Essiebons Special 1973 – 1984

Dick Essilfie-Bondzie was all ready for his 90th birthday party when the Covid pandemic hit. The legendary producer, businessman, and founder of Ghana's mighty Essiebons label had invited all his family and friends to the event.

It was the disappointment of having to postpone that prompted Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb to propose a new compilation celebrating his contributions to the world of West African music. For most of the 1970s, Essilfie-Bondzie's Dix and Essiebons labels were synonymous with the best in modern highlife.

His roster included highlife legends like C.K. Mann, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Kofi Papa Yankson, Ernest Honny, Rob 'Roy' Raindorf, and Ebo Taylor who all released some of their greatest music under the Essiebons banner.

Born in Apam and raised in Accra, Essilfie-Bondzie was sent to business school in London at the age of 20. He returned to Ghana for a government job but his passion for music, inspired by Accra's highlife scene, never left him.

In 1967, he opened West Africa's first record pressing plant, a successful venture in partnership with Philips label, attracting business from all over the continent. By the early 1970s, Essilfie-Bondzie left his government job to focus on his labels.

By the mid-seventies, he was releasing album after album of restless highlife into the Ghanaian music scene. Essiebons Special features a selection of obscure workouts from some of the label's heaviest hitters.

While digitizing his vast archive of master tapes, Essilfie-Bondzie discovered Afrobeat and instrumental masterpieces from the label's mid-70s golden age that had never been released.

Unfortunately, Essilfie-Bondzie passed away before the compilation was finished. However, his legacy lives on in the extraordinary music that he shared with the world during his lifetime.