Before the civil war broke out in Nigeria in 1967, Nigeria was a decent country doing fine for itself. The economy and standard of living was fine, the nightlife was blazing. The nightlife in Lagos especially was magnificent, the cool evening breeze was met with smells of burning cigarette, beers, bursting laughter among friends and different people who chose to hang-out at the clubs, the pretty women were all around, the most important factor that kept nightlife going was the music. Highlife was the dominant genre, there was Juju, Apala and other genres but none of them could match the pace at which highlife was spreading. Each club had an artiste billed to perform to the amusement of their customers, but the outbreak of the war meant things were going to change, for how long no one knew till the end of the war in 1970. Although, the war mostly affected the Eastern part of the country, the spirit of the people remained alive; thanks to music a lot of people had their hopes high.
Following the end of the war, a new wave of sound broke out among the youths especially whom listened to a lot of American influenced songs on the radio during the duration of the war. These new crop of artistes were labelled “The Beats Community”, they were mostly combining Rock and Roll, Blues, Rock, Soul music with local sounds to produce a new hybrid sound. To put into context, the Alte Movement that broke out in Lagos around 2016-2017 could be likened to The Beats Community. The International Hykkers were one of the foremost bands in the Beats Community.
THE HYKKERS
The Hykkers were a boy band formed in Lagos in the 1960s. The Hykkers found an audience among the young Nigerians who preferred the music of the Hykkers to the predominant Highlife in the 60s. The Hykkers were one of the early pioneering Rock groups in Nigeria, comprising of young white collar job workers and students whom started off just having fun in 1963. One of the early members of the group, Harry Juwe, explained how they got their name, “We would walk from club to club all night, and this was when the streets of Lagos were safe at night. We would be just walking — hiking — all night. When they asked us our name, we didn’t even have one… So we just said ‘We are the Hykkers.’”
The group was initially made up of Patt Finn (lead singer), Eddit Duke (Bassist), Emmanuel Lawson (Drummer), Jeff Afam (Guitarist), Bob Miga (Lead Guitarist).
The Hykkers soon went wide and far gaining a lot of attention turning heads and blasting through the speakers, by 1965 they went from being in the underground scene to being mainstream, taking the Beats Community and its culture along. The Hykkers were on national television, getting more popular and loved by the youths.
Their popularity and fame continued to soar higher as they gained the attention and support of Fela Kuti who gave the group 5 Horns to support them, with these Horns they fine-tuned their sound further more. The group also open a show for the Jamaican sensation Millie Small who was on tour in Nigeria in 1966.
Shortly after they burst-out on to the mainstream scene, they were approached and offered a contract by a representative of a Club, Scorpidoo, in Port Harcourt, they departed Lagos for Port Harcourt in January 1967 to take on the new challenge, a new phase in their careers they did not expect. Signing the deal made them the first professional Rock band in Nigeria, they were paid £700 a month which was a very high amount (an equivalent of £700 in 2021 is £16, 536.98 considering inflation). The exit of the Hykkers from Lagos to Port Harcourt soon left an open void left for the other bands to fill.
THE HYKKERS DURING THE CIVIL WAR
With some issues boiling on the political scene, the civil war broke out in July 1967, this disrupted the nightlife in Lagos. The country was put into a standstill. A lot of the Highlife singers were from the East, some of the members of the bands from the East relocated back to the East from Lagos, this opened a wide gap in the music scene. There was a need to rebuild from the scratch and get the groove going again.
The Hykkers were stuck in Port Harcourt unable to return back to Lagos as the war had been fully blown and their contract with the Scorpidoo nightclub had been terminated, they were stranded and left with no option but to take gigs at for a reduced payment. The war tore Nigeria apart, so also the Hykkers. After being captured by the Nigerian Army in Biafra territory, they were made to play for the Army to celebrate their victory over Biafra. The dispute between the members of the band came up when they were torn in between returning to Lagos or not, Bob Miga decided to stay in the East with his family and he also disclosed the plans of the other members to run away to Lagos. The Army gave the other members of the band an option to either go to Lagos without their instruments or remain with them, the other members chose to go to Lagos without their instruments while Bob Miga and Eddie Duke remained with the Nigerian Army who commissioned them to start a new band with the seized instruments, they formed a new band called The Strangers with the young locals.
Nigeria had to rebuild itself from the crumbs of the wars after being torn apart, so also the Hykkers; they had no instruments to play, the band had been broken into two, they had to start from the bottom.
THE HYKKERS AFTER THE WAR – THE BIRTH OF AFRO-ROCK
Upon the return of the band to Lagos after the war, they had difficulties getting themselves back together until Fela returned from his US tour and he allowed them play with his instruments. The group had to replace their guitarist and bassist, they replaced them with members of their rival band, the Fractions, whom had recently broken up. Ify Jerry and Jake Sollo joined the Hykkers from the Fractions. Nigeria was also rebuilding and working towards a new image, One Nigeria.
The discovery of oil in Nigeria lead to a big boom in the Nigerian economy. The Hykkers returned to Lagos with a new sound heavily inspired by the new members of their group, they pioneered a new genre, Afro-Rock.
They soon became the new darling of the town, regaining attention once again as they were known with Fela this time, they became an unofficial formidable duo. The Hykkers expanded and took in the Immortals, a Soul group from Benin City and Paperback Limited formed by Sonny Okosun, a former member of the Fractions, these groups were popularly called Fela’s Afro-family. Thanks to the generosity of Fela Kuti they were able to get back on their feet, butt with consistency and hard work soon made them the powerhouse they used to be with the release of Deiyo Deiyo, they made a huge come back and stamped their authority on the music scene once again.
END OF THE ROAD FOR THE HYKKERS
The group had internal issues which caused internal rift; the older members didn’t want to partake in the hip and fast life, they were rather concerned about their families and keeping it modest with less interest in performing and socializing, the younger members were interested in living the good live and dedicating their time to music.
Pat Finn left the group to become a television producer, Jeff Afam soon followed suit and secured a j0b in the cooperate world. The departure of these member affected the band as their popularity soon began reducing in the mainstream scene. Jake Sollo started working with Ginger Baker’s group, while Ify Jerry worked with OFO the Black Company, a seven-man rock band that was managed by the Hykkers’. manager, Eddie Roberts. The other members of the group were left frustrated.
The straw the broke the camel’s back was when the Hykkers performed at Club Chicago in Lagos and abandoned their instruments overnight in the club. To the surprise of the Club’s staff, they met the instruments damaged. A member of the Band, Jake Sollo, was suspected to have caused the damage, upon investigation he was found guilty and arrested by the police. It took the intervention of Jake Sollo’s parents and Eddie Roberts’ father who was a former Police Inspector to save Jake from going to prison.
Jake Sollo moved on as he joined the Funkees then later Osibisa. He rerecorded Deiyo Deiyo twice as a solo artiste and also helped Pat Finn produce his only album as a solo artiste.
