Esbee Family – Chics And Chicken
If you asked me what was my most prized album in my collection was – this would be in my top five.

Of course what drew me to the record was the incredible cover! Initially, I thought it was an all female Nigerian disco group. When I spun it in the shop, turns out it’s an all male Nigerian outfit. But that’s ok as the album is all killer. Side A features disco boogie with side B more classic soul sounds.

Very little is written about the band and the album is yet to get the fancy reissue treatment (preferably with the royalties). After some digging I came across a youtube explaining the history of the band. In short the Esbee Family contain members of one of Nigeria's notable bands from the Afro funk era - Sweet Breeze. Sweet Breeze were a group of uni graduates playing music and got signed to EMI with multiple albums under their belt. Turns out Esbee Family is sort of like a super group containing multiple famous musicians of that era.

My copy is from Plug Seven owner Ari’s personal collection. Occasionally when I’m in, and he is working he will remember selling this record to me – perhaps with a tinge of regret. I remember buying this for $70, and it was by far the most expensive second hand record I had ever purchased at the time.

#nowplaying #nowspinning #vinyl #records #Nigeriandisco #afrofunksoul #esbeefamily #sweetbreeze #boogie #plugseven