The band amazingly is actually a loose confederation of several versions. Think of the way George Clintons Parliament and Funkadelic were once run and were interchangeable parts of each other and you might understand the maze of confusion when we talk about the bands make up and origin. As John Beadleat writes in his excellent summation on the band: “The "Oriental Brothers" label actually describes five or six different groups. The original band, led by Godwin Kabaka Opara, was founded by the Opara brothers of Mbaise, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria - and included Ferdinand Dan Satch Emeka Opara, Christogonous Ezebuiro Obinna ("Warrior") and Kabaka, along with Nathaniel Ejiogu ("Mangala"), Hybrilious Alaraibe ("Akwilla"), and Prince Ichita. Mangala died shortly before the band became popular in the early seventies.

The Palm Wine Crooner - The Ultimate Dr. Sir Warrior

Then there are the "Oriental Brothers" group with Dan Satch and Warrior after Kabaka left; and the "Oriental Brothers" led by Dan Satch after the final split. With each defection the sound of the group changed subtly but not by much. Until his death in June of 1999, however, Warrior who scored big with the hit Anam Ele Chi continued to call his backup band the "Original Oriental Brothers" concurrently with the Dan Satch "Orientals." To confuse matters more, on at least two occasions since the final split the Opara brothers reunited to record albums under the "Orientals" moniker. As if that weren't complicated enough, there has been at least one other "Orientals" group led by Prince Ichita (see below). In addition, there are the ORIGINAL Brothers, also from Owerri, led by Warrior sound-alike Sir Major, who may or may not be connected with the Orientals, but have a quite similar sound. There are at least two other groups that originate in splits from one of the Orientals bands - the State Brothers International Band led by Aloy Anyanwu, and Chuks Nnadiekwe's Orlu Brothers International Band."

In any case if I have not lost you in that roundabout of names, splits and mergers - as said earlier on, their ability to mimic the faster paced Central African guitar work heard in the then Congo, and blend this with basic Igbo rhythm showed not just ingenuity but created a very tasty end result. In addition to this their constant improvising such as with their percussions was always amazing if not border line amusing. I remember seeing them once at the fabled Ambassador Hotel in Aba and their percussions included everything from beer bottles to unknown engine parts that were hammered together to create a distinct metallic note.

And so it came to be that by default or conversion Eastern Nigeria so eager to heal after arguably Africa’s most vicious civil war would embrace them from head to toe. They became the official trader’s band and from Ariaria to the enormous Onitsha market they would be the toast of the entire region. As Maurice O. Ene, editor of "Kwenu" magazine, writes: Their sound emerged at a time of great crisis for the Igbo people in the wake of the Biafran war. "... the Orientals played a very important spiritual role in keeping many Ndiigbo sane. They were the pride of a people traumatized by a war so vicious." Eventually they would leap frog the River Niger and be played with as much glee in other places such as Alagba and Sabon Gari making them unofficially Nigeria’s official High Life Band even for non Igbo speakers. Nwanyi Di Ya Bu Eze till today remains one of the bands top selling hits all due to sales outside the East reminding us of how special a "band" they were and arguably still are

Robot  Villager

# 1 The band amazingly is actually a loose confederation of several versions. Think of the way George...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 24.10.2007 10:26

Ebe2  Villager

# 2 A truly amazing band, universal in appeal and delicious to the ear--even for non Igbo speakers. Posted by Ebe2| 24.10.2007 10:48

Kelechi  Villager

# 3 It is actually appealing to read something different on the NVS. Even though most of what is written is already known albeit rehashed, it nevertheless scores the right point with people who have acquired that quintessential taste for no-nonsense-super-evergreen music. Well done! Posted by Kelechi| 24.10.2007 11:07

UglyMan  Villager

# 4 Is the writer of this piece a Villager? Any contact info? I think he is one of my school mates in Naija. Posted by UglyMan| 24.10.2007 13:24

tanibaba  Villager

# 5 A good and interesting piece. However, it contains some claims which are not exactly true. Yes Oriental Brothers played good music in those days and one or two of their numbers ruled the airwaves for very short periods of time but they (from the viewpoint of a lagos boy) did not heal our nation in terms of using their music on such a scale as to become a national anthem. Take for instance Go On With One Nigeria (Gowon) was popular amongst the school children in other parts of Nigeria during the war. Though i dont understand or speak igbo, but i doubt if there was any popular number from this group which sought to heal the nation. There are other groups and musical personalities from the East that you dont have to remind us about. Their music was popular on the radio then. And talking about radio, music and showbiz if you were not known in Lagos then, then you just didnt exist. Therefore your claim that The Oriental Brothers at their zenith were one of the few Nigerian bands that either you grew to loved or who bowled you over instantly is highly contestable. Good piece though taslim Posted by tanibaba| 25.10.2007 06:05

Donn  Villager

# 6 Even though I was not on earth during the early days of Orientals, i can understand the feelings expressed by the writer particularly after the genocide of 1967-1970. Oriental music is one that brings any true Igbo man wherever you are back to your roots.....its magical.....the lyrics almost unbeleivably refreshing. My colleagues in the office find it difficult to understand why i play their music on daily basis......honestly i miss Sir Warrior,...he was one with a golden voice and i pray God blesses us with musicians with such enormous talents again. Posted by Donn| 25.10.2007 06:28

