Born in Sekondi-Takoradi, Eghan, also referred to as the “The Magnificent Emperor,” was among the pioneering hosts of electronic media and show business,  in a career that spanned for 60 years, starting off as a disc jockey, then a radio presenter and also a television host.

He hosted programmes for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) as well as the BBC World Service in London.

Long after his retirement, he autographed a book, “The Emperor’s Story – From the Centre of the World,” in 2019, cataloguing his life, work and impact in the media terrain.

Besides the media work, he also worked as a Entertainment Manager with the Volta River Authority, returned to London to work with the BBC, before returning home to revive the Mike Eghan Show.

In his latter years, he ventured into hotel business.

Media work

In the early 1960s, Mike Eghan was a regular co-host of Radio Dance Time with David Larbi on Radio Ghana, the only radio station in Ghana at the time.

He underwent a period of nurturing and polishing up during his five-year stint with the British Broadcasting Corporation between 1965 and 1970, after which he returned home to join the commercial service of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GBC 2, where he made a seismic impact with his innovative style of presenting musical programmes on radio known as disc jockeying.

Among the likes of Joe Lartey and Eddie Faakye, Eghan was a popular household name, not just because there was only one television, Ghana Television, during their time, but because of their command of the English language, dexterity and professionalism which endeared them to both young and old.

Welcome to the show

His popular 1970s talk show, The Mike Eghan Show, ran for more than a decade and featured some of the continent’s legends as guests, including Miriam Makeba, Dr Ephraim Amu among others.

Aired on Saturday nights,  the show blended education with entertaining, hosted with the GBC Dance Band providing background music and performances for guests who would perform on the show.

It was a show for legends and iconic personalities and one which also strongly brought to the fore, Eghan’s superb interviewing skills, a clear indication of the depth of research that drew the kind of responses his guests shared on the show.

The Mike Eghan Show was famed for its one-line catch phrase which became the signature tune, “Welcome, welcome, welcome to the show”, and became the most popular in almost every Ghanaian home.

In 1971, he again showed his class, when as the master of ceremonies (MC), he hosted the historic concert in Ghana Soul to Soul, held at the Black Star Square in 1971 and which featured many prominent African-American artists alongside Ghanaian musicians.