Singer/Guitarist Dan Ian (pronounced "eye-AN") is perhaps one of the most tragically under sung heroes in the annals of Nigerian popular music. A founder of not one but two of the most seminal bands of the rock era.
His career peak just happened to have coincided with an epoch that history has simultaneously judged to be a golden age and a lost era.
In 1966 was the year that Dan Ian Mbaezue formed his first pop group, The Ace of Spades which would go on to be one of the most influential bands of Nigeria's embattled Eastern Region, and eventually one of the most beloved bands in the country.
Chiefly entertaining the young soldiers. Perhaps because of this reputation for lifting the spirits of combatants in the war zone, by 1968 The Spades had become known as The Airforce Wings.
When The War ended in 1970, Airforce Wings became simply "The Wings" and soared even higher, their achy-hearted rock and pop serving as a salve for the battered souls of the country's youth.
Ian had been lured over to The Strangers in late 1970 and in 1971 moved to Lagos to join Sonny Okosuns' Paperback Limited.
And by 1972 he had formed the band with which he is most associated: Wrinkar Experience where he wrote three top songs on EMI label namely Fuel For Love, Money To Burn, and Going Sound Way.
The lineup included Ian on guitar and lead vocals, Cameroonians Edjo'o Jacques Racine and Ginger Forcha (on bass and guitar/organ respectively) and possibly Cameroonian drummer Felix Nsango and Nigerian Tony Essien (a.k.a. Tonny Clark)
At the height of Wrinkar's fame, Ian left the band "in protest against exploitation." Forcha, Racine and Nsango meanwhile carried on as Rock Town Express.
Instead, Ian went solo as Dan Ian and recorded a handful of singles, including "Love Me Now," "Keep It Top Secret" and "Lady Gay Girl."
By 1976, Ian had shortened the band's name to The Spades in tribute to his original group and released the album Chapter One: This Unspoken Love, dubbing his sound "Love-Dayrock."
In 1978, Ian ditched The Spades and teamed up with the Headzfunk rock band of Port Harcourt for Hold On Tight, an album of mostly mellow reggae-style tunes like "She's My Woman."
In 1990, a mature and near-unrecognizable Dan Ian returned to the music scene with the LP Jide Ukpuru Oma.
The former heartthrob went back to his hometown, where he was honoured with the title Chief Dan Ian Mbaezue, Ezeloma Apanike of Ihiala. But music was never far from his heart.
Kudos to #ObianoEffect, Wrinkers Experience will again perform live on stage... At the POP STARS OF THE 70s “Resurrection” Concert also Featuring:
* Foundars15
* Sweet Breeze
* Wings
* One World
* Semi-Colon
* Apostles
* Sokey Ohale
* Funkees
* Aktion
DATE: Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017
VENUE: Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, Anambra
TIME: From Dusk to Dawn
Don’t Miss this Unforgettable Night of Fun and Nostalgia!
• Prizes to be won by best 1970's dressers, dancers and singers from the audience.
• Tickets are available at:
√ Shoprite (Onitsha, Asaba, Owerri)
√ Roban Stores (Awka and Enugu)
√ El Dorado Event Centre, Owerri Road, Aba
For Sponsorship Call:
~ Ernest ⏩ 0803 395 3677
~ Ngozi ⏩ 0806 330 4605
