Skip to main content

Legendary Nigerian guitarist, Berkley ike Jones of the defunct BLO is dead

Legendary Nigerian guitarist, Berkley Ike Jones of the defunct BLO is dead. Berkeley Ike Jones died weeks to his 72nd birthday.

He died last night, June 28, in Asaba where he went for a job. Ike first appeared on the Nigerian music scene in the mid-1960s, as the drummer in the Port Harcourt-based teen pop group The Figures.

In 1970, at the end of the Nigerian civil war, he signed on as lead guitarist in the rock n’ soul band The Funkees, where his adventurous guitar lines got him noticed by talent scouts who instantly whisked him off to Lagos and installed him in the high profile rock group The Clusters.

The Clusters soon morphed into the Afro Collection under the leadership of Tee Mac Iseli, and then into SALT under Ginger Baker. Eventually the group splintered, giving birth to Nigeria’s first afro-rock power trio BLO–Berkley Ike Jones, Laolu Akins, and Mike Gbenga Odumosu.

BLO was the rave in the 70s and early 80s. The group was one of Nigeria’s most respected and influential rock groups throughout the seventies.

They recorded some afro-rock songs such as Preacher Man and Native doctor.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Alleged Lagos deadly cult leader "okoko danger" arrested

The Lagos State Police Command says it has arrested a suspected leader of the Aiye confraternity, a secret cult group in the state, who it identified simply as Shola. The suspect was said to be widely known in cult circles in the Mile 2-Badagry expressway axis as Okoko Danger. The Command announced it also arrested four other suspected members of the dreaded gang, namely Idris Musa, 19; Oluwaseyi Oguntobi, 23; Ramon Adebimpe, 18; and Saheed Kareem, 19. The police alleged that Shola, who they described as “’a deadly and notorious armed robber”, was behind the many killings in the Okokomaiko, Igando, Isheri-Osun and Ikotun areas of the state. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, told journalists yesterday at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, that on February 27, 2020 at about 4.20pm, police operatives from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, acting on credible intelligence, stormed a hideout at Iyana-Iba, where Shola and his gang members were said to be hibernating. “Four l...

Lekki Tollgate incident can be equated to a mas*acre — Lagos ENDSARS Panel

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Ab*ses and Other Matters (Lagos EndSARS Panel) has reported the Lekki Tollgate sh*otings of October 20, 2020, as a mas*acre. The panel indicted soldiers and implicated Nigeria’s security agents in the k*lling and forced disappearances of harmless and unarmed youths protesting at Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020. The Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel made the revelation in a 309-page report submitted to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Monday, November 14. According to the report, nine protesters were confirmed d*ad while four others were presumed d*ad. The report listed 48 names as those who were casualties of the Lekki incident. Among the 48 casualties listed, 24 sustained g*nshot injuries, while 15 others were as*aulted by soldiers and police. “At  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate, officers of the Nigerian Army sh*t, injured  a...

Femi Otedola appointed Vice President of Save The Children.

Mr Femi Otedola was invited by the Save the Children to join the prestigious group of its Vice Presidents, in recognition for his philanthropic efforts to better the lives of children in Nigeria. Save the Children’s Vice Presidents are a group of high-level supporters and critical friends of the organisation, actively involved in advancing the work of Save the Children, through advocacy, volunteerism, introductions, and philanthropy.  Save the Children works in 117 countries around the world in both humanitarian and development settings. The organisation works in partnership with philanthropists, governments, the United Nations, and other NGOs in pursuit of its global mandate to support children and their families in crisis and to ensure children can learn, survive and enjoy a protective environment so that they can reach their full potential in life. Mr. Femi Otedola’s addition to the Vice Presidents group is a testament to his long-standing support to the organization...