Gold Coast to Ghana

An audio/visual vault of sights and sounds from the Gold Coast to Ghana. Follow us on Instagram: @goldcoastghana

[goldcoastghana]

The market in Keta. Gold Coast, 1897.

[goldcoastghana]

The brothers Charles, Samuel, and Timothy Amaning. Gold Coast, 1915.

[goldcoastghana]

Gold seller, weighing gold. Bimtuku, Gold Coast. 1901.

[goldcoastghana]

The King of Mampong. Gold Coast, 1901.

[goldcoastghana]

Young school girl in Accra, Gold Coast. 1953. Photo by German photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt who shot the iconic photo of the sailor and the nurse kissing in Times Square after WW2.

[goldcoastghana]

Young hawker girl in Accra, Gold Coast. 1953. Photo by noted African-American novelist Richard Wright, author of the 1940 classic "Native Son".

[goldcoastghana]

Market in Kumasi. Gold Coast, 1901.

[goldcoastghana]

Visit Original Link

One of Ghana's most popular highlife groups, The Sweet Talks was formed in 1973 under the joint leadership of Pope Flynn, A.B. Crentsil, and Smart Nkansah. They were the resident band at The Talk Of The Town Hotel in the port city of Tema and it was there that they established themselves as one of the most exciting young bands in the country. Due to the popularity and commercial success of their first three albums—Adam & Eve, Kusum Beat, and Spiritual Ghana—the band began touring on a regular basis and made it as far as Los Angeles, where they recorded their 1978 classic "Hollywood Highlife Party". The album would prove to be their biggest seller, with "Angelina" as one of its most popular tracks. However, by 1980, faced with an uncertain economic climate in Ghana and a declining record industry, the group split-up to pursue separate careers.

[goldcoastghana]

You may recognize this fabric. Its iconic design was created over fifty years ago by Vlisco textile designer Toon van de Manakker, who based the print on a 19th century Ethiopian noblewoman’s tunic. The pattern was originally one of the most important products in the Vlisco range, a beloved best-seller that has been imitated repeatedly since the sixties and continues to be produced to this day. At Vlisco, it is the consumer who names each product, which is why you may know this fabric as 'Addis Ababa', 'Miriam Makeba', 'Mashallah', or may simply refer to it as 'dashiki print'—after the garment on which it has had its greatest cultural influence. What you may not know, is that one of the most popular names for the fabric, 'Angelina', has its roots in 1970s Ghana. In the late seventies, the popularity of the print coincided with the release of the hit song "Angelina" by legendary Ghanaian highlife group The Sweet Talks. People began referring to the printed fabric as 'Angelina' (after the similarly vibrant track) and the name has become so popular that even Vlisco now uses it when referring to the iconic print. If you have always wondered why it is they call it 'Angelina', now you know!

[goldcoastghana]

STAR Beer advertisement from a 1969 issue of the Ghanaian edition of DRUM magazine.

[goldcoastghana]

Visit Original Link

Alhaji Kwabena Frimpong was a Ghanaian highlife singer best known for his hit song "Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu", performed by K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas. The track was on the second of K. Frimpong's two self-titled albums released during the heady Afro Funk days of the 1970's. K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas (1977) was the album that made him famous and—while he provided the vocals—he was backed by the legendary group Vis-A-Vis (renamed the Cubano Fiestas). Their soulful groove has proved timeless and "Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu" has remained a highlife classic.

[goldcoastghana]

Visit Original Link

♫ Music: ET Mensah & His Tempos - All For You (1952)

Emmanuel Tettey Mensah, otherwise known as E.T. Mensah, was an iconic Ghanaian musician who popularized highlife music and was seen by many as the genre’s king. His career stretched from the early 1930s to the late 1980s and he and his band, The Tempos, toured across West Africa and Europe popularizing African music.

In the late 40s and early 50s, E.T. Mensah & His Tempos band began making music with an indigenous rhythm for a decidedly African audience. Their mix of traditionally African sounds with modern instruments was popular not only in Ghana, but across West Africa where they played to sold out venues in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

In 1952 Mensah recorded his first 78rpm discs for Decca West Africa and was soon dubbed the ‘King of Highlife’. His songs covered topics from love to social commentary and were delivered in English, Ga, Fanti, Twi and Ewe. The English track “All For You” became one of his greatest hits and helped popularize his sweet horn arrangements and the highlife genre in Africa and abroad.

[goldcoastghana]

Visit Original Link

In honor of today's World Cup match between Ghana and Germany, this post is about Burger Highlife: Ghana Music made in Germany.

Burger Highlife is a distinctive form of highlife music created by Ghanaian immigrants to Germany. During the late 1970s-early 1980s, many Ghnaians left the country to seek opportunities abroad. One of the countries that attracted them was Germany, with many making the cities of Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg their second home. Burger Highlife was born when Ghanaian musicians began collaborating with German musicians and producers. They created a crossover music style from highlife, disco, and funk.

One of the most celebrated Burger Highlife musicians was the legendary Daddy Lumba, a Ghanaian singer who was based in Cologne, Germany. Born Charles Kojo Fosu near Mampong in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, he emigrated to Germany with a wave of Ghanaians in the 80's. In 1982 he released his first album with his colleague, Nana Acheampong under the name, Lumba Brothers. The album was a massive hit and the title track "Yee Ye Aka Akawantoum" an instant classic. The song depicted the number of Ghanaian immigrants that originally leave the country to seek better fortunes abroad, but make those temporary homes permanent due to financial, emotional, or other unforseen hardships.

[goldcoastghana]

Visit Original Link

The Sweet Talks were more than just a band, they were an institution, a training ground for Ghanaian highlife legends. The band was formed in late 1973 by Pope Flynn, A.B. Crentsil, and Smart Nkansah. Over the next few years, they were joined by the likes of vocalist Jewel Ackah and guitarist Eric Agyeman. The Sweet Talks' 1976 album "The Kusum Beat" (on which this song was featured) was a modern take on the traditional music of Northern Ghana which is based on xylophone and percussion.

[goldcoastghana]

Club Beer advertisement from the Ghanaian edition of DRUM Magazine. August 1969.

[goldcoastghana]

Two kente-clad women photographed by James Barnor in the 60's. Accra, Ghana.

[goldcoastghana]

Photo taken by Fred Attoh in Accra, Ghana in 1961. Fifty years later you would never see so few cars on the road at this time of day.