Wilson Boateng - Asew Watchman

Format : 12"

Label : Kalita Records

Catalog # : KALITA 12019

Genre : Africa

First ever re-release of Wilson Boateng’s ‘Asew Watchman’ and ‘Mabre Agu’, two phenomenalpieces of 1988 Ghanaian boogie/burger highlife- accompanied by 2 Mendel remixes from the original multitrack session tapes !

Following on from their Nana Tuffour retrospective in 2018, here Kalita focus again on the 1980s phenomenon of burger highlife, a crossover of highlife melodies with synthesizers, disco and boogie that took over Ghanaian airwaves during the decade and beyond.

Originally privately released in a small run by Wilson himself, ‘Asew Watchman’ and ‘Mabre Agu’ were both recorded in Brixton, London in 1988 after his relocation from Ghana to the UK in search of stardom, following the footsteps of burger highlife stars Pat Thomas, George Darko and Thomas Frempong.

Sadly, however, after pressing one thousand copies of the album, and although the music itself rivalled the very best burger highlife of the time, Wilson was beset by various obstacles both in London and back home. As such, the record was unable to make the headway that it deserved, and the music was soon lost into obscurity.

Nevertheless, with original copies now selling for triple figures on the second-hand market, and after a two-year search to track Wilson down, Kalita are now honoured to work with and celebrate the outstanding burger highlife of Wilson Boateng.