07 May Bio Of The Legendary McSandy Abankwa

Born on June 15th, 1949, McSandy hails from Wiamoase in the Ashanti region of Ghana. He attended Sekondi College for a brief period on a government scholarship. However, due to a lack of support from his family in terms of food and pocket money after they heard he was smoking, he had to drop out of school. After a while, his father took him to another village to help him farm, with the intention of furthering his education at a later time. When he asked his father about going back to school, his father advised him to focus on farming instead. The next day, he informed his father that he wanted to be his own man and could not continue with farming. His father agreed, and he moved to Kumasi, the capital city of the Ashanti region, to live with his uncle in Old Tafo.

McSandy developed an interest in music during his school days, as he was a popular singer. He would listen to music on the radio when his uncle was at work, since he was not doing any work at the time. He learned and sang along with the songs they played on the radio. Fortunately, a guitarist named Mr. Kumi, who lived in the same compound house, heard McSandy’s voice and was impressed. He immediately approached McSandy’s uncle and asked if he could release him to perform with their band, Adusei and the Youngsters, as they needed a soul singer for the Christmas season. After his uncle agreed and convinced him to join the band, McSandy had to learn all the songs he could sing and teach with his mouth during band rehearsals. The band was new to soul music, so he had to teach all the music parts, learning songs like “Another Saturday Night” and songs from Millie Jackson and Sam Coke.

His first professional gig was in a town called Techiman in 1967. McSandy was a bit tense, but he had a great performance, and people cheered him on a lot. The money he received from that gig convinced him to take music seriously. The band would continue his soul repertoire everywhere they performed, apart from funerals. McSandy had an interest in the bass instrument. Whenever he listened to bands like Akwaboah and K. Frimpongs, he paid attention to the bass lines of the songs. He started learning the bass with Mr. Kumi’s guitar when he was out having fun, reminding himself of all the basslines he had been listening to and hearing. He learned it by himself for months without anyone noticing.

One day, during a funeral gig, the bassist was too drunk to play, and the band was tense because there was no phone to call another bass player. McSandy walked up to Mr. Kumi and told him he could play the bass, but Mr. Kumi was harsh and funny, as he had never seen McSandy holding the bass before. A few minutes later, McSandy kept insisting, and Mr. Kumi asked him to play. The band was amazed that McSandy was playing all the songs they were playing, including the copyright lines, with great feel. That day marked his entry into bass playing, and he was encouraged by the band members to continue playing bass full time. This happened in 1968.

McSandy’s music journey started when he was given the opportunity to play bass in a band without knowing the theory side of music or having a teacher. As a soul singer in the band, he had to sing and play basslines simultaneously, which he considered his major challenge in his music journey. It took constant practice to overcome this challenge. After some months, he relocated to Bekyem to join a band called Agyenim because there was no noise in Kumasi as the Asantehene called Prempeh II died. He was there for six months before K. Frimpong invited him to join his band in Kumasi.

One of McSandy’s friends, Dickson Kwame Boakye, who is also a singer, told K. Frimpong band members said that a hotel called Americana needed a group. McSandy and his band agreed to play there for months, which he considers his financial break because he was paid well. They later moved to Accra after hearing that they could make more money there with their unique sound.

In 1970, McSandy and his band moved to Accra and started performing at ceremonies. They were eventually recruited by a Lebanese businessman named Tarek Sabeh, who joined them in 1972 to establish the famed cover band group Ionic Revolts. McSandy became very popular in the country during the time of Ionics, from 1972 to 1978, as he stood as a singer and bassist at that time, the only person doing so. He left Ionics and joined Barbecues, another popular cover band at the time, for five months before coming back to Inonics again.

During that time, he sang not only soul songs but also highlife, funk, reggae, and all the other popular songs that fascinated people.

In 1978, McSandy left the country for Europe with a band called Black and Earth, led by keyboardist Robert Chonia.

He toured Europe and Africa, married in Switzerland, and permanently resided there. In 1992, he released his album, titled Adasamma. He came back to Ghana in 2006 with his wife and is enjoying his retirement. He played bass on many recordings at his peak, such as Oheneba nie nea ne papa tease by Teacher and Egyanka Due by Kofi Sammy. He influenced many young musicians at the time, like Ralph Karikari. McSandy’s music is a synthesis of all of his influences, ranging from funk and soul to his highlife roots. He was one of the first bass players to incorporate funk basslines into highlife music, and his distinct style impacted a generation of musicians.