Essiebons: Veteran music producer is 90

Of all the motives that drive people to pursue a variety of interests, passion often reigns supreme.

That has been the case with 90-year-old Dick Essilfie-Bondzie, widely known as Essiebons, in his long association with Ghanaian music. Some people simply prefer to call him Uncle Dick.

He first put together a group of session players (known in Ghanaian music business parlance as Shabo Shabo) for a recording date in 1959. It was just to satisfy a then 29-year-old’s desire to be linked to popular music production in this country.

The music, however, bound and bowled him over and the man has still not been able to extricate himself from its grip. 

Over time, his Essiebons Music Entertainment Limited label produced  hits for acts such as Dr K. Gyasi and The Noble Kings, C.K. Mann, Western Melodic Singers, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, All Brothers, Bob Pinodo, Agyenim Boateng, Apagya Show Band, Naa Awushie, Ebo Taylor, Bonzie Konkoma and Paapa Yankson.

Three of the classic albums he produced for C.K. Mann are Adwoa Yankey, Funky Highlife and Party Time With Ceekay. He also produced the famous Sikyi-Highlife (Non-Stop Medley) for Dr K. Gyasi and The Noble Kings as well as the Show Master of Africa and Sonobete albums for Bob Pinodo.

Uncle Dick, in partnership with other notable Ghanaian music producers, has also turned out compilation albums that represent the best in Highlife. A well-known one is Golden Hits of Ghana –Volumes 1&2.

For anyone keen to revisit the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s Highlife, there could not be a better guide than those compilation albums.

Quality time

“I’ve always had a passion for music. I love it so producing music hasn’t been like work to me. It is like spending quality time with somebody you care about,” said Uncle Dick in a chat at his home on Lee Frempong Avenue, Adjiriganor in Accra.

Born on May 1, 1930, his love affair with music actually gathered steam when he moved with his parents from Apam in the Central Region to live in the London Market area at James Town in Accra when he was five years old. His father, Nana Essilfie-Bondzie, was a storekeeper with John Holt and Co and was on transfer to Accra.

A lot of music was played in the streets and a band rehearsed in a house nearby. The young Dick was enchanted with all the sounds and sucked in as much of it as possible.

Though he showed traces of interest in music, his father was more interested in him getting good education. That resulted in him going to England for studies to qualify as a corporate secretary. 

He landed a job with the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on his return in 1959, the same year he started trying his hands at producing artistes.

He went back to England to study Management Accounting. He got a big boost for his musical ambitions after securing a deal, with the help of his father, with Philips Phonographic Industries in 1969 to jointly set up the Record Manufacturers (Ghana) Limited.

The business comprised a recording studio and pressing plant and it attracted business from all over West Africa.

The Apagya Show Band included Ebo Taylor (left) and Gyedu Blay Ambolley (right)

Apagya Show Band

Uncle Dick left full-time government employment in 1972 to concentrate solely on his musical adventures, one of which was the formation of the trend-setting Apagya Show Band.

Made up of musicians including Ebo Taylor, Bob Pinodo, Naa Awushie and Gyedu Blay Ambolley, the band dressed African and played original music. That was at a time most bands in this land played other people’s music, referred to as ‘copyright.’

Apagya’s forward-looking stance, however, didn’t pay off as audiences clamoured more for ‘copyright’ music. Patronage at their show started dropping and the band broke up after about six months. Uncle Dick,however, still feels proud about what he did.

“The band was there for only a short while. The good thing was that they recorded an album before their demise. That album is still loved outside of Ghana, especially in Europe. People keep asking us for licence to reproduce it,” Uncle Dick said.

He also referred to another Essiebons act in the 1970s, Rob ‘Roy’ Reindorf, whose material didn’t do well here but are still sought after across the world.

“We didn’t sell even 20 copies of Reindorf’s songs here but we keep receiving requests for licensing. At Essiebons, we always looked ahead. We projected into the future and that’s why our early recordings still help to sustain us till this day.

“What we have always said at Essiebons is that some artistes never die because they recorded beautiful stuff,” the veteran producer pointed out.

Roots To Fruits

Essiebons also ventured into film. His Roots To Fruits film released in early 1979, with screenplay by Nana Bosomprah, looked at Ghanaian traditional music and its evolution through the years.

The film, directed and edited by Bernard Odjidja and choreography by Nii Yartey, featured some of the key artistes in the Essiebons stable such as C.K. Mann, Bob Pinodo, Afua Agyapong and Western Melodic Singers.

It is assumed that as people grow older, love for some of the things they cherished in their younger days would diminish. It doesn’t appear to be so with Dick Essilfie-Bondzie.

His intense love for music still burns brightly. Last year, he released material by Khojo Pinodo, a son of Bob Pinodo, on the Essiebons label.

So Dick Essilfie-Bondzie has devoted a lot of time and resources to groom and produce a variety of music talents in this country.

He definitely deserves the reverence accorded him in the business today by those who know the magnificent contribution he has made to the development of Highlife.