Osibisa is a British-Ghanaian-Caribbean Afro rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London based Caribbean musicians.[1]
Osibisa was the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in London, alongside such contemporaries as Assagai, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Demon Fuzz, Black Velvet, and Noir, and was largely responsible for the establishment of world music and Afro rock as a marketable genre.
The original band that featured on the first three studio albums was universally known as the "Beautiful Seven", also a song on their album Woyaya.
History
In Ghana in the 1950s, Teddy Osei (saxophone), Solomon (Sol) Amarfio (drums), Mamon Shareef, and Farhan Freere (flute) played in a highlife band called The Star Gazers.[2] They left to form the Comets, with Osei's brother Mac Tontoh on trumpet,[3] and scored a hit in West Africa with their 1958 song "(I Feel) Pata Pata".[2] In 1962, Osei moved to London to study music on a scholarship from the Ghanaian government. In 1964 he formed Cat's Paw, an early "world music" band that combined highlife, rock, and soul. In 1969, Osei persuaded Amarfio and Tontoh to join him in London, and Osibisa was born.[2] The name Osibisa was described in lyrics, album notes and interviews as meaning "criss-cross rhythms that explode with happiness" but it actually comes from "osibisaba" the Fante word for highlife.[4][5]
Joining the three Ghanaians in the first incarnation were Antiguan Wendell (Dell) Richardson (lead guitar and lead vocalist), Nigerian Lasisi Amao (percussionist and tenor saxophone),[2] Grenadian Roger Bedeau, also known as Spartacus R (bass), and Trinidadian Robert Bailey (keyboards). Nigerians Fred Coker and Mike Odumosu (bass guitar) were later replacements.
The band spent much of the 1970s touring the world, playing to large audiences in Japan, Australasia, India, and Africa. During this time Paul Golly (guitar) and Ghanaians Daku Adams "Potato" and Kiki Gyan were also members of the band. In January 1976, their single, "Sunshine Day", reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Their next single release, "Dance the Body Music", peaked at number 31 in the same listing.[6] In 1980, Osibisa performed at a special Zimbabwean independence celebration, and in 1983 were filmed onstage at the Marquee Club in London but by this time were a distant version of the original band.
Osibisa had an important series of gigs in India in 1981, culminating in the release of the Unleashed – Live in India album. The band engaged in a return to India, performing at the November Fest 2010 on 28 November 2010, at the Corporation Kalaiarangam in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.[7]
Changes in the music industry meant declining sales for the band, and a series of label changes resulted. Some of the band returned to Ghana to set up a recording studio and theatre complex to help younger highlife musicians.
In the 1990s, their music was anthologised in many CD collections, with some of them allegedly unauthorised and paying no royalties to the band. However, this has been disputed by Osei, who, along with Amarfio and Tontoh, ran the band from the 1980s onwards.[citation needed]
In the early 1990s, Osei regrouped the band, and many of their past recordings released legally on CD. This included a remaster series with bonus material and hitherto unreleased material and live concerts on the Red Steel / Flying Elephant label collaboration.
Osei regrouped a version of the band in 1994 after commencing work with two UK labels: Castle Communications (who had the licensing rights to the Buddah catalogue and some of the Bronze Records catalogue) and Red Steel Music, who specialised in remastering and reissuing albums on CD. With a new producer and label behind him, Osei progressed to record new material, culminating in the 1995 release of Monsore, the band's first album of new material since the late 1980s Movements album.
The revitalised band with Osei at the helm commenced touring and recording, until Osei's stroke some fifteen years later. Osei cut back his touring schedule due to the effects of his illness but still continued to record until 2018.
Various new recording and release projects were carried out from the mid-1990s onwards with remastered, remixed and re-recorded projects seeing the light of day. This included previously unreleased material from the African Flight period, the incomplete follow-up which had a working title of African Dawn, live projects including Live at Cropredy (the bands first live album in fifteen years) followed by the semi acoustic live offering recorded at London's famous Jazz Cafe, Aka Ka Kra.
