Toy Motion Juju
Related link: http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildata.php?itemnr=4703870706
O'Reilly readers know almost everything (and some may know considerably more than everything!) so I wonder if anyone can provide any information on a musical question?
I finally found online the cover of the Nigerian LP I grew up with (Mum says it was the first Nigerian long player): Catchy Rythms from Nigeria
On the cover, it mentions a style "Toy Motion" for a song whose rhythm & feel I really like, and I would like to know more about it: in particular, whether it is associated with characteristic rhythms, tempo or instrumentation?
I found a couple of things on the web: Juju "even developed its own semipopular variant, the "Toy Motion" subgenre of the '50s. Spearheaded by J.O. Araba and J.O. Oyesiku, skilled railway technicians who had seen the world and were described by one admiring rival as "big men with other jobs," Toy Motion fused palmwine usages and the latest Latin rhythms into a hip, aestheticized, neotraditionalist style favored by the educated. Disdaining praise singing as a form of begging, they thought it their role "to provide philosophical commentary on everyday life, and reveal the misdeeds of flawed characters." (Juju Beats)
Old or New: Palm Wine is Truly Sprawling mentions the use of a Western parade drum instead of the talking drum. What else is there to it? (And what became of it? Synchro System?)
Wind me up!
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