Born in 1919 in Ijebu, Igbo, Haruna Ishola Bello was one of the most well-known musicians of his era, specializing in the Apala genre. He passed away on July 23, 1983. Beginning his musical career at a young age, Haruna Ishola is recognized as the founder of Apala music in Nigeria. He performed with a variety of instruments, including lamellophone, claves, agogo bells, and akuba. Although Ishola’s 1948 debut album, Late Oba Adeboye (The Orimolusi of Ijebu Igbo), recorded under His Masters Voice (HMV), receives little attention, his constant touring made him the most sought-after performer at parties among the affluent Nigerian elite. Once Oba Adeboye died in an aircraft accident aboard the BOAC-operated Argonaut G-ALHL in 1955, a rerecorded version of his 1948 album was made available. This new release quickly increased his notoriety. About 1955, Haruna Ishola started recording apala songs. She quickly rose to prominence as the genre’s most well-liked performer and was regarded as one of Nigeria’s most esteemed praise singers. Ishola adopted and adhered to a staunch traditionalist stance, incorporating no Western musical instruments into his lineup and quoting Yoruba proverbs and Koranic verses in his compositions.
He included shekere into his music before the end of the 1950s, and in 1960 he recorded the song “Punctuality is the Soul of Business” for Decca Records. Decca Records, who also signed Lijadu Sisters, Fela Kuti’s cousins. During her performances, Ishola would be seated with a group of singers, a lamellaphone, shakers, agogo bells, akuba, and claves, as well as two talking drummers.The agidigbo, a hollow lamellophone (thumb piano) that was simultaneously plucked and struck to produce a mesmerizing ostinato at the center of the apala sound, was another essential component of his sound.
Ishola founded STAR Records Ltd. in 1969 with the help of jùjú musician I.K. Dairo. Owned by its artists, this was the first record label in Africa. Oroki Social Club, his best-selling album to date, was released on Decca Records in 1971 and sold over five million copies. The album’s lead song paid tribute to Osogbo’s esteemed and well-liked nightclub, where Ishola and his group frequently played sold-out shows that lasted anywhere from four to ten hours. He was among the first musicians from Nigeria to go on international tours, including stops in Benin, the UK, Sweden, France, West Germany, and Italy. Ishola passed away in Ijebu, Igbo, in 1982, but his extensive discography—which includes records for Decca and STAR—remains. His son, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, is also a musician who continues his father’s tradition by touring and releasing the million-selling album Soyoyo in 2000. Disagreement with his business associate
Haruna Ishola battled his former business partner in a historic legal battle. Ishola wanted to establish his own record company in 1964 in order to take full creative control and management over his earnings. A respectable businessman was invited to join him as a partner. Renowned in the music world, Nurudeen Omotayo Alowonle was a shrewd investor.
At the time, he was so well-known that any youngster with the name Nurudeen would go by his moniker, Alowonle. F. S. Balogun and another gentleman were also invited to join the company. Ishola recognized that the rules of engagement needed to be written down for the partnership to be legitimate, but he couldn’t afford a professional attorney because his previous label had mismanaged his revenues. The four agreed to become partners by signing a handwritten contract on May 28, 1964.The alliance was dubbed “Express Record Dealers Association” by them. The agreement states that the Express Record Dealers Association” was established with the intention of releasing music under the distinctive label Alowonle Sounds Studio. Alowonle Nurudeen was named Managing Director of the firm.
The company saw tremendous growth, but anxiety also accompanied the increased success. Alowonle was charged in 1966 with embezzling earnings and money from record labels into his own personal bank account. Dissolution of the partnership took place on February 7, 1967. The former partners then made the decision to retire the company name. In mid-1967, Ishola happened to come upon some new albums labeled “Express Record Dealers Association” while shopping at a nearby record store. After purchasing many copies, he started a covert inquiry. He questioned who could have the guts to market the records under the former partnership’s trade name. It was the former Managing Director, Nurudeen Alowonle.
Honorable Justice George Sodeinde Sowemimo presided over the case that Ishola dragged his former partner to. Alowonle filed for a trademark on the name in November 1967. However, when he presented the handwritten contract from 1964, Justice Sowemimo declared Alowonle’s trademark on the record label name void, forbade him from using the brand name independently, and ordered Alowonle to reimburse Ishola for money that was embezzled between 1966 and the partnership’s termination because he was unable to produce official documentation attesting to Ishola’s and the other two partners’ equitable share of profits.