic Church and come from both Nigeria and Sierra Leone… in retrospect as unlikely as this sounds (particularly when you hear the record) the band were the Seminaries event house band at the time…

Musically, the record consists of five prime time dancefloor gems with two very subtle afterhours numbers to close - not a bad track on here - which at times in itself is unique for records from the region in the late 70s.
The first five tracks are complex hypnotic afro funk with an almost mesmerizing organ groove, that is deep and raw at the same time which well represent the time, the place and the people involved in the recording...
As odd as it may sound the spiritually of the bands chosen profession is reflected in the fluid deep funk of the groove ... not being there we can only guess how the live performances of this "band in full flight" must have been ... as luck would have it the recording captures all of those elements and that’s what the end result sounds like near unbeatable!
Judge for yourself via this enlightening release!!!

Reading the original hand written press release for the record it would be fair to say, at the time, the members of the band were potentially not entirely focused on their chosen vocation and, reading between the lines, were mildly concerned what their educators might think… years later it’s pleasing to discover that all of the survivors became as good as it gets in their original career choice… better still… for the Afro-Centric music collector… the very same set of individuals (in their wilder days) recorded one of the most forward thinking and dance floor friendly records of the period… little known until now…

“This is our dream world cristalised in vibes. In a world of uniform hate where people experience death in a trance , it is through love's cry that we see through the eyes of wisdom that he needs somebody. Music is the message transmitted in this super disko funk for funky people, to tell the brandifield dad the truth or ask a music-minded-lass, introduce me to your loving. So, if you have anything to say, why not join us and say it...after all it's a happy world... We have a right to the good things of life.”