Work commenced on more studio material that remains unissued to this day. A new studio album, Osee Yee, was released in 2009.
After the removal of personnel by Osei in 2014/15, a new recording project with Osei at the helm commenced in late 2015, shortly after the successful placement of material that was chosen for Richard Linklater's film Boyhood. However, apart from one track included on the band's 2020 Sunshine Day: The Boyhood Sessions album, the recordings featuring Osei remain unreleased. Recent announcements from the Osei’s management and the band indicate these tracks will make an appearance in 2025 along with an album of previously unreleased material from earlier years that Osei had started work on in 2016.
Ace Ghanaian hip-hop music producer Hammer of The Last Two stated that his debut production, Obrafour's Pae Mu Ka album, which is the highest selling hiplife album to date, was inspired by Osibisa's song "Welcome Home." He also had the chance to work with Kiki Gyan a few days before his death.
On 13 December 2022, drummer and founding member Sol Amarfio died at the age of 84.[8]
In June 2023, long-time Osibisa bass player, sometimes keyboard player and producer Victor Mensah died at the age of 66, after a protracted illness.
Founding member Teddy Osei, singer, saxophonist and drummer, died on January 14, 2025, in London. He was 88.[9]
Their first two albums featured artwork by the progressive rock artist Roger Dean (before he became widely known for his artwork), depicting the flying elephants which became the symbol for the band. The third album, Heads, features a cover by Mati Klarwein, known for his covers of Santana’s Abraxas and Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. Osibirock, the band's sixth studio release featured "Negro Attacked by a Jaguar" (1910) by Henri Rousseau. Playing on the original flying elephants theme, the Ultimate Collection set features elephants with tankturrets for heads, an early Roger Dean idea reborn for the project. In 2009, their Osee Yee album featured the flying elephants once more, this time painted by Freyja Dean (Dean's daughter). Roger Dean's logo for the band continues to be used on many of the releases comprising classic material. Artwork for many of the reissues and 1990s material onwards was put together by Frank McPartland, Andrew Buckle and the Grammy Award winning designer Rachel Gutek and her Guppy Art company.
Musicians - original band
Teddy Osei (born Francis Osei, 1937-died 2025) – lead vocals, saxophone, flutes, percussion
Mac Tontoh (born Kweku Adabanka Tonto, 1940–2010) – trumpet, horns, percussion
1971 – Woyaya – (Billboard No. 66 – UK No. 11[6] – Can No. 61[21], AUS No. 15[20]) - Although conventionally spelled Woyaya, the title is actually Wɔyaya (with an open-o), which comes from the Ghanaian Ga language.[citation needed]
1972 – Heads – (Billboard No. 125 – Can No. 86[22], AUS No. 19[20])
Charles Aniagolu: Osibisa – Living In The State Of Happy Vibes And Criss Cross Rhythms. Victoria (CDN): Trafford Publishing, 2004, ISBN1-4120-2106-5.
Brigitte Tast, Hans-Jürgen Tast be bop – Die Wilhelmshöhe rockt. Disco und Konzerte in der Hölle, Verlag Gebrüder Gerstenberg GmbH & Co. KG, Hildesheim, ISBN978-3-8067-8589-0.
Related Research Articles
Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasses multiple local fusions of African metre and western jazz melodies. It uses the melodic and main rhythmic structures of traditional African music, but is typically played with Western instruments. Highlife is characterized by jazzy horns and guitars which lead the band and its use of the two-finger plucking guitar style that is typical of African music. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
Afro rock is a style of rock music that incorporates African influences, blending elements of Western rock with traditional African rhythms, melodies, and instrumentation. Emerging in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Afro rock reflected a dynamic interplay between the global popularity of rock music and the rich musical heritage of Africa. Prominent Afro rock bands and artists from this period include Osibisa, Assagai, and the Lafayette Afro Rock Band.
Super Fly T.N.T. is a 1973 American blaxploitation crime drama film directed by and starring Ron O'Neal. O'Neal reprises his role of Youngblood Priest from the 1972 film Super Fly. The film was both a critical and commercial failure.
