9. King Sunny AdéJuju Music
I love African music and this was my first exposure to it. I guess it’s due to loving Island records and loving Talking Heads’ Remain In Light, which I think is a sonic precursor to Juju Music. I wonder if they had heard it because if you listen to a lot of early King Sunny Adé music, it has none of the electronic elements which this has and this is also quite Western-sounding. The songs and melodies are so strong. I used to play it in Our Price on Tottenham Court Road and I sold more of this than any other record. When I put it on, people bought it. Quite often, I’d put something on and half the shop would leave. It got to the point when I left that they put an edict [on staff] saying you can play only certain top 40 record stuff or whatever. But King Sunny Adé has stuck with me since then. When I’m out playing vinyl, I play thing like A Certain Ratio’s ‘Flight’, then The Slits, then King Sunny Adé – it all goes together. It might be due to using similar equipment from the time or it might be the vibe but I can’t escape it. It’s a part of me.
