Highlife is a musical form that originated in Ghana in the 1920s. By the late 1920's High life bands were popping up throughout Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. High Life is essentially a mixture of African rhythms and melodies with western sounds and instruments. Early Highlife bands combined European foxtrots and Caribbean kaiso, with African rhythms of Liberia (dagomba), Sierra Leone (ashiko and goombe). As the sounds of American big band jazz, R&B, blues, rock & roll and other western sounds began to be heard throughout West Africa, the Highlife bands there incorporated these new styles into their playing. The instrumentation included African drums, harmonicas, guitars, and accordions. During 1930s three distinct styles of High Life emerged: ballroom dance style for the upper class elite, a village brass band style, and rural guitar bands playing a less Westernized style for a less Westernized audience.
The 1950s and 60s are considered the golden age of Highlife. Bands such as Osibisa, The Tempos, The City Boys, and The African Brothers ruled the dancehalls throughout much of Western Africa. Highlife records were played on the radio and sold well in West Africa.
The popularity of Highlife began to decline in the 1970s. A genre known as Juju began to be favored in western Nigeria. However, in eastern Nigeria highlife was still popular and bands like The Oriental Brothers were in high demand.
The 78s we'll be playing THIS MONDAY 11pm UK TIME (6pm US East Coast Time) on the Kipper the Cat show on Cambridge 105 Radio will all be from the AFRICAN TROPICS. Including High Life recordings from Ghana, Nigeria, and the Congo, Kenyan Twists, African Folk , Dance music and Early African guitar recordings. BE SURE TO TUNE IN 11pm 3rd September 2018 on-line via the radioplayer link here http://cambridge105.co.uk/shows/the-kipper-the-cat-show/
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