Osibisa - Biography
BY J Poet
Osibisa are the godfathers of world beat music. When they launched their career in the late 1960s, they were one of the few African acts with an international profile. They sang in English and their fusion of highlife, Caribbean, jazz, Latin, R&B, and rock made them highly popular with both white and black audiences. Their high-energy stage shows and colorful African outfits made them a major influence on Earth, Wind and Fire and the world beat bands of the late 70s. Their psychedelic Roger Dean designed album art and logo, featuring a flying elephant with huge butterfly wings was iconic and when they started their own label they named it Flying Elephant records. In 2009 they celebrated 40 years in the music business.
Teddy Osei came to London in the early 60s to study music, but before leaving his home in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, he had been a professional musician. With his brother, trumpet player Mac Tontoh, and drummer Sol Amarfio, he had played in The Star Gazers, one of Ghana’s top highlife bands. (Highlife, a blend of American jazz and West African traditional music, originated in Ghana and became one of the first styles of music to have a pan-African appeal.) The Star Gazers had a huge hit with “Pete Pete” in 1958. Tontoh was also a member of the Uhuru Dance Band, perhaps the jazziest highlife band on the scene.
Osei came to London in 1962 to study music. In 1964, he started Cat's Paw, to play a fusion of highlife, rock and soul, but he was dissatisfied with the result. To get a more African sound he needed more African players. He brought Tontoh and Amarfio to London and put together Osibisa. The name of the band is the word for “happiness” in Akan, Osei’s first language. Their first LP, Osibisa (1971 Decca, 2008 Repertoire UK) hit #19 on the British charts and # 55 on the Billboard pop charts in the US behind the hit “Music For Gong Gong.” Their blend of R&B, jazz, and African music, highlighted by sizzling rock guitar solos was like nothing else on he scene at the time. Woyaya (1971 Decca, 2008 Repertoire UK) had more of a jazz vibe. The title track was a Top 10 hit in Britain. The follow up, Heads (1972 Decca, 2005 Beat Goes On UK) leaned to the funky side of the equation.
Osibirock (1974 Warner, 2006 Collectables) got the band a gig composing the music for the film Superfly TNT (1974 Decca.) They closed out their first era with Happy Children (1973 Decca), Welcome Home (1977 Antilles, 1990 Mango) which included the British hit “Sunshine Day,” and Ojah Awake (1976 Decca, 1990 Mango) a commercial smash in England with the disco hit “Dance the Body Music,” and “Coffee Song,” a cover of a 40s pop hit given a new samba arrangement.
The band’s world tours kept their profile high, but musical tastes were shifting and their album sales didn’t match the appeal of their live concerts. They played a triumphal date at the Zimbabwean independence celebrations in 1980, then moved back to Ghana. They built a large recording studio and theater and concentrated on recording and promoting new young bands for their Flying Elephant label. There were several reunion concerts in the 80s and 90s before Osei relaunched Osibisa in 1996. They went back to touring heavily until a stroke forced Osei to slow down. Monsore (1997 Aim, 2001 Red Steel UK) found the revamped lineup in good form and other recent albums include Aka Kakra (2003 Red Steel UK) a jazzy live recording showing off the band’s acoustic side and African Dawn African Flight (2003 Red Steel UK.) Osibisa: The Ultimate Collection (Recall UK) gives you their best tracks and all the hits on a two CD set.
