Taiwo Lijadu dies in US at 71

By Dapo Falade On Nov 9, 2019

Taiwo, the twin sister of Kehinde of the Lijadu Sisters fame, dies in New York, the United States of America (USA), on Saturday morning, aged 71.

The news of her death was broken by her twin sister, Kehinde.

The deceased, who has been battling severe stroke, ruled the Nigerian music scene, along with her identical sister, from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s.

The identical sisters were cousins of the late maverick afrobeat icon, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

The duo, with their unique combination of genres of afrobeat, reggae, disco and Memphis soul, achieved great success in Nigeria and moderate popularity and influence in Europe during the period.

Born on 18 September 1948, the duo had to their credit several albums, including ‘Horizon Unlimited’, ‘Danger’, ‘Africa’ and ‘Sunshine’, among others, with evergreen tracks such as Reincarnation, Danger, Orere Elejigbo.

The Lijadu Sisters were notable for being the West African version of the Pointer Sisters who were said to attained popularity by mixing afrobeat sounds with jazz and disco.

naptu2:
O MY GOD! I never knew its name! Wow! Memories. Kai!

This was a worldwide hit and this is the song that I've been looking for. Please, just listen to this.


Lijadu Sisters - Come On Home (1979).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myEv3Qr3Efo

naptu2:
Pure afrobeat.



Lijadu Sisters - Orere Elejigbo (1979)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2kr0xTYd7U

naptu2:
From memory.


The Lijadu Sisters are Nigerian twin sisters who released a string of international hits from 1969 until the early 1980s.

They relocated to the United States c1985 and basically vanished. They stopped granting interviews, did not release any new songs and they avoided publicity. (Their songs are still being played by radio stations around the world, from Australia to the US).

But, I just found a video of this interview that they granted in 2011.

Enjoy.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxyJSVOxK8

naptu2:
They weren't happy when Nas (the American rapper) covered their song "Gone Down Low", but I think they've now gotten back the rights to their songs. The record company made a fortune from the songs and paid them peanuts.

naptu2:
Compare: Lijadu Sisters vs Nas


Lijadu Sisters - Life's Gone Down Low (1976)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BCHfCVw2Po



Nas - Life's Gone Low (2007)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvIVplqu9a0

naptu2:
The other day I wrote about doing a Pointer Sisters vs Sister Sledge series. There's a Nigerian version of that series that I'd love to do.


I'd really love to do a Lijadu Sisters vs Sunshine Sisters series.

The problem is that there's very little Sunshine Sisters material online. There's tonnes of material about the Lijadu Sisters on the net. In fact, most of the results that you'll get if you search for Sunshine Sisters are actually about the Lijadu Sisters.

I guess that's because the Lijadu Sisters had far more success in the US and Europe than the Sunshine Sisters and because the Sunshine Sisters were more into dance than singing.

naptu2:
The Sunshine Sisters.

(Eyitayo, Elizabeth, Sinatu, Dupe, Gloria and Mariam Ogunjobi).

And featuring Mohammed Ali on the album sleeve.



Sunshine Sisters - African Dish (1984 album).


Side A

1 Olorunmi (My God)
2 Destiny (Joro Joro Joro)
3 Stop Crying Mother (In Yoruba)
4 Ni Tori W.A.I. (African Thriller)


Side B

1 African Dish
2 Sweet Girl (Ecun)
3 Bring Me Nearer
4 Baba Mi Modupe


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naptu2:


https://tribuneonlineng.com/taiwo-lijadu-dies-in-us-at-71/

afroniger:
Eiya rip to her. . Orere Elejigbo and Reincarnation were songs my mother played a lot while I was growing up.