Highlife is the backbone of popular music forms in Nigeria and Ghana, and also had a strong influence elsewhere in Africa. Highlife originally came to prominence in Ghana in the late 40s and early 50s in large dance bands that were highly influenced by the Afro-Cuban orchestras of the time. Soon different ethnic groups in West Africa were creating their own types of highlife based on local rhythms, often in smaller bands that featured guitar more prominently. 
In South West Nigeria in the 1960s, early Highlife morphed into the two branches of Juju and Afrobeat. In the South East of Nigeria, populated by the Igbo people, Highlife developed on a different path with a strong incorporation of local "folklore." In the 1960s, Chief Osita Stephen Osadebe became the recognized King of Igbo Highlife. Already in the 1970s, however, the Oriental Brothers International were competing for this crown. Their highly rhythmic stripped down guitar-based version of Highlife took over the dance floors. To this day, the music Sir Warrior and the Oriental Brothers remains in high favor among Nigerians from the South East. It was often the dominant sound at the Igbo owned "bush bars" in Abuja that I frequented almost every weekend over the last four years. One of these bands was actually fronted by Sir Warrior's son. The Oriental Brothers International band was formed by four brothers in the early 1970s, the most prominent of the brothers being Christogonus Ezebuiro "Sir Warrior" Obinna and Ferdinard Dansatch (Satch) Emeka Opara. After achieving great success in the mid-1970s, Sir Warrior and Satch Opara went their separate ways, each one keeping the title Oriental Brothers International as the name of their band. So it can be a bit confusing sorting out the discography of what looks like 100s of albums. Sir Warrior died in 1999, as was mourned greatly in Nigeria.
The English Original Music label did a good job of putting together this compilation in the late 1980s. Heavy on the Highlife! is a selection of tracks recorded in Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. It was one of the first CDs that I ever bought, and it has received heavy (highlife) rotation ever since. The first three tracks are classic Oriental Brothers from the 1970s. The first two are still played quite often in Nigeria. The highly infectious "Ihe Eji Aku Eme" is a 1980s track from the Oriental Brothers band led by Satch Opara. The last two tracks are from the 1980s unit led by Sir Warrior. The disc gives a good picture of what this music was and is all about.
