Blo

Blo forged a singular hybrid by fusing the Afrobeat rhythms of their Nigerian homeland with the expansive psychedelia and funk of late-'60s rock, thereby encompassing the entire range of Black musical expression. The trio's origins traced back to the Clusters, a leading Nigerian highlife ensemble of the mid-'60s that had already gained substantial popularity before serving as the backing band for Sierra Leonean superstar Geraldo Pino, widely known as "the West African James Brown." In 1970, guitarist Berkely "Ike" Jones, bassist Mike "Gbenga" Odumosu, and drummer Laolu "Akins" Akintobi departed the Clusters to enter Afrocollection alongside twin sisters Kehinde and Taiwo Lijadu, who would later appear on the British television program The Tube; this move marked a decisive turn from highlife toward a stronger Afro-Rock orientation. During a performance at Lagos venue Batakuto, the Afrocollection musicians collaborated onstage with renowned Cream drummer Ginger Baker; by the close of 1971, the same musicians united with Baker to launch the jazz-rock group Salt, whose first concert occurred the next year in tandem with legendary Fela Kuti.

Although Salt earned enthusiastic responses during extensive engagements across Western Europe and North America, the venture ended quickly, prompting Jones, Odumosu, and Akintobi to establish Blo in late 1972. The band maintained a rigorous touring schedule before issuing its EMI Nigeria debut, Chapter One. Merging Kuti and Tony Allen's groundbreaking Afrobeat with the American psych-rock sensibilities of the Grateful Dead and the Byrds, the album fell short of EMI's sales targets; after moving to Afrodisia, Blo returned in 1975 with Phase II, which delved deeper into funk and R&B terrain. Grand Funk Railroad and the Isley Brothers shaped the direction of the trio's third release, Phase III, yet continued weak sales subjected Blo to mounting corporate demands to adopt prevailing styles, above all disco, a trajectory that peaked with the 1980 London-recorded Bulky Backside. The group disbanded after issuing Back in Time in 1982. The compilation Phases: 1972-1982 surfaced on the Afro Strut label in 2001.