VARIOUS – The Best Of Asona Records – 2LP – Vinyl [MAR 7]

2LP – Black Vinyl. Classic 80’s Burger Highlife from Ghana.

ASONA RECORDS – HIGHLIFE MAGIC: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN??

A couple of years back, UK-based House DJ Jerry Frempongs wife Katie was doing a spring clean at the family home. At the bottom of the garden, amongst a pile of rusty garden tools, she discovered a couple of mysterious bin-bags. She was about to assign them to the skip with everything else, but a sixth sense persuaded her to check the contents. It was a huge pile of rare soul, funk, disco, boogie and- yes Ghana Highlife records. Katie brought this to the attention of Jerry, who immediately understood the significance of the treasure trove.

Jerrys Father, Anthony Roberts Frempong, who had passed away in 2011, was the founder of one of the most significant Ghanaian record and music companies anywhere in the world: Asona Records. Asona was founded in the mid-80s, with little fanfare, in Peckham, South East London. It was a label with a firm mission: Burger Highlife. No, not a swanky fast-food chain, nor a 5-star German hotel chain, but a record label devoted to the new African dance music genre that was sweeping Europe, North America and West Africa at the time Electric Highlife.

BBE Music owner Pete Adarkwah caught wind of the serendipitous discovery and approached Jerry to discuss the reissue of this historic catalogue. Before long a catalogue deal was hammered out: and here you have it!

BURGER HIGHLIFE AND THE DIASPORA LOOP.

So: why Burger? Like many music stories, it started with money- or the shortage thereof. Classic Ghana Highlife has a star-studded history dating back to the early 1920s, with 20-plus piece orchestras playing nightly at hotels and ballrooms across the country. By the 60s, American soul, funk and pop records had become available in small quantities, and their electric-based sound started to inspire Ghanaian musicians of every stripe. As with the history of Afro Cuban music, here was African music doing its transatlantic loop- African rhythms go across the sea, inspire others, and return to Africa some years later, to be rebuilt and tweaked anew by African musicians.

This came to wide general public attention on March 6 1971, when a group of African American and Ghanaian musicians came together for a memorable concert in Accras Black Star Square. Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, Carlos Santana and other African American artists performed head-to-head with the likes of Ghana jazz pioneer Guy Warren and funky highlife Basa Basa Soundz co-founder Amoah Azangeo.

Soon, Ghana Highlife spread across Europe and North America. But the honeymoon would soon be cut short. By the end of the 70s, Jerry Rawlings military government, desperate for funds in a sinking economy, imposed a 160% tax on imported musical instruments and equipment. The inevitable result was that artists and bands couldnt make ends meet and had to go elsewhere: in this case, especially to North America, the UK- and Germany.

Its generally accepted that the first major funky electronic disco/boogie Highlife tune was George Darkos 1983 Hamburg-recorded Akoo Te Brofo so, Burger Highlife or sometimes, Borga Highlife. But the artists included in BBEs Asona reissue series together span a panorama of Ghanas music history, right back to the late 60s. It may be called Burger, but its also classic Highlife seen through a different lens: the lens of the Diaspora.

Tracklist:

1.Thomas Frempong – Odo Pa
2.Eric Agyemang, Kokroko Band – Kokroko Special
3.Jewel Ackah – Maame
4.Thomas Frempong – Wobre
5.Mr Cee – Bribiara Wone Mmre
6.Kantata – Saturday Night
7.Sam Yeboah – Biribi Aye Me
8.Thomas Frempong – Me Nyame
9.Jewel Ackah – Onipa Dasa Ni
10.Kantata – Monsom
11.Sam Yeboah – Odo Mewu
12.Thomas Frempong – Kweku Anansi
13.A.K. Yeboah – Make Me Know My Position
14.Kantata – It’s High Time Now