Osibisa is the self-titled debut album by British afro rock band Osibisa, released in 1971 by MCA. It was reissued in 2004 as a two-CD pack together with Woyaya by BGO Records.
Woyaya is the second album by Ghanaian Afro-rock band Osibisa released in 1971 by MCA. It was reissued in 2004 in a two-CD pack together with the self-titled album Osibisa by BGO Records.
Heads is the third album by British Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1972.
Happy Children is the fifth studio album by Ghanaian Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1973 by Warner Bros. Records WB 2732. Released on CD format 2000 by One Way Records 35164 and COE Records COE 111.
Osibirock is the sixth studio album by British Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1974 by Warner Bros. Records K56048 and WEA International WE 835. Issued in 2000 CD format by One Way Records 35165. The cover depicted Henri Rousseau's "Negro Attacked By a Jaguar".
Welcome Home is the seventh studio album by British Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1975 by Island Records ILPS 9355. Issued in 1997 CD format by Red Steel Music Ltd. RMC 0208.
Ojah Awake is an album by Ghanaian Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1976 by Island Records ILPS 9411. Issued in 1995 CD format by AIM Records and then in 1997 remastered with bonus tracks on Red Steel Music (RMCCD9209)
Osee Yee is a studio album by Ghanaian Afro rock band Osibisa released in 2009 by Golden Stool Records – GSTOCD 002. It includes a rendition of George Harrison's song "My Sweet Lord" that's given an Osibisa funk spin. The back cover calls this an Osibisa Fourth Generation album.
Black Magic Night: Live at the Royal Festival Hall is a live double album by British Afro rock band Osibisa recorded at the Royal Festival Hall on 19 July 1977 with live versions of songs from their previous albums. Released in 1977 by Bronze Records and reissued as 2-CD set in 1993 on CD format by Castle Communications.
Uhuru is a compilation version of the album Welcome Home (1975) by British Afro rock band Osibisa, released in 1992 by Soundwings Records (MC-102.1076-2) and distributed by Serenade S.A., Barcelona, Spain. The CD duplicates the Welcome Home album with the addition of one track from an Osibisa live video.
Ayiko Bia is a compilation album by British Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1992 by Soundwings Records (MC-102.1078-2) and distributed by Serenade S.A., Barcelona, Spain.
Africa We Go Go is a compilation album by British Afro rock band Osibisa released in 1992 by Soundwings Records (MC-102.1075-2) and distributed by Serenade S.A., Barcelona, Spain.
Live at the Marquee is an album by British Afro rock band Osibisa recorded live at The Marquee Club, London, April 5, 1983, and released in 1984 by Premier Records under catalog #1035. The concert has been issued as VHS in 1990 by Media 7 under the title Warrior and as DVD in 2003 by Umbrella Music under the title The Marquee 25th Anniversary presents Osibisa in Concert.
"Look at Yourself" is a song by British rock band Uriah Heep, originally released in 1971 on their third studio album, Look at Yourself, and the same month as a single, the first by the band in the United Kingdom. It was written and sung by Ken Hensley.
Teddy Osei was a Ghanaian musician who was a saxophone player, drummer and vocalist, and best known as the leader of the Afro-pop band Osibisa, founded in 1969. Born in Kumasi, Osei was introduced to musical instruments while still a child. He began to play the saxophone while attempting to create a band with his college friends in the coastal city of Sekondi. After graduating from college, he worked as a building inspector for a year before creating a band called "The Comets." The Comets enjoyed brief popularity before Osei travelled to London in 1962. He received a grant from the Ghanaian government to study at a private music and drama school for three years, before being forced to leave by a regime change in Ghana. In 1969, he founded Osibisa along with several other musicians. The band remained popular through the 1970s, before experiencing a decline, although it continues to perform today.
Osofo Dadzie is a Ghanaian television drama series that was aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It was performed by the Osofo Dadzie group, a drama and concert group that was very popular in Ghana at the time the series ran. The group enjoyed two major stints on Ghanaian television: from 1972 to 1982, and then from 1985 to 1989.
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