Funkees

The Funkees were an afro-rock group formed in Nigeria in the late 1960s. They moved to London in 1973 and quickly gained prominence in the West African and West Indian music scene, before fragmenting four years later. They specialized in a brand of funky, upbeat, highly danceable afro-rock that often featured lyrics sung in Igbo, as well as English. Originating as an army band after the Nigerian Civil War, they contributed to the outpouring of upbeat music produced by young people in Nigeria in response to the darkness of the recently concluded civil conflict. In 2012, Soundway Records reissued a compilation of their recordings from the mid-70s, leading to a resurgence of interest in the band.

Links to Peel
Peel seemed to have first heard the Funkees in the early 70's and invited the band to do 2 sessions for his shows, which they did.

The band's Afro Funk Music LP was nominated as one of Peel's three highlighted LP's that he was listening to, which was featured on his own Sounds Playlist in the Sounds music paper, published on 12th October 1974.

Peel also compered and DJ'ed at the Hammersmith Palais in December 1974, where Casablanca and the Funkees were performing at the event.

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1974-11-05. Broadcast: 19 November 1974 2. Recorded: 1975-07-01. Broadcast: 14 July 1975
 * Abraka / Tule-Tule / Life / Dancing In The Nude
 * Wine Festival / Lobo / Too Lay / Experience

Other Shows Played

 * Peel certainly played tracks from the band on his shows, but due to very little airplay listings of shows during the early/mid 70's, there are no known dates when he played songs from the group.