Sweet Unit Rock Group

The Friimen Rock Group was always in the studio backing new solo artists or supporting bands that were not strong enough. Towards the end of 1976, my group, the Friimen, had a recording session at Decca Studios in Akoka, Lagos. While we were in the studio, a bunch of guys came in because they heard about the presence of some Ibo musicians in the studio. They also happend to be Ibo, precisely from Mbaise. They were in Lagos doing their music activities. If my memory serves me well, the guys that came to the studio were Wahehe Njoku, Reginald Njoku and Joel Ugo. They told us that they were planning to return to the East to form a band. Beni Tudumey of the Friimen (my current band) told them that our band had two keyboardists and that Arthur Freds was the second keyboardist who could be part of their group. They spoke to me to join them to form the band. They said that upon their return to the East in the beginning of the following year (1977), they would embark on the band formation, and that they would like me to be one of the major shareholders and on the keyboard. I did not give them much thought because I was loved in the Friimen. The band leader (whom I always called De Charlie) became a close friend. I could eat or spend so much time in the houses of each and all the band members. January 1977 swung around. I was still not thinking about forming a new band with the guys from Mbaise. One day, I was strolling along Ehi Road in Aba, and I saw about three guys in front of the house where the Original Wings lived. They were talking with Arinze Okpala (Arii), the band leader of the Wings. They spotted me along the road and called "Arthur Freds". I looked and behold it was the same group of guys that I saw in Lagos. They told me that they were now in Aba and ready to begin. They asked me to come to a meeting where we would iron out things. I told Beni Tudumey about the discussion. He prodded me along and insisted that I would make a huge success if I formed the band with those guys. Seeing how unsure I was, Beni took it on himself to go with me every step of the way. On the day of the first meeting, Beni was there with me and those guys. That same January, our band, Sweet Unit Rock Group, was started. We began to rehearse along Ehi Road, in the same hotel where a band called Atomic '8' was based several years prior. After extensive practice, we hit the road and I started to make the name that took me to working with the NTA, sharing office with Zebrudaya and Clarus, serving James Iroha and playing keyboards in one or more of his recordings, flying from Port Harcourt to Lagos to do a recording for James Iroha, and all such exciting career activities that I witnessed.