Legendary Ghanaian singer, Bob Pinodo, says Ghanaian highlife music has a massive international appeal with a strong fan base in the United States of America (USA).
According to the veteran dance band performer who spent most of his career years in the USA, Ghanaian highlife music is loved and appreciated by foreigners because of its unique rhythm and groove which Americans find fascinating.
The 2021 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award recipient disclosed that after spending decades touring the world, he returned to Ghana to scout for talents.
“I came back to Ghana to look for musicians because the Americans find it hard to play our African rhythms.”
He said while he was looking for local percussionists, he got a contract to teach Dance Band Directing at the Music Department of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), where he worked as a lecturer for ten years.
Bob Pinodo was a guest on Citi TV’s The Chat show.
Watch video:
Known during his prime as the Show Master of Africa, Bob Pinodo began his musical career in 1966, the year Ghana became a republic.
He was awarded the Arts Council Award as Ghana’s most talented musician in 1969 and subsequently recorded hit songs “Disco Dance”, “Yesu Ne M’agyenkwa”, “Love is Love”, “Girl with the Guitar Shape”, “Come Back Love”, “Africa”, “Darling” and “Peep to See”, all on his “Show Master of Africa” album.
The album, released in 1978, was adjudged Album of the Millennium by the Entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG).
