Finally, good old school music has got a home in Accra. A brand new joint that has all the trappings of a fabulous disco! The rotating mirror ball and great heavy bass sound. It’s called Impulse, in Nyaniba Estates. And do you know the great thing about it? The DJ on Fridays is Blow! Yep, the very same who used to spin ‘Old School’ tunes on Atlantis Radio on weekends. He’s found a new habitat on Friday nights at this Impulse joint, and if what I experienced last Friday evening is anything to go by, the capital is in for a rollicking time from now on.
He brought it all back to me last Friday. After dropping one tune after the other going through Jimmy Cliff’s “Brown Eyes”, Shalamar’s ‘There It Is’ Brothers Johnson’s ‘Stomp’ and Dynasty’s ‘Love In The Fast Lane’! It was when he dropped ‘Mercy Mercy’s’ “What Are We Gonna Do About It” that put paid to the man’s dexterity! He plays in eras, you see, moving from one decade to the next. I remember that song so well. It was like an anthem at Keteke Disco at one point. And each time it started, the siren would go off, as if to call everyone to the dance floor. And true to form, by the time the song’s moves into full swing, we’d all be packed on the floor, gyrating this way and that, throwing our hands in the air and snapping our fingers like we had no care in the world. And maybe we didn’t! Gosh, those were some fun times. The disco days! In the clubs of the day ...Babylon, Keteke, Cave du Roi, Balm Tavern, Black Caesar, Maharani! Those were the good old days!
You know, as bad as we think these days are, they will be the good old days for today’s youth, as the ‘Keteke’ days were for my generation. I can just see my nephews going on about what great times they used to have at Cinderella’s and Boomerang and Aphrodisiac! And all that have come and gone in between! I’m definitely going to be swinging this Friday when the doors at Impulse, upstairs at El Gringo Restaurant, open at 6pm, to relive those disco years. They don’t even make music like they used to. Music that had sweet melodic lyrics, meaningful libretto you could even sing to your mama and she would smile. Today, try singing any T Pain, 50 Cent or some such act, and if they are not insinuating sex, it would be some other unsavory discourse.
Next weekend the Joy FM Old School Reunion comes off at the Trade Fair Centre. I am looking forward to it. It is one event that attending makes me feel giddy! Because I would get to see many old school mates, and also make some new friends. Being from the 80’s generation, what I don’t like about it, however, is that too many 2000’s ‘kids’ come these days and makes the place look too juvenile. It didn’t used to be so previously. But the fun thing about it is, those kids are the ones who have big fun, gang up in groups and sing their ‘old school cameradie’ in beautiful tunes! The friendship that bubbles at this event is so infectious and if your spirit is good, you get to make some new friends too. Kwamena, whom I met ‘there’ in 2004 when the event was based at the Aviation Social Centre and I are very good pals today. He’s now part of my network and we share writing and design ideas, and connect each other work opportunities. I bet you might have a similar story. And make yours just as worthwhile as mine. I dare say, if the network is not beneficial, as in work wise or even on a social level, cut them off! These days, the last thing you want to have is a link that draws you back. Yes!? We are moving forward. Now where did I hear that!
So I’m sitting at the Terrace at Fiesta Royale hotel at Dzorwulu this Tuesday evening, sipping a glass of Tonic Water with lemon on ice and soaking it in as the jazz band dishes out some melodies. So out of my way, I hardly visit the Fiesta, and I’m glad Vic called for us to meet there. Vic’s another network and this evening, amid the tuneful strings of a jazzy ‘Take Five’ as interpreted by the house band led by Wellington on lead guitar, we shook hands, happy with the outcome of our meeting. Wellington’s band is a groovy jam that plays some really cool stuff. I was impressed. And on a Tuesday evening, that’s an interesting addition to the musical landscape of the capital. Now I know where to take guests, and meet for after hours networking on a Tuesday. The hotel itself still looks so new. Everything is so clean, fresh with some rather smart waiters, who I heard calling guests by name, a feature I thought was really nice as it makes guests feel at home. You should have seen the gentleman, all smiles and engaging the young waitress in a conversation about what was on offer for dinner.
The ‘Mansonia’ their restaurant is, what you might call, cute. Brightly lit, it’s not very big and looks very much like a very neatly decorated eatery with a wine bay and the flat screen in the lounge nearby in sight. I bet football buffs, in particular, would like to entertain here as they can catch a glimpse of what’s cooking for their teams even as they may be sharing a moment with their partner. I like the Mansonia. I promised myself to sample their food and share the experience with you sometime. That’s it! See you soon. At Impulse next Friday, or at the Old School Reunion on Saturday, at dinner with me sometime, or tonight at the re-run of KSM’s ‘Castle or Suicide’ at the National Theatre!
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