MUSIC FROM THE OTHER SIDE!

Music from the Other Side (Part 1)

I remember Lagos, like it was yesterday. I remember the traffic on Carter Bridge enroute Victoria Island where there was the Big Ben studio. There were so many sights for us to see- my brother and I, and I remember them vividly. I remember the ocean, the hawkers and the clear blue sky. He was the only one who believed in my music-my younger brother, and he would start singing them as soon as I wrote them down. Imagine me, twenty-five and very strong, wanting to be a musician. It was 1984, at that time aspiring to be a musician could be described as a cardinal sin. Everyone was going to school and there I was, aspiring to become a musician. What a joke, or so people thought. However, I pressed on with my dream and it was not too long before I hit my goal. I will tell you how it happened.

There was a studio located at Victoria Island in Lagos and it was by chance that we came to know of it. We were in a barber shop when we heard a nicely dressed man describing his office on the Island to someone “It is beside the Big Ben studio,” we heard him say, clearly stating the address in the conversation. We had very sharp brains, my brother and I, and we crammed the address without writing it down. Studios were scarce in Lagos at the time and sourcing them out was hard, especially from a JJC like me. We were delighted and seeing that we had no money for transport begged the barber to lend us some money. We promised to pay back the following week. We had a part time job off-loading containers at the port, so in a way we were credit worthy. He lent us Five Niara which we felt would be sufficient for us and thus planned our journey. That night I could not sleep for I was so excited.

The following morning we were Island bound, entering the big busses and jibing our way without any care in the world. As I said earlier, we had sharp brains, so it wasn’t hard locating the Big Ben studio. Entering the building to me felt like coming home. I was entranced by the spirit of music. My brother tagged along and I was indeed glad that he was by my side.

It wasn’t so much a large building but I did not seem to care. A single room that housed a guitar was to me as big as a stadium. So I can say it was the biggest office in Lagos. I walked in and asked to see the studio manager.

‘May I know your name, please?’ The secretary asked me. She was a young woman, smartly dressed and about my age. (To be continued…)