I have been trying to make a musical album all my adult life. So when the end seemed near, I was overfilled with joy. I looked round for anybody and anything that would give the album that little extra polish. The album is largely sang in English but there are two songs on the album in twi. I thought, well, what an opportunity to get a certain renowned singer in Ghana to help me by doing backing vocals on those two songs for me.
"That should be no problem" she said
She asked me to simply email the songs to a certain studio and discuss terms with the owner and once that was done she would go and do the recording there. So far so good. I was impressed. Professionalism on show.
"But how much would it cost me to have your wonderful voice on my music?" I finally summoned the courage to ask.
"You said you were calling from the UK?"
I knew immediately there was going to be trouble. What had where I was calling from to do with anything.
"Its going to cost you 1000 pounds per song" she said
"You mean Ghana New Cedis" I helpfully suggested
"No! I said pounds"
She meant business. She was going to charge me a thousand, not Ghana cedis, not even dollars, pounds, for each song, just to do backing vocals. I felt like I had been poleaxed
"Well" she continued unashamedly "just google my name and see all the work I have been doing. Times have changed in Ghana."
After much pleading and haggling, I managed to get her, finally, to agree to accept 250 pounds for each song.
Then I called the studio owner, a renowned musician I had known in the UK.
"Will cost you two hundred" he said
I swear to God that that was what I heard. I was so relieved to finally speak to somebody sensible. Of course he had stayed in the Uk. He understood how we were all struggling here.
"Oh I really love your music" he added
The alarm bells started to ring in my head. Over the years I had developed a strong suspicion of professional musicians who were too quick to praise your music.
Soon after we had finished speaking, I received a text from him
"I hope you understood the bill. Its a thousand pounds per track. So two thousand pounds for the two songs."
Why had he found it necessary to text me. Perhaps he knew how ridiculous it all was and was surprised I had accepted it straightaway. He must have felt I probably had not heard it right or I definitely would have haggled. Or had he had a chat with someone else and been told what a fool he had been and decided to try to milk out some more from the cow. And he bargained hard. In the end he agreed to help the backing singer with the arrangement and charge me 400 pounds per song. I gave them the go-ahead to proceed. They wanted the money transferred via Western Union. So I withdrew the one thousand three hundred pounds over a couple of days and made my way to the transfer office.
On my way , however, something must have blown off my eyes. For I suddenly looked at that large bundle of cash in my hand and thought;
"Wow! All this money! For what? Backing vocals? On two songs! In Ghana!"
Suddenly, I started fuming in anger. I called the musicians and cancelled the job. I then decided, that I was not going to spend a penny of that sum. Out of anger, I was going to blow it all on my music and see how far it would take me.
I sent three hundred pounds to a Grammy Award winning horns arranger in Canada to rearrange all the horns on both song. And what a wonderful job he did. I paid five hundred pounds to book three full day studio sessions. Then I paid two very good Uk singers 200 pounds and 150 pounds each to do backing vocals on eight songs. I still had 150 pounds left. So I brought in a bassist to redo the bass on a
song for 50 pounds. I still had a hundred pounds left. So I brought in a saxophonist to come and blow away on one song. A thousand three hundred pounds well spent and not put in the pockets of con artists.
And the music is far richer for it.
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