Emotional Rescue discovers the wonderful music of Betty & The Code Red and the story of Tunde Obazee, his love of his Nigerian music roots transposed to the USA, that resulted in a set of unique and uplifting recordings.
Born in Benin in Nigeria in 1954, a youth spent away from home working as a house servant, old Edo folk songs kept memories of home close and hopeful for the future. Returning to Benin to complete schools, his singing progressed to making music. With girlfriend Betty Ajagun, they would use desks, buckets, pots and pans to entertain fellow student on campus, eventually appearing in a singing team on the ‘Music Panorama’ program on national TV.
Leaving Nigeria in 1967, first to Italy and then on to the USA, to further his studies, he was joined by Betty and when a young family appeared shortly after, he dropped out of college, moving from Florida to Texas, working as an illegal immigrant.
Still singing, he had performed at College and University for tips, accompanied by other students on guitar and percussion. With no formal training, except a musical ear and his skills in computing and technology, Tunde decided to take his love of music and inspirations, from Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, to assemble his own band.
Betty & The Code Red, the idea of promote her singing career and Tunde’s own desire to highlight the “State Of Emergency”, denoting a world crisis of inequality, economic discrimination and conflict (“Wahala”).
Using the music as a non-violent tool to express his socio-political opinions on global injustice, in 1985, they recorded the songs “Hard Working” and “Pretty Baby”, which were self-released on 7” and was soon followed by a 5-song album, “Na Wahala”. The unique sound, an amalgam of influences, surroundings, experience, studio and equipment, lends the music a lo-fi, left field quality, mixed with a beguiling naivety and hope felt in the songs – the result of heavily using the then relatively new Yamaha RX7 (keys), SY77 (bass) and DX7 (drums) – to underpin the vocals.
That, however, was all to appear, as personal and financial strains led to no further recordings to see the light of day. These private press gems were lost, so obscure they have never been part of diggers circles, arriving today almost as rediscoveries for all.
Released over two 12”s to highlight the best, as well as allowing them to be cut loud for DJ play, the remastered original master tapes include three previously unreleased songs; the long, hypnotic “Cry Africa” and instrumental “Na My Life Be Dis”, as well as a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Is Wrong (Apartheid)”, here included, that showed an increasing confidence in studio craft, while continuing to deliver Tunde’s heartfelt music and message.
