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Sometimes we lose touch with the identity of those individuals who, in their small but undeniably important way, are among the real movers and shakers of Jamaica’s recent written history and the written documentation of its culture.
A case in point is shown in several comments made in a thread below. To state, as Exile did, that Howard Campbell “DONT KNOW the history” (that is, the history of Jamaican music) is so terribly erroneous as to be really sad. This man, I submit, is one of the MOST knowledgeable persons inside or outside of Jamaica as far as our music and other areas of our culture are concerned.
In ‘Sass’ case, his reference to the highly respected journalist and musicologist Howard Campbell is as follows: “This is not really true. I guess he (Campbell) never been to a General echo, yellowman, Welton Irie dance…” (My emphasis added.)
‘Sass then compounded his revealing comments with the following gem: “I won’t go anymore but the writer is trying to make a point but he needs to do a lot more research, because as a man who have been to many dancehalls and stage show from mi eye deh a mi knee.” (My emphasis.)
Wow! What insightful references to one of Jamaica’s most knowledgeable music historians and a man who served as a senior entertainment reporter at the Daily Gleaner for a number of years before moving to the Jamaica Observer as a senior writer. We are referring here to a man who has attended live shows in Jamaica for decades and wh haas been responsible for some of the information that we know!
Below are two snippets of the type of stuff that Howard Campbell does on a regular basis as a music journalist and as a historian:
Clancy Eccles did it for the PNP
In commemoration of Jamaica's 50th anniversary of Indepence from Britain, the Jamaica Observer's Entertainment section recognises 50 persons who made significant, yet unheralded, contributions to the country's culture. This week we feature Clancy Eccles.
Clancy Eccles
Last Wednesday marked 40 years since the PNP first won state power in independent Jamaica. Michael Manley was elected prime minister and Eccles was among the persons credited with bringing out the youth vote.
The St Mary-born Eccles organised the musical bandwagon that accompanied Manley on his islandwide campaign leading up to the February 29 poll. It featured the top reggae acts of the day: Junior Byles, Max Romeo, Inner Circle, the Wailers and Toots and the Maytals.
Their performances complemented Manley's fiery rhetoric, and reflected the influence reggae and Rastafari had on Jamaican youth.
Eccles started his career as a singer in the early 1960s on the Ocho Rios hotel circuit, first recording for producer Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd's Studio One label. Later that decade, Eccles and another Studio One 'graduate', Lee 'Scratch' Perry, established a partnership that produced songs like Eric 'Monty' Morris' Say What You're Saying and Feel The Rhythm which was done by Eccles.
Guitarist Ernie Ranglin, who played on both songs at the Treasure Isle studio, told American author David Katz (author of the book, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae) that Say What You're Saying and Feel The Rhythm are the first reggae songs.
Eccles' standing on the entertainment scene made him the go-to man when the PNP decided to use music as part of their campaign for the 1972 election.
Four years later, Eccles was again in the PNP picture, producing the party's campaign song, My Leader Born Yah by Neville 'Struggle' Martin. Recorded at the hot Channel One studio, the song promoted Manley's bold initiatives including free education and repeal of the Bastard Act. For all his contributions to the development of Jamaican music and politics, when Clancy Eccles died from complications of a stroke in 2005, he was largely forgotten by an industry he helped shape.
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111120/news/news5.html
A case in point is shown in several comments made in a thread below. To state, as Exile did, that Howard Campbell “DONT KNOW the history” (that is, the history of Jamaican music) is so terribly erroneous as to be really sad. This man, I submit, is one of the MOST knowledgeable persons inside or outside of Jamaica as far as our music and other areas of our culture are concerned.
In ‘Sass’ case, his reference to the highly respected journalist and musicologist Howard Campbell is as follows: “This is not really true. I guess he (Campbell) never been to a General echo, yellowman, Welton Irie dance…” (My emphasis added.)
‘Sass then compounded his revealing comments with the following gem: “I won’t go anymore but the writer is trying to make a point but he needs to do a lot more research, because as a man who have been to many dancehalls and stage show from mi eye deh a mi knee.” (My emphasis.)
Wow! What insightful references to one of Jamaica’s most knowledgeable music historians and a man who served as a senior entertainment reporter at the Daily Gleaner for a number of years before moving to the Jamaica Observer as a senior writer. We are referring here to a man who has attended live shows in Jamaica for decades and wh haas been responsible for some of the information that we know!
