Ghana Highlife in the 70s and 80s
I went on a bender last year researching and listening to all sorts of 70s and 80s era Ghana Highlife bands. Here are some favourites
A.B. Crenstil was one of the two leaders of the popular Sweet Talks who started his own band called the Super Sweet Talks after the original band disbanded. This was in part to get out of a contract with Phonodisk in 1979, who were the legal owners of the Sweet Talks name after an agreement with the band's management. Crenstil brought most of the original bandmembers to his team while Phonodisk tried to cash in on the Sweet Talks name with a completely different band lineup. 'course, this sly rename didn't protect Crenstil from litigation later on, so this band too ended up folding over the bureaucracy. Crenstil ended up moving to Canada in 1985 to form a new highlife band.
Anyways, the record's a relaxing, cheery half hour of grooves. Highly recommended!
See also: Adam and Eve - Smart Nkansah and his Sweet Talks
Party Time in Hollywood - Sweet Talks ('expanded' record on Spotify)
K Frimpong and His Cubano Fiestas ('Blue' s/t, 1976)
K. Frimpong's a bit of a guitar legend of the era. His records go between Highlife and Afrobeat sounds. He is hands-down my favourite musician that I've come across in my genre dig... please enjoy!
See also:
K Frimpong and His Cubano Fiestas ('Black' s/t, 1977)
K. Frimpong backed by Vis-a-Vis (s/t, 1978)
aaand a classic by Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu to round it off.
