Ofo The Black Company was formed in 1972 by Larry Ifediorama in Lagos, Nigeria.
That same year, he took his band to London, England to record their first for London Records. The single with “Allah Wakbarr” on the A side and “Beautiful Daddy” on the B side is highly collectable, usually fetching $100 or more per copy. Allah Wakbar has also been featured on the now defunct Afro Strut label’s Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970′s Funky Lagos compilation and recently on Luaka Bop’s World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love’s A Real Thing • The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa.
But in 1973, Ofo The Black Company was asked by the East German government to play the “World festivals of the youth and student Berlin capital of the GDR” International Folklore festival in East Berlin along with Miriam Makeba as well as other musicians from Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile and Vietnam.
As far as I know, they recorded two singles for London Records, the one mentioned above which was credited to “Ofo The Black Company” and another credited to “Ofo”. They released an album on the Afrodesia label – a subsidiary of Decca – in 1974, which has the song Eniaro that was featured on Soundway Record‘s Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk in 1970s Nigeria. There is also a live record by “Ofo The Rock Company” that was recorded somewhere in Europe.
Larry Ifediorama died in 2005 in Lagos, Nigeria.
Tracklist
| A1 | We Are Back | |||
| A2 | Don't Talk About Love Just Do It | |||
| A3 | Adufu | |||
| A4 | My Baby | |||
| B1 | Ayaya | |||
| B2 | Eni-Aro | |||
| B3 | Africa My Darling (Home Is Everywhere) | |||
| B4 | Okija | |||
| B5 | Play With Me |
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