Below are two snippets of the type of stuff that Howard Campbell does on a regular basis as a music journalist and as a historian:
Clancy Eccles did it for the PNP
UNSUNG
Howard Campbell
Friday, March 02, 2012
Howard Campbell
Friday, March 02, 2012
In commemoration of Jamaica's 50th anniversary of Indepence from Britain, the Jamaica Observer's Entertainment section recognises 50 persons who made significant, yet unheralded, contributions to the country's culture. This week we feature Clancy Eccles.
THE politicians got most of the credit for the People's National Party's (PNP) general election victories in 1972 and 1976, but someone who played a critical role in those landslide triumphs was musician Clancy Eccles.
Clancy EcclesLast Wednesday marked 40 years since the PNP first won state power in independent Jamaica. Michael Manley was elected prime minister and Eccles was among the persons credited with bringing out the youth vote.
The St Mary-born Eccles organised the musical bandwagon that accompanied Manley on his islandwide campaign leading up to the February 29 poll. It featured the top reggae acts of the day: Junior Byles, Max Romeo, Inner Circle, the Wailers and Toots and the Maytals.
Their performances complemented Manley's fiery rhetoric, and reflected the influence reggae and Rastafari had on Jamaican youth.
Eccles started his career as a singer in the early 1960s on the Ocho Rios hotel circuit, first recording for producer Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd's Studio One label. Later that decade, Eccles and another Studio One 'graduate', Lee 'Scratch' Perry, established a partnership that produced songs like Eric 'Monty' Morris' Say What You're Saying and Feel The Rhythm which was done by Eccles.
Guitarist Ernie Ranglin, who played on both songs at the Treasure Isle studio, told American author David Katz (author of the book, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae) that Say What You're Saying and Feel The Rhythm are the first reggae songs.
Eccles' standing on the entertainment scene made him the go-to man when the PNP decided to use music as part of their campaign for the 1972 election.
Four years later, Eccles was again in the PNP picture, producing the party's campaign song, My Leader Born Yah by Neville 'Struggle' Martin. Recorded at the hot Channel One studio, the song promoted Manley's bold initiatives including free education and repeal of the Bastard Act. For all his contributions to the development of Jamaican music and politics, when Clancy Eccles died from complications of a stroke in 2005, he was largely forgotten by an industry he helped shape.
David Coore:From Dedication To Disaffection
Published: Sunday | November 20, 2011
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
David Coore had, arguably, the most stressful job in Jamaica in 1978. The country was in dire economic straits and Coore, the finance minister, came under pressure to resign by the prime minister and his close friend, Michael Manley.
"He wanted a different direction and said I could choose any other position I wanted," Coore told The Sunday Gleaner in a 2009 interview. "I wasn't interested because honestly I thought they (the government) were going too far."
Coore, who died Tuesday at age 86 in the Dominican Republic, resigned from the government in 1978. He accepted a job with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as its Caribbean representative, a move he never regretted.
"It was obvious to me that there were tough times ahead and I wasn't particularly keen on what I saw was going to be a rocky road," Coore said.
His departure from Manley's Cabinet came six years after the People's National Party (PNP) took power in a landslide victory over the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). As PNP chairman, Coore had been one of the architects of the campaign that brought Manley to office.
The two were friends since their days at Jamaica College, and spent holidays at their family homes in Drumblair, St Andrew, and Anchovy, St James, where Coore was from. Coore was inspired to get involved in politics by Manley's father - PNP leader Norman Manley - after returning to Jamaica from Oxford University where he studied law. In 1951, Coore was elected to the National Legislative Council and 10 years later, was one of the persons selected to draft the constitution of independent Jamaica.
In the 1967 general election, Coore was elected to Parliament when he won the West Central St Andrew seat. Five years later, the PNP swept into office for the first time since Jamaica gained independence from Britain in 1962.
The fiery Manley campaigned on a platform of social change which appealed to most black Jamaicans. For Coore, a middle-class, brown Jamaican, Manley's charisma and reputation as a no-nonsense union leader were a winning combination.
"There was a lot of enthusiasm. The PNP drew massive crowds wherever we went because people were excited about change," he recalled.
As he charted a new, adventurous economic path for Jamaica, Manley appointed his longtime friend minister of finance and planning. Coore said he supported most of Manley's controversial decisions, such as going the route of democratic socialism, establishing close ties with Cuba and calling a state of emergency in late 1976.
But he said by the late 1970s, he had lost the stomach for politics.
"After 1976 we went through a difficult period, we had to go to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) because of the jump in OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) petroleum prices," he explained. "For a oil-importing country like Jamaica that meant tough times."
