Pozo Hayes: It's Been A Long Time

As a little boy growing up in Kaneshie, Nana Boakye Ofori Atta, a.k.a Pozo Hayes, could not go out to play like other children. Virtually grounded by polio at the age of three, he found companionship in a radio set.

“I was a cheerful child and did not allow the handicap to undermine my happiness. As far back as I remember, I often stayed glued to the radio and sang along with it all the tunes it had for the day.”

His father, Aaron Kofi Asante Ofori Atta, the last Speaker of Parliament in the Nkrumah regime bought him a wheelchair when he was about to start school. The right armrest of that chair became the drum with which he supported his singing of trendy pop tunes at school.

This made Nana Boakye very popular with other children and whenever there was no teacher in the classroom, the children would beat the table tops for him to sing.

The 1966 coup that toppled the Nkrumah regime resulted in his father losing his job and he had to change school to K.A. Middle school at Kaneshie. Here he met Jonas Tandoh a.k.a Pap Jonas, a youngman who paired up with him to practice trendy songs.

“I came into the limelight when at a school dance at St Martins Secondary School at Nsawam where I went for my secondary education, I took to the bandstand to sing two popular hits by James Brown: There Was a Time and I Feel Good.

The professional bandsmen of Stax Dynamix who played for us that day were impressed with my performance and urged me to continue singing because I could achieve greatness in that field.”

Nana Boakye made more friends who continued to draw him into music by inviting him to group rehearsals or to listen to the latest pop songs on the market.

One of his sisters and her boyfriend were attending a dance at the then famous Silver Cup in Accra and they asked him to come along because Sonny Okusun, who was one of his idols, was playing at the dance.

“At the dance, Sonny Okusun invited people from the audience who could sing his hit song- Help - to come to the stage and do so. My sister's boyfriend knowing my capabilities, told Carl Agyeman Bannerman who was the MC that I could and wanted to sing. I was offered the chance and Sonny Okusun was astonished by my performance. He was full of praises for me.”

Nana Boakye's singing became more regular as he joined XYZ, his school band and started performing at Inter - Schools Pop Chain concerts until he completed his course and left the school.

“Lots of invitations for performances started pouring in after I left school and I performed regularly at dance halls as a solo artiste. Along the line I became a regular with the State Hotels and visiting bands.”

It was at one of such performances that a promoter from Cotonou in Benin invited him to perform there. Nana Boakye elected to do the trip with Classic Handels and the gig was great.

He said while in the dressing room after the show, a youngman who introduced himself as Guy Kpakpo approached him and offered to assist him come out with his own album.

“I constantly practised all my own compositions on my return but had to wait for two long years before Guy Kpakpo and the Manager of Satel record company showed up for my debut recording which was Look Over There. I owe a lot to keyboards player Ernest Honney who played a great part in this album.”

Since then, Nana Boakye has not looked back and can boast of eight albums to his name and memorable performance trips to Germany, France, Holland, England, Nigeria, Togo, Liberia and Cote d' Voire.

Pozo explains that his long absence from the music scene these days is due to the problems associated with the industry.

According to him, music is no longer a paying business for many musicians. The investment is heavy but the returns are low and this is because payola and piracy are taking everything away from the artiste.

“I am, however, coming out with a gospel album very soon. People who have heard about my gospel venture ask how come I'm going in that direction. I want to assure everybody that it will be an excellent collection of songs.”

The man has been missed for so long and those who remember his solid, clear voice would definitely want to hear him again, no matter what kind of style he comes up with.

Source: Graphic Showbiz