We don’t have a music identity now— Bob Pinodo
Highlife musician Bob Pinodo believes there is a lot Ghanaian musicians can learn than to copy from the West.
According to him, Ghanaian musicians have become lazy and are throwing away the country’s authentic Highlife.
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“We can easily modify our Highlife music and sell to the outside world but rather we copy from them leaving our Highlife to die.
“In short, I will say we are all lazy and we want the easy way out. Going to a sound engineer and saying anything on a beat is a lazy way out and unfortunately that is the order of the day.
We dont have a music identity
“We are not going forward but retrogressing and it is about time we went back to the drawing board and did our homework. The young musicians need to go to the older musicians like myself to seriously learn because we are losing our identity.
“Highlife is our thing and we don’t have to let it die. The Jamaicans are identified with Dancehall, the French speaking countries have their own thing going over there but what about us?” he asked.
According to Bob Pinodo, we should not kid ourselves that we have gone global when indeed we haven’t. “We haven’t gone global and it is a fact. Osibisa and few other musicians went global but if we really want to go beyond the shores of Ghana then we need to change our approach to music.
“We have a long way to go and we need to get serious and do authentic Highlife music. We need to tell our stories in the music we do. Musicians have the power to sell our rich culture to the outside world through our music. There so much we can do with our Highlife music which seems to be vanishing.
“Our music is getting weakened every now and then and it is sad that the Nigerians who came to learn from us have overtaken us and doing great outside” he added.
Collaboration with young musicians
Talking about collaborations with young musicians, Bob Pinodo said he is ever ready to help any of them who seek him out.
“My doors are always open to them for advice and collaboration. Although I will not go looking for them, I am ever ready to help any young act who comes to me. When I relocated to Ghana after a long stay in Europe, the likes of Tic, Kofi Kinaata and a couple of other musicians came to me and I was happy to assist them. So my doors are open for either collaborations or consultations” he said
Single and album release
Away from that, Bob Pinodo is set to release his latest single, All Men Are Created Equal next month. He describes the song as very dear to his heart because he has been working on it for the past 32 years.
“A lot has gone into this single so I intend to promote it and travel around the world to tour with it. This is a global song and I want to perform it on international stages,” he said.
According to Bob Pinodo, after the release of All Men Are Created Equal next month, he has plans to release an album titled New Music and Dance.
“I have a full album I will be releasing by the end of the year and I want Ghanaians to listen to good authentic music. I spent time on the album because it has been a while since I came out with a new work. I made sure each song on the album carry a particular message. New Music and Dance will also be promoted across the world” he said
Bob Pinodo is one of Ghana’s foremost musical showmen, travelling around the country with his own variety show which featured dance, music and comedy. He was awarded the Arts Council Award as the country’s most talented musician in 1969. He recorded his first LP in Germany in 1977.
He rose to the pinnacle of his career with hit songs such as 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 by Essiebons Ltd in 1978, had airplay on BBC. It also won Best Album, Best Composition, Best Production, Best Recording and ultimately the Album of the Millennium from the Entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG) and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
Bob Pinodo said he has found the need to impart his knowledge in showmanship on the youth of Africa and that has informed the formation of his new band the GoldCrest Band.
