Dan Satch: Woman Pin Down

Dan Satch has quite the mysterious background, not much is known about this particular gentleman or his band. Originally from Nigeria and presumably from Aba, according to the back cover of Ikoro’s 70’s Special, “Dan Satch Joseph was a seasoned trumpeter and arranger. He started playing the trumpet in 1959 and was the trumpeter leader of Bobby Benson & his Jam Session Band until 1961. In 1962 he made the move to Aba and formed the Atomic “8? Dance Band.” He’s released some 45s and a 10” album including an LP with Mary Asi Usuah, although there’s seems to be some confusion about his name. The 10? credits him as Dan Satch Joseph while the later (LP) credits him as Dan Satch Ekpe. He has also been confused with Ferdinand Dan Satch Emeka Opara, who was the co-founder of the Oriental Brothers Band. The Atomic 8 band were a more traditional based Highlife dance band where as the Oriental Brothers were a more guitar based Highlife band. It only seems natural to assume the relation of the two, since Ikoro’s Special was recorded in ‘69 and the Orientals were founded in ‘71, both bands were from different areas, the Atomics were based in Aba, while Dan Satch Opara hailed from the Owerri area.

Former conga player Sonny Akpan who left the group to play with the Funkees, confirmed that Dan Satch Joseph came from Akwa Ibom and the actual vocalist singing on Woman Pin Down is Mohammed Ahidjo, who later became the lead singer with the funkees as well. Woman Pin Down was a record I seeked for quite sometime and I was able to ease my mind once I finally got my hands on it. This is the perfect example of West African Highlife at it’s finest, I hope this track moves you just as much as it did me.

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