•My relationship with him –Ebenezer Obey
He did not find the kind of wealth that many presentday young Nigerian music stars have found, but he did find fame. Yes, highlife icon, Fatai Olayiwola Olagunju, famously known as Fatai Rolling Dollar was not a rich man as at the time he passed on at a hospital in Lagos a few days ago, but he found fame through his dexterity at the guitar and his captivating lyrics.
So good was he at his chosen genre of music – highlife – that he was well appreciated by young and old music lovers. However, before he became widely known, the late Rolling Dollar had his fair share of the struggling life.
Though he was born on July 22, 1926 in Lagos as prince of the royal family of Fatai Olayiwola Olagunju, originally from Ede, a Yoruba town lying on the Osun, the river famously linked to Yemoja, the river goddess, he became drawn towards music at an early age.
After leaving school, struggling and suffering so hard, young Fatai learnt to play the highlife musical instrument called Agidigbo from the Ilajes.
In fact, he learnt how to play the string instrument better than the people from whom he learnt it. After he lost his job at the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, things became so tough for Rolling Dollar that he had to depend on his Agidigbo and lots of exciting lyrics to survive.
Interestingly, the late artiste, who started his musical career in 1953, played his highlife using his Agidigbo box to thrill European music lovers at the then Island Club which was dominated by the whites.
In 1957, he formed an eight-man band called Fatai Rolling Dollar and his African Rhythm Band, and they recorded numerous seven-inch singles for Phillips West Africa Records.
Among Rolling Dollar's group was a young budding star, Ebenezer Obey, who he mentored among other musicians who later became music icons.
He and his African Rhythm Band had some hits with Phillips, then they moved to Jofabro/EMI where they recorded over 150 singles and had many hits for the company including Sisi Jaiye Jaiye and Won Bumi. Rolling Dollar and his African Rhythm Band also recorded songs for UAC that came in from Ghana.
Eventually, Ebenezer Obey left with six members of the band to form his own group with its own fresh style, adding more instruments including talking drums and slide guitar. Fatai thereafter reformed and renamed the band Fatai Rolling Dollar and his New Millennium Band. But in the late sixties, a sweeping change was going through the Nigerian music scene.
A new corps of Nigerian musicians appeared on the scene and took the country by storm as the fortune of musicians like Rolling Dollar came down. In order to still be in the music business, he decided to start a musical equipment rental service.
Obey, on his return from touring abroad, actually helped him by giving him some musical equipment to add to his own stock. However, the infamous invasion of the surrounding area of Fela Anikulapo's Kalakuta Republic and the consequent inferno that ravaged the lot had devastating consequences for Rolling Dollar whose means of livelihood was largely destroyed. Looters also took advantage of whatever could be salvaged of the equipment. After losing his means of livelihood, Rolling Dollar moved with his wife and five children to a single room in Mushin. At this low point of his life, he lost all five children to illness within three months and his wife worked herself to the bone, finally succumbing to exhaustion and death.
For 20 years, he remained in abject poverty and depression, eventually finding a job as security man at the stadium. But after years of struggling to make ends meet and by what has been described as Rolling Dollar's perseverance, the amazing singer and performer bounced back and he became a phenomenon on the block after the French Cultural Centre, in Lagos, initiated his return to limelight.
Rolling Dollar became the ultimate come-back music legend when record company, Jazzhole Record, released his song, Won Kere Si Number Wa (his major hit) among other songs which became instant hit. From then on, Rolling Dollar garnered a huge fan base at home and abroad. Perhaps, this was why Governor Rauf Aregbeshola of Osun State described the late icon as a "testimony in perseverance and hope". Rolling Dollar also got a higher lift through Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while as Lagos State governor. He was given a house in one of the low-cost housing estates in New Oko Oba, Lagos.
A dynamism of his music career is that Fatai's voice sometimes demonstrated a deep, throaty, rich quality and at other times a falsetto tone as in Sisi Jaiye Jaiye and Saworo. And while he may have lacked money in his later years, Rolling Dollar was a ladies' man. He did enjoy the company of women and, in fact, he once confessed that women were his problem. He was also reported to have married a younger wife a couple of months ago.
But there is no doubt that Rolling Dollar loved to perform for his numerous fans. In fact, he was reportedly on music tour of the United States when he took ill and had to return home and admitted to a hospital where he later died. His last performance which was on March 14 was on Nigerian Idol Season 3 stage, where he performed one of his all-time classic Won Kere si Number Wa. He was later joined on stage by a group of contestants. After his performance, Rolling Dollar said, "I love what the young artistes are doing. They have a good message for the young crowd out there, and I absolutely love it."
There is also no doubt that it is not only the three wives and 16 children that he left behind that would miss him, obviously, his numerous fans and the Nigeria music industry have lost a great stage performer and music icon. His memories and kind words will forever remain in his fans' hearts.
They would miss him greatly. As Orits Wiliki puts it, Rolling Dollar lived well as a musician. "Even though his death remains a big loss to the industry, he would be happy that members of the young generation are taking highlife music to the next level," he said. And Fatai's former protégé, Obey says, "I've lost my boss, my friend and my mentor. And I know the country has lost a talented singer. He was one of the greatest musicians that ever lived. He was a multi-talented instrumentalist who can play all percussions and guitar.
He was a very gifted person. He had a very good voice. " Obey, who is also a multi-instrumentalist, said he met the late Rolling Dollar in the 60s when he (Obey) was trying to master the Agidigbo used in J.O. Araba's album. He later discovered that it was Rolling Dollar that played the Agidigbo. He then realised that while other musicians at the time used one or two fingers to play the string instrument, Rolling Dollar used all five fingers to play it, which reflected his versatility. So he asked to be introduced to the young Fatai and that was how they became friends.
Their friendship led to the forming of a band. When it was time for Obey to form his own band, he left Rolling Dollar. According to Obey, he had a cordial relationship with Rolling Dollar even after he left the band. "My relationship with him was very cordial. Even when he was in the hospital before he died, we spoke on phone. We loved each other till he died. He was a nice guy and I have respect for him," Obey said.
National Mirror