Tributes have been paid to Chief Pal Akalonu, the elder brother of Bazzy Cole Akalonu of the defunct pop group Sweet Breeze, who has been laid to rest.
Pal, who was also known as “Big Boy Pal Akalonu” in his younger days, was widely credited as the driving force behind the group’s success story.
From changing their name from Rock Breeze to ensuring they got into the recording studio, he was simply a mentor to the band, which comprised Kingsley Dallas Anyanwu, Jackie Moore Anyaorah, Bazzy Cole Akalonu and Viniyke Ikeotuonye.
Veteran journalist and author, Chuks Iloegbunam paid a heartfelt tribute to the late music producer and highlife musician, recalling his first meeting with him in Enugu in 1985.
“My friend, the late bassist Roy Obika from Agukwu Nri, was a member of the Sweet Breeze pop group. I met Pal Akalonu in Enugu in 1985, when I went to interview the production team and cast of NTA’s epic production of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart,” Iloegbunam wrote.
“Mr Akalonu was a noted highlife musician before he ventured into music production. They called him Big Boy Pal Akalonu then. If the country kept records, the airwaves would have been filled with his compositions to mark his transition.”
May his soul rest in peace.
