Here's a post from a few months ago. I was originally going to give this "scoop" to Matt over at Benn Loxo since Charlotte Dada is the unofficial mascot of that blog, but he's not updated since last December so I ended up just sitting on it.
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Whenever I watch Soul to Soul, Denis Sanders' film documenting the 1971 independence anniversary concert in Accra, Ghana, featuring American music stars such as Wilson Pickett, Ike & Tina Turner, Roberta Flack and Santana, one question always comes to mind: Where are the Ghanaian artists who performed at the concert?
Surely I can understand how commercial (and even legal) concerns might have necessitated the focus upon the more familiar visiting American musicians, but I think the spirit of cultural exchange and pan-African fellowship the film's title suggests would have been better served by throwing some shine on the local performers who also graced the stage at that show.
I'm assuming that those performances were also filmed, and that the footage is lying around somewhere. Hopefully someone releases it one of these days, but in the meantime, let's give a little face time to some of the Ghanaian stars who didn't make the cut with some bios scanned from the original concert program pamphlet.
(Click on images to bigify)
I'll admit that I'm particularly pleased to present the pic of the enigmatic Charlotte Dada; as far as I know, her photo has never appeared online though I've heard that a documentary on her was produced a few years ago:
Charlotte Dada - "Don't Let Me Down"
Cool Blaze Band feat. Charlotte Dada - "Everything Cool"
The Aliens - "We're Laughing"
The Aliens - "Blofonyobi Wo Atale"
The Guy Warren Sounds - "Blood Brothers"
The Guy Warren Sounds - "Love, The Mystery Of"