WayoGuy  Villager

# 7 =tanibaba;2091812926>A good and interesting piece. However, it contains some claims which are not exactly true. Yes Oriental Brothers played good music in those days and one or two of their numbers ruled the airwaves for very short periods of time but they (from the viewpoint of a lagos boy) did not heal our nation in terms of using their music on such a scale as to become a national anthem. Take for instance Go On With One Nigeria (Gowon) was popular amongst the school children in other parts of Nigeria during the war. Though i dont understand or speak igbo, but i doubt if there was any popular number from this group which sought to heal the nation. There are other groups and musical personalities from the East that you dont have to remind us about. Their music was popular on the radio then. And talking about radio, music and showbiz if you were not known in Lagos then, then you just didnt exist. Therefore your claim that is highly contestable. Good piece though taslim Brother tanibaba, long time. How you dey? Actually the Orientals had some popular songs that, even though not cloaked with national titles, exuberantly expressed pro-One-Nigerian sentiments in very clear lyrics. As a village boy, I am not quite certain of the popularity of those songs in other parts of Nigeria, but in Igboland, those songs were unrivaled in rousing the spirits of patriotism and one-Nigerianess. But they sang in Igbo, not in English, which may have limited their listening audience. There was one song titled “Obi Nwanne” (Brotherliness or, literally, my brother’s/sister’s mind/heart). In that song the Orientals repeatedly intoned “Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” There was another song about Dimka (the executed coup plotter) and Murtala Muhammed (the assassinated head of state). That song was ultimately banned by the Federal government of the then-head of state Olusegun Obasanjo. Why? It appears that the Orientals, who laced their songs with Igbo proverbs, made the mistake of including “Ogbu nma g’esi na nma ala, ogba egbe g’esi na egbe ala” (One who kills by knives will die by the knife, one who kills by guns will perish by the gun” obviously referring to Dimka who was executed for the assassination of Murtala. But you can understand how a military government, populated by illiterate soldiers who kill by guns, would misunderstand and ban that beautiful and patriotic song dedicated to Murtala Muhammed. Anyway, those are the songs that I recall at the moment. There were more. The Orientals were true trailblazers in expressing one-Nigerianess when it was not popular in Eastern Nigeria Posted by WayoGuy| 25.10.2007 06:54

SUYA  Villager

# 8 With all due respect Tanibaba I stand by my point. Again. The war had just ended and both parties both victor and vanquished were still looking at each other for lack of a better word - suspiciously. In the East we lived in the shadow of crumpled Biafra and it was very easy to let the stigma of defeat erode your will to live. Our cities were destroyed, families torn apart, poverty abundant and there was a suffocating sense of woe. Out of this came two things that galvanized the community and jumped started the whole healing process. One was football. (I have just posted my piece on Ernest Okonkwo , and beg you to visit that too.) And the 2nd was music. Better said our music. It was our mish mash of blues and gospel, happiness and sadness…..all thrown into a blender and delivered with emphasis on picking up the pieces and moving on. All of a sudden it was being played in the bars and markets all over Nigeria documenting the return of Igbo’s to communities that had just expelled them. I mean one day we were being killed for speaking Igbo and the next our music was being blared in Mile 2 or downtown Zaria .To me that indicates that all was back to normal and that we were again part of the Federal Republic. If that is not healing…I don’t know what is. Posted by SUYA| 25.10.2007 10:00

ojemba  Villager

# 9 =SUYA;2091813042>With all due respect Tanibaba I stand by my point. Again. The war had just ended and both parties both victor and vanquished were still looking at each other for lack of a better word - suspiciously. In the East we lived in the shadow of crumpled Biafra and it was very easy to let the stigma of defeat erode your will to live. Our cities were destroyed, families torn apart, poverty abundant and there was a suffocating sense of woe. Out of this came two things that galvanized the community and jumped started the whole healing process. One was football. (I have just posted my piece on Ernest Okonkwo , and beg you to visit that too.) And the 2nd was music. Better said our music. It was our mish mash of blues and gospel, happiness and sadness…..all thrown into a blender and delivered with emphasis on picking up the pieces and moving on. All of a sudden it was being played in the bars and markets all over Nigeria documenting the return of Igbo’s to communities that had just expelled them. I mean one day we were being killed for speaking Igbo and the next our music was being blared in Mile 2 or downtown Zaria .To me that indicates that all was back to normal and that we were again part of the Federal Republic. If that is not healing…I don’t know what is. Suya Na your eye be this? My brother you speak the truth, going by Taslim’s logic Lagos equals Nigeria and that does not come as a surprise to me. If he has stepped out of Lagos to the numerous markets of West and Central Africa and heard how the Orientals competed favorable with the Congolese bands for the attention of highlife lovers he would come to appreciate your article better. I never heard or danced to any song called Go on with one Nigeria, neither did most folks I know. The truth is the Orientals where such a huge elixir for the battered folks of the east, post Biafra. Their songs blared even from the radio stations of the Cameroons and beyond, such was their popularity. I however abhorred their ill advised song that sought to idolize a blood thirsty murderer like Murtala Mohammed, and I believe they paid dearly for it when they ignorantly sang that song in Jos to the chagrin of Dimka’s folks. In all the Orientals could only be placed alongside only a four other great bands in highlife namely Rex Lawson, Celestine Ukwu, Osita Osadebe and Oliver De Coque. Posted by ojemba| 25.10.2007 12:11

Big-K  Villager

# 10 Suya and Ojemba, Welcome, my cybereagle brothers. Posted by Big-K| 25.10.2007 12:16

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