Sweet Breeze Remains One Big Family
Between the late 70s and the early 80s, Reggae music and highlife was the order of the day in Nigeria, particularly in the South-east. Groups like Sweet Breeze stood out for drawing its membership from various institutions of higher learning. The group th
Akalonu, who runs a Marketing and Public Relations outfit, is happy about the formation of the band and the present status of all the band members who are still alive.
Born in Lokoja in Kogi state he started primary school at St. Mary’s Lokoja but continued at St. Bridget’s Primary School, Enugu. Akalonu also attended St. Patricks College Asaba for his secondary education. The Civil War cut it short. He finished at Sacred Heart College, Aba.
A native of Owerri, Akalonu attended Institute of Management and Technology ( IMT) Enugu where he studied Accountancy and later the Rivers State University of Science and Technology Port Harcourt, where he studied Marketing.
The lead drummer of Sweet Breeze said he grew up like every normal child in a middle income home. He was a regular at parties, playing music, and also enjoyed traveling too. Some of the places he went visiting include Obudu ranch, Ogbunike Cave, Lokoja; the confluence of the Rivers Niger and Benue and also the Yankari Games Reserve in Bauchi state. Sweet Breeze Experience The musical side of his life started during the Civil War. The journey into the world of sound began with him coming together with some friends in Owerri to form a group called The Blossoms. The next stop was Aba. This time, the name of the band changed to The Blue Birds. He returned to Owerri to play with The Strangers led by late Bob Miga.
Meanwhile, his parents encouraged him to study. In 1972, he was admitted into IMT Enugu. Enugu exposed him to groups like Goddy Okwu and the High Breeds and Stone Face Iwuagwu. Akalonu had a short stint with the High Breeds. At that time, Dallas and Jackie Moore who would later become members of the Sweet Breeze were with Stone Face Iwuagwu.
They teamed up Roy Obika who later on left for Canada and Vincent Iketuonye took his space. Sweet Breeze was like a group of friends. They were just playing around with musical instruments every weekend.
Everything changed with the intervention of his immediate elder brother, Chief Pal Akalonu, producer of ‘ Now Sound’ on Nigeria Television Authority ( NTA).
“That weekend he came to my place to see how we could salvage a situation. The Actions, a musical group, were billed to perform that evening on the programme, but they have not arrived. So he now came to see what we could do to keep the programme on. We were rushed to the studio.
“In the studio, somebody asked the pertinent question, ‘ what is the name of this group’? A lot of suggestions came up. One word that what remained constant was Breeze. Somebody said the Breeze and another person said Sweet Breeze. That is how Sweet Breeze stuck.
“We were all students. Dallas Kingsley Anyanwu who was in IMT hails from Amaraku in Imo state, I was also at IMT and I am from Emii in Owerri North, Vin Iketuonye from Ozubulu in Anambra state was a student of University of Nigeria Nsukka and Jackie Moore who just finished High School then comes from Umunkwo in Imo state. He was working with one of the ministries. Dallas was a singer and a keyboardist. I played the drums. Vincent Iketuonye was a bassist and Jackie Moore was the lead guitarist.