The economic challenges were not the only factors that contributed to Coore's resignation. The party he joined over 30 years before was falling apart.
the split
The PNP had split into two factions. Coore belonged to the moderates which also included Vivian Blake and Keeble Munn, men who were moulded by Norman Manley.
Then there were the radicals which included mobilization minister D.K. Duncan and construction minister Anthony Spaulding. Some critics warned there were elements in the PNP who wanted Jamaica to go communist.
"I wasn't an extremist like people like D K Duncan, and there was a lot of disagreement over policy," Coore said. "I thought they were going a bit too far in trying to introduce a new set of paradigms."
Coore was replaced as finance minister by Eric Bell. Shortly after he left, Blake, another senior Cabinet minister, also resigned.
When the JLP decimated the PNP in the October 1980 general elections, Coore was not surprised.
"Things had deteriorated so badly it was anybody's game at that time," he said.
While working for the IDB, Coore lived in the Dominican Republic, Barbados and Washington DC. He returned to Jamaica in 1986 and was appointed minister of foreign affairs when the PNP was elected to govern the country in 1989.
Coore also served as attorney general and a consultant to the government on constitutional reform during the 1990s.
"He wanted a different direction and said I could choose any other position I wanted," Coore told The Sunday Gleaner in a 2009 interview. "I wasn't interested because honestly I thought they (the government) were going too far."
Coore, who died Tuesday at age 86 in the Dominican Republic, resigned from the government in 1978. He accepted a job with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as its Caribbean representative, a move he never regretted.
"It was obvious to me that there were tough times ahead and I wasn't particularly keen on what I saw was going to be a rocky road," Coore said.
His departure from Manley's Cabinet came six years after the People's National Party (PNP) took power in a landslide victory over the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). As PNP chairman, Coore had been one of the architects of the campaign that brought Manley to office.
The two were friends since their days at Jamaica College, and spent holidays at their family homes in Drumblair, St Andrew, and Anchovy, St James, where Coore was from. Coore was inspired to get involved in politics by Manley's father - PNP leader Norman Manley - after returning to Jamaica from Oxford University where he studied law. In 1951, Coore was elected to the National Legislative Council and 10 years later, was one of the persons selected to draft the constitution of independent Jamaica.
In the 1967 general election, Coore was elected to Parliament when he won the West Central St Andrew seat. Five years later, the PNP swept into office for the first time since Jamaica gained independence from Britain in 1962.
The fiery Manley campaigned on a platform of social change which appealed to most black Jamaicans. For Coore, a middle-class, brown Jamaican, Manley's charisma and reputation as a no-nonsense union leader were a winning combination.
"There was a lot of enthusiasm. The PNP drew massive crowds wherever we went because people were excited about change," he recalled.
As he charted a new, adventurous economic path for Jamaica, Manley appointed his longtime friend minister of finance and planning. Coore said he supported most of Manley's controversial decisions, such as going the route of democratic socialism, establishing close ties with Cuba and calling a state of emergency in late 1976.
But he said by the late 1970s, he had lost the stomach for politics.
"After 1976 we went through a difficult period, we had to go to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) because of the jump in OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) petroleum prices," he explained. "For a oil-importing country like Jamaica that meant tough times."
The economic challenges were not the only factors that contributed to Coore's resignation. The party he joined over 30 years before was falling apart.
the split
The PNP had split into two factions. Coore belonged to the moderates which also included Vivian Blake and Keeble Munn, men who were moulded by Norman Manley.
Then there were the radicals which included mobilization minister D.K. Duncan and construction minister Anthony Spaulding. Some critics warned there were elements in the PNP who wanted Jamaica to go communist.
"I wasn't an extremist like people like D K Duncan, and there was a lot of disagreement over policy," Coore said. "I thought they were going a bit too far in trying to introduce a new set of paradigms."
Coore was replaced as finance minister by Eric Bell. Shortly after he left, Blake, another senior Cabinet minister, also resigned.
When the JLP decimated the PNP in the October 1980 general elections, Coore was not surprised.
"Things had deteriorated so badly it was anybody's game at that time," he said.
While working for the IDB, Coore lived in the Dominican Republic, Barbados and Washington DC. He returned to Jamaica in 1986 and was appointed minister of foreign affairs when the PNP was elected to govern the country in 1989.
Coore also served as attorney general and a consultant to the government on constitutional reform during the 1990s.
Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111120/news/news5.html
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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