naptu2:
I'VE FOUND IT! I'VE FOUND IT! I'VE FOUND IT!


Your Willing Willy (Willy Egbe) always started his show (Willy Brunch on RN2) with this amazing song.


Herb Alpert - Coco-loco (1982)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rbfmsX7zv0

naptu2:
Quiz on Willy Brunch (Radio Nigeria 2) c1990.

Can you sing the chorus of this song (or at least tell us what they are saying)?

The responses were hilarious.

The answer is actually

It was an itsy bitsy,
Teeny weeny,
Yellow polkadot bikini,
That she wore for the first time today.

An itsy bitsy,
Teeny weeny,
Yellow polkadot bikini
And in the water she wanted to stay

It's almost impossible to find the 1990 version of this song. I found it, but it's a little bit faster than it should be (it's the original video, but it's been sped up).


Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, Yellow Polkadot Bikini (1990)

naptu2:
Radio

First there were many MW stations, none of which was able to really capture my attention. We had Radio Lagos, RCOS, B.C.O.S/Radio O.Y.O, Ogun Radio/OGBC and of course the king of them all Radio Nigeria 1 (1089). Radio Nigeria 1 was the first place to go to for the 7am news and whenever there was a coup.


RN2

Then came the glorious Radio Nigeria 2 (RN2). RN2 played great music and they had superstar presenters. It was the first FM station in Lagos. I paticularly enjoyed listening to the station in the afternoons and at weekends. RN 1 catered to the older folks, while RN2 was the new exciting station for the younger folks (these roles were replicated on tv, with NTA Ch 10 being for the older folks and NTA 2 Ch 5 for the younger folks).

RN 2 had superstars like

(Your Willing Willy) Willy Egbe
Sunny Irabor
(JAJ) Joseph Akinyemi Johnson
Ohi Alegbe
Jones Usen
Ihria Enakhimo (one of the funniest human beings on tv and radio)
(Bonny with the face) Boniface Onogwu
Godwin Asuquo
Momoh Kubanje
Tony Ibegbuna (he was the voice of the station when it started. It seemed like he did all their jingles).

And many more. There were shows like Willy Brunch, Sunny Side Up, Martin Street Special (before the Martin Street studios burnt down), Police Diary, I Beg Una, etc.

Radio Nigeria One later caught my attention with a beautiful breakfast show called Radioscope. In the years that I was hooked on that show (1988-1993) it was hosted at various times by Zachary Mohammed (Captain ZM), Manny Onumonu and Evelyn Russel.

Radio Nigeria Three was set up in 1989 (it was the first community radio station in Nigeria and broadcast in pidgin, igbo yoruba and hausa) and I often listened to them in the evenings.

RN2 is now known as Metro FM, RN3 is now known as Country Radio and RN1 moved from MW to FM and is now known as Radio One.

OGBC 2
Then came the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation's second station (OGBC2), the second FM station that could be received in Lagos. It blew RN2 out of the water. It was lightyears ahead of its elder sister OGBC (which transmitted on the MW band). It had great presenters like

Ladi Akeredolu-Ale
Larry Ichiejile
Olusesan Ekisola
Aderinsola Aladeselu
Peter Okodua
Busayo Olaifa
Toyin Shogbesan.
Ambrose Shomide
Toba Opaleye

Its breakfast show, which included Headliners (newspaper review) and Bournvita Sports Special with Larry Ichiejile/Izamuje was second to none. It rode on the wave of the golden age of hip hop by playing all the latest hip hop tracks that people wanted to hear.

It was one of the key sources of information during the June 12 movement. People got anti-government news from OGBC2, The Punch, The Concord, etc; pro-government news from the NTA, Radio Nigeria, Daily Times and New Nigerian and impartial news from The Guardian and The BBC. Then the government shut down OGBC temporarily.

Raypower
The very first private radio station actually began broadcasting without permission from government. The station debuted sometime in the middle of the year (broadcasting on 100MHz), then they were ordered to shut down by the NBC, then they legally started transmission towards the end of the year on 100.5MHz.

