History of the Wings
Subtitle: a foremost Nigerian pop group of the 70s
By: Manford Best
Publisher: Book-Konzult
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Imo State, Nigeria
Language: eng
Number of pages: 258
ISBN-13: 9783781995000; 9789783781993
Subjects: Rock musicians; Biography; Rock music; History and criticism; Wings (Musical group : Nigeria)
Description: "This book is all about the meteoric rise and fall of a wholly indigenous Nigerian pop group called The Wings. The rock band made its debut in 1968 having been put together by the Biafran Airforce authorities primarily for their entertainment and pleasure. At the end of the Nigeria-Biafra war, these young school leavers hopefully continued playing together not minding the difficult challenges that confronted them. With three successful hit singles and a long-playing album to their credit in the long run, the group gained instant recognition all over the country. By December 1974, the story of the group turned sour and the flight to stardom was over. Three members of the band namely, Spud Nathans, an extraordinarily talented lead singer, Okey Uwakwe, an experienced lead guitarist and Manford Best, a singer/rhythm guitarist were involved in a fatal auto-crash. The accident took place while they were returning to Aba after a gig at Akuma the night before. Manford was on the wheels. This was shortly after crossing the notorious Njaba bridge situated before Owerri. Spud died on the spot. Okey was hospitalized and died later but Manford escaped with minor injuries. Unfortunately, Manford has been unsettled since that road mishap that claimed the lives of his indispensable colleagues, Spud and Okey. This was largely because of rumours making the rounds that the accident was caused intentionally. Certainly, Manford does not have a guilty conscience in line with the popular saying that a clear conscience fears no accusations. However, he has been persuaded to break his silence and to tell his own side of the story for posterity. It took a long time for this to materialize because the urge to do so came by chance. The book has twenty-one chapters beginning with, "Response to Necessity" to "At Last" being the first and last chapters respectively."--Amazon.com
Notes: "Biafran Air Force, BAF"--Cover.