CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ONE OF THE GREATEST HIGHLIFE MUSICIANS, CHIEF OLIVER DE COQUE

CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ONE OF THE GREATEST HIGHLIFE MUSICIANS, CHIEF OLIVER DE COQUE

– Started Music at 17
– Got Married at 20
– First Music Break with Alexander Emelumonye
– Sunny Agaga and band (First group he joined)
– Got his Big Break in 1974
– Higest selling Igbo Artist till date

Chief Oliver De Coque had his primary education at Saint Simon Central School, Ezinifite. He further attended the Niger Institute of Commerce, Aba where he studied English, Book Keeping and Accounting. He got married at the young age of 20. He ventured into music when he was 17 years of age .
In 1965 , Chief Oliver De Coque with Alexanander Emelumonye released their first song , an Igbo song which they titled “Ekpili”. “Ekpili” was featured on Nigerian Television Authority every weekend on Channel 4, Ogbor Hill, Aba. While Oliver waited to play his music on weekend , he would trade on shoes during weekdays.

After the Nigerian civil war, in 1970, in search of greener pastures , Chief Oliver De Coque headed for the City of Aba in South Eastern part of Nigeria . Luckily for him , He met an old friend of his , Obed Okoroafor, a native of Mbaise in Imo State , and as Fate would have it , Mr Obed Okporoafor was a good congarist while Chief Oliver De Coque was a good guitarist and vocalist , they easily blended proffesionally.
Meeting Mr Obed Okoroafor marked the turningpoint in Chief Oliver De Coque’s career , he then made a decision to give-up local music entirely and go for something bigger than his “Ekpili” style of music. Chief Oliver De Coque and Mr Obed Okoroafor met a musical band that goes by the name “Sunny Agaga and his Lucky Star” Band who came from Lagos to play music in Aba.
Before Sunny Agaga and his lucky star Band started their performance at the occasion, Oliver approached the band leader, Sunny Agaga , pleading with him to allow him and his friend to feature in their band, intimating him on how good he and his friend are in music . Sunny Agaga hinted that he wouldn’t give Oliver an immediate response.
However, when the band wanted to perform, Sunny Agaga invited Oliver and handed him over their guitar and asked him to back them up. Chief Oliver De Coque’s performance at that occasion earned him automatic employment with the band. Unfortunately, because of the presence of fantastic drummers in their band, Mr Obed was not as lucky as Chief Oliver De Coque, but after Chief Oliver’s pleadings, Obed was hired as well. They relocated to Lagos After joining the band.

For three weeks straight , the Chief Oliver’s new employers didnt perform at any occasion , this prompted Chief Oliver De Coque to go in search of a new band that he could join , luckily for him, he met Jacob Oluwole and his Friendly Unity Band. He approached them at Oshodi, where he was interviewed and instantly employed. This new band gave Oliver accommodation. Coincidetally , This employment came at the time the band was preparing to record a song titled “Agbasisi”
The song was successfully recorded and it went on to becme an instant hit. One discouraging attribute Chief Oliver later noticed about this band was their lack of unity. They quarreled, argued and fought a lot.
Chief Oliver De Coque , again left the band and teamed up with Sule Agboola and his Moonlight Star Band.Coincidetally this was when the band was preparing for summer tour of Europe in 1973. They got him an international passport and visa.
Sule Agboola and his moonlight star Band left Nigeria for london in July 13, 1973 where they performed only on weekends .
In London , luckily for Chief Oliver Oliver De Coque he was able to secure a part time job where he was paid 80 pounds a week. The band stayed in London for four months.
Oliver used the money he earned from his job to buy two guitars, two amplifiers and a set of drums in preparation for his own band.

When they got back to Nigeria in 1974 , Chief Oliver De Coque set up his own band that same year . Chief Oliver composed his first Album “Messiah, Messiah”. The Album had five tracks .
He approached Alhaji Olatunde Yusuf, the chairman of Olumo Records Limited with the songs. Alhaji Yusuf loved the the songs and promised to wax it so as to give it a professional touch.
Just like he promised , Alhaji Olatunde Yusuf waxed the “Messiah, Messiah” album and it sold more than 50,000copies. The song was an instant Hit. It was popular in the Eastern ,Western and Northern part of Nigeria , it also went beyond the boarders of Nigeria , it sold out in Cameroun, Cote dvoire, Congo and Togo.
Because of the song , a lot of people assumed that Oliver De Coque was a Camerounian while some said he was from Congo. From the proceeds he made from the record sales, Chief Oliver, in a day bought three brand new vehicles and employed three drivers .
On his way home to the Eastern Part of Nigeria where he comes from , Chief Oliver De Coque stopped briefly in Benin to thrill his fans with his song for five hours. Still in transit , people have heard his songs showed excitement at the sight of him in Onitsha. On arrival at his village, Ezinifite there was jubilation everywhere because the music had gone viral.

This was how Oliver continued to make progress in his music career until he became very popular as a highlife music star In 1979, Oliver came up with with People’s Club Ka anyi bili be ndu (let us enjoy ourselves). It also sold two million copies , making it Chief Oliver’s greatest hit. The lyrics of the music was fantastic, the melody was okay, the guitar was on a top gear, and the arrangement of the music was professionally done.
Chief Oliver De Coque followed this up with “Identity” which was a chart buster, then Ugbana, Easter Special, Obele nwa nâ amu iri enu, which were all hits. In 1990, he churned out Ana enwe obodo enwe, followed by Nnukwu mmanwu, Bili kam bili in 1992.

Chief Oliver de Coque died on June 21, 2008 of low blood pressure.