It virtually wiped out OGBC and RN2 from the airwaves. They were broadcasting from Alagbado, but they had a relay station on Bookshop House in Marina, thus their signal was clearer across Lagos than OGBC and RN2's signals. They poached a lot of talent from OGBC and Radio Nigeria. People like Ambrose Shomide and Momoh Kubanje joined the station. They had presenters like

Olusesan Ekisola (the first General Manager of Raypower, he was poached from OGBC).
Steve "The Sleek" Kadiri.
Dennis Tha Menace Ogi
Ogee Onazi.
Sule "Solazo" Ellams
Becky Ellams
Lola "L Boogie" Mogaji
Ibiyemi Olufowobi
Busola Faiga
Doe Abrahams
Tony Akiotu
Jumobi Adegbesan

They had Milo World Of Sports (which attempted to compete against Larry's Bournvita Sports Special on OGBC), Newspaper Headline Review, Jukebox (with Olusesan Ekishola), Rock Radio (with Dennis Da Menace Ogi), Doe Abraham's calypso show, etc. They also collaborated with The BBC and broadcast Sports Round Up, Sports World, News Hour, etc. It ruled the airwaves for much of the Abacha/June 12 crisis era and people depended on their news for information about what was going on.


Rhythm

And the Murray-Bruces finally floated a radio station. Their selling point was "More music, less talk" and they won people over by playing mainstream music that people liked (hip hop, R&B and soul). Rhythm has endured and has remained one of my top two favourite stations since 1997. They've had presenters like

Femi Sowoolu (formerly of OGBC)
JAJ (formerly of RN2).
Eldee The Don.
Steve (the South African)
Naphtali Tope Brown (Brown Sugar)
Nnamdi Anazia
Kemistry

And more recently

(The Wildchild) I.K Osakiodua
Phoenix
(Big Time) Onome Oyaide

At breakfast time I would often switch between the sports, newspaper review and news programmes on OGBC2, Raypower and Rhythm, before OGBC2's quality and signal strength depreciated.


Cool FM

Between 1998-2010 Cool FM had undoubtedly the best collection of nigerian on air personalities in one radio station that I have ever heard. The only radio station that has had anything like that (and they are a distant second) is Radio Nigeria 2 (in the early 1980s).

They had amazing presenters like

1) Lakeside (Lekan Saheed). He was definitely my favourite. The guy was INSANE!

2) Iyke The G (nobody else plays the kind of music that he plays. It's almost like he reads my mind).

3) Dan Foster (the Big Dawg. He has an unusual ability to connect with his listeners).

4) Kemi Adetiba (amazing impersonations).

5) Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi

6) Olisa Adibua (yes, the same guy that hosted "Top Of The Pops" on NTA2 Channel 5 c1988-1992)

7) Dare Art-Alade

8 ) Tosyn Bucknor (she also co-hosted the crazy Fanta show with Lakeside).

9) Mark Silvere (an american that first presented the Good Morning Nigeria Show. He also had the ability to connect with his listeners [he often prayed for them on air]. Made a good team with Dan Foster).

10) Keith Lane. The very first voice I heard on Cool FM (on the day they started transmitting). This guy is the definition of insane! He introduced "Radio Grafitti" to Cool FM and it hasn't been the same without him (no one has his level of insanity). His first stint at Cool FM ended when he complained about a decision that management were about to make and invited listeners to call in and talk about it. He was brought back several years later, after Dan Foster left the station, but listeners hated him because they kept comparing him to Dan (Dan is nice and friendly, while Keith is irreverent and insane).

11) Charles Supo Orija (the king of news).

They also ran the Bournvite Sports Special with Larry Izamuje for a while (at first it was networked with OGBC2, then it was exclusively on Cool FM) and also had Sports Express with the Sportsvision crew.

Now I just shuffle between Rhythm, NigeriaInfo and Classic FM. No radio station is particularly dominant or strong enough to get my attention exclusively. Raypower lost the right to use their relay station, so their signal isn't particulalrly strong and they also lost a lot of their best presenters. The 2010 tsunami also saw Cool FM losing their best presenters and I don't listen to them anymore. OGBC2 and RN2 (now known as Metro FM) are shadows of their former selves.

Picture 1: Sunny Irabor

Picture 2: Joseph Akinyemi Johnson (JAJ)

Picture 3: Jumobi Adegbesan and Dennis Da Menace Ogi

Picture 4: Dan Foster