Highlife band band formerly known as ?El Dorados?, later to change their name to ?Medican Lantcis? before settling on ?Sweet Talks?. Started under the joint leadership of Smart Nkansah and A.B. Crentsil as resident band at The Talk Of The Town Hotel in Tema near Accra. It is here they established a name for themselves as one of the most exciting young bands in the country.
Due to the popularity and commercial success of their first three albums ? Adam & Eve, Kusum Beat and Spiritual Ghana ? the band began touring on a regular basis and made it as far as Los Angeles (1978) where they recorded what was to be their biggest selling record; Party Time In Hollywood.
Smart Nkansah left the band to form the Black Hustlers in 1976, with Eric Agyemang on guitar, vocalist A.B. Crentsil, J.Y. Thorty on drums and Prince Nana Afful on keyboards. Plus horns and percussionists the band was renamed Super Sweet Talks. By 1980, faced with uncertain economic climate in Africa and a declining record industry, they split-up to pursue separate careers.
A.B. Crentsil reformed the band as the Super Sweet Talks International for earthy albums Mewo Road, Adjoa, Moses and Tantie Alaba.
Agyemang was successful, forming his Kokoroko Band for albums Wonko Menko, Highlife Safari and Kona Kohwe, the last with Crentsil and Thomas Frempong (drummer, vocalist who also did highlife hit Aye Yi '85).
Agyeman also sessioned with Crentsil, Atakora Manu, Nana Tuffuor; featured prominently with Crentsil and Frempong on Pete Pete '83 by Highlife Stars One, joining with members of Osibisa to make Ghana's first supergroup.
Soundway Records was conceived in 2002 by label owner Miles Cleret whilst returning from Ghana with a hoard of dusty old 45s and LPs that had mostly not been heard outside the former Gold Coast since their original release. Planned on a whim the trip was not one of the carefully planned research expeditions that Miles would later embark on to any number of far-flung tropical destinations. On the contrary he left England with no idea of what he might find or that it might be the start of a career in the record business.
Although the label has it's roots in West Africa the scope has grown to include many other parts of the tropical belt with the aim of making available recordings that have in most cases never been available outside of their original countries and often not even there for over 30 years. Over the years Soundway's modus operandi has been to approach the music from a different angle from many of the more established \"World Music\" labels. By focusing on more obscure artists as well as big names and often concentrating on progressive recordings more in sync with Cleret's generation and background in DJ culture and dance-music. Styles have included afro-beat, funk, highlife, ethio-jazz, molam, calypso, cumbia, champeta, biguine, latin-jazz and disco as well as many unclassifiable recordings.
Since 2012 Soundway has begun releasing new material from a carefully selected handful of contemporary recording artists including acclaimed acts Ondatropica, Bomba Estereo and Ibibio Sound Machine
