You cannot travel down the history of Nigerian music without referencing Segun Bucknor who recently passed on at the age of 71.
Bucknor was a versatile artiste influenced by music greats like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett.
Anyone who witnessed Segun Bucknor’s performance will not forget it in a hurry. During his stint with The Revolution band, he deployed bum-shaking women who danced to his music.He called these dancers The Sweet Things.
In no particular order, TheNewsGuru takes a look at the 7 interesting facts you should know about Segun Bucknor
1. Segun Bucknor attended the prestigious Kings College where he was in the choir and recorded music with Highlife bandleader Roy Chicago’s Rhythm Dandies dance band.
On his return from schooling in America, he brought Soul music back to Lagos in 1968, where he was influenced heavily by Ray Charles.
2.Along with four friends, a band called The Soul Assembly was formed and later rebranded as Segun Bucknor & The Assembly, adding later a trio of singers called The Sweet Things to his band.
3. In 1975, with the emergence of Yoruba Afro-juju musicians like Sunny Ade, the growing westernized DJ Culture and the gradual disappearance of Eastern Nigerian musicians, during the civil war, Segun Bucknor disbanded The Revolution and focused on journalism, rarely seen performing as a musician again.
4. Adanri Sogbasogba remains one of his greatest songs. The song rendered in Yoruba blended with the funky James Brown inspired horn riffs with a bouncy bass line, remains one of his unforgettable songs.
5. Segun Bucknor’s foray into social commentary kicked off with the song ‘Son of January 15th’ (the date of Nigeria’s first military coup). The rhythm however changed when a Colonel from the Northern army sent a couple of his minions on to the stage. They took him aside and told him not to sing the song again.
6. Bucknor died in Lagos on 11 August 2017 after suffering from multiple strokes at the age of 71. At the time of his death, he was suffering from hypertension and diabetes. He was survived by his wife Sola and his two children, Funke and Tosyn.
7. As a journalist, he wrote for LAGOS LIFE
newspaper from the Guardian stable) . He was also a contributing editor for Photo News Magazine