I first became aware of Fela's music while browsing in a record store in Paris around 1981. There appears to have been much greater awareness of Fela's music in Europe than in the US at that time. I did not follow his musical career and discography but three of my favorites from that period are "Sorrow, Tears and Blood (1977), "International Thief Thief" (1980) and "Original Sufferhead" (1981).
Knitting Factory Records has re-released quite a few Fela records on vinyl and CD. In addition, you can download them from Bandcamp in various digital formats at
http://felakuti.bandcamp.com/