New Soundway Twelve Featuring Rare Eighties Ghanaian Highlife
Soundway records has just put out the first release of a brand new 12″ series focused on making obscure and in-demand dancefloor selections from around the globe available on loud DJ-friendly pressings.This new single features two obscure late eighties Ghanaian highlife gems, originally released on Nana Asiedu’s Nakasi Records. Known as Big Joe, Asiedu was an accomplished producer and influential figure in London’s Ghanaian and African music communities during the 1980s.
The A-side features Jon K’s version of “Asafo,” a highlife classic that was originally made famous by C.K.Mann in 1975 on his Funky Highlife recording. One of the Ghanaian’s most in-demand sessions guitarists Alfred Bannerman is featured on the 1989 recording.
On the flip, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Pat Thomas teams up again with longtime collaborator Ebo Taylor on the 1988 dancefloor-heavy cut “Enye Woa.” Thomas composed, produced, sung, and played keys on the track, while the songs big horn sound was arranged by Taylor.
Primed perfectly for the tropical dancefloor, both tracks have an eighties-era produced highlife sound, blending funky African rhythms and melodies with drum machines, synths, and electronic instrumentation. A great start to what looks like a promising new sure-fire series.
