Half a century and counting, Merritone Disco is alive and kicking. A family venture started by a father on the advice of his teenaged sons who later inherited the legacy, has become and is a veritable thread in the cultural fabric of Jamaica. "Merritone is about family," comments Winston 'Merritone' Blake, "Merritone has always been about family."

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Blessed with four sons - Trevor, Winston, Tyrone and Monty - Val Blake was conscientious and wanted only the best for his sons. "My father believed that education was important. What he saw for us was for us to get the best education," says Winston, "never for us to be spinners on a sound, but lawyers or doctors." So much so that Val Blake sent his two eldest sons, Trevor and Winston, to attend school in Kingston where they lived with relatives.
As fate would have it, that move would be the beginning of an era of influence that not even Val Blake could have envisioned.

"My brother and I used to stop at a little place called Charlie's Blues Restaurant on our way home from school [Morris Knibb] every day. We used to stop to listen to the music being played there which was from the likes of Fats Domino and Roscoe Gordon - really huge music."

One day the owner suggested that the youngsters start their own sound system, since they had an obvious love and zest for the music. At that time, the boys didn't pay much attnetion to the suggestion, for they were convinced that neither their guardians nor their father would embrace such an idea.

Then a time would come when Val Blake was experiencing financial difficulty and his sons suggested to him that he start a sound system. "At that time, nothing really served the interest of the masses except for 'nine nights' (wakes) which would feature Kumina and Mento bands and a few agricultural and church fairs. Politics was really the theatre of the day - people weren't as [hostilely] partisan back then. The PNP-aligned supporterswould go to JLP meetings and vice versa. Then after, [people] would jive each other and cuss and laugh at each other - it was great fun," Winston said.

He also described their home as the "party place of St Thomas. My father was a music collector and he had a gramophone, so we grew up on the best music of the day."
Val Blake took on the idea of his sons and proceeded to build the sound system. Soon the Mighty Merritone was in action, playing at dance functions at school rooms, church halls and cricket clubs like Lysson's and Springfield.

Val Blake of course involved his sons in the venture, but all too minimally in their estimation. "We would go to the venues with him to help him to set up, and we would be allowed to fool around a bit with the turntables before the dance really got under way. He was the one who played the selections and usually, we were driven home to go to bed, way before the party had ended."
This trend would continue for the better part of four years. Upon the passing of their father in 1956, on their way out of high school, "we were given the choice of keeping the music and the equipment or the car - of course we abandoned the car," says Winston.

"By then, we had started to play all over the districts of St Thomas and eventually word got out to Kingston about us. There were a lot of sound systems in Kingston, many bigger than us. However, we held our own in terms of selections - we were always up there. We used to import records from Tennessee and other parts of the United States. We even used to lose records through the post. Sailors and travelling farm workers were also instrumental in the acquisition of records."
Throughout this period the brothers pooled their resources and did whatever they could to offer substance to their product. "Trevor was really the technically inclined one - he was the driver and played a pivotal role in terms of solidifying the base of the Merritone Story."

COUNTRY COME TO TOWN

"1962 was the first time we played in Kingston at a dance at Wembley. After that, the news about us spread like wild fire. All the venues that were around, we played there - Copa, Wagon Wheel, Peyton Place, VIP, Red Gal Ring, Siganey's, you name it, we were there. We played at house dances and lawns (a concrete space at the back of a bar or restaurant). We were also the first to play in hotels and at the university," Winston said with pride. This laid the strong foundation on which Merritone was built as they became a staple in the diet of partygoers of that era.
1973 marked another milestone in the Merritone story. "By [then], venues were drying up, so we thought that for continuity [of the sound system] we had to get a venue [that was our own]." This would mark the birth of the Turntable Night Club. "At that time, banks wouldn't finance night clubs because they felt like they would be short-lived; they wouldn't go beyond a year or two. So the club was largely funded by ourselves - friends like Gladstone "Gladdy" Neil gave us a loan."

Speaking to the marvel that was and historical significance of the club, Winston maintains that, "there will never be another club like Turntable, simply because it was not just a club, it was an institution - the memories, the people. Nothing was spared in terms of what we gave the people. Turntable was the best of what we had," Winston said almost with tears in his eyes.
Around that same time [1972-1974], the contribution of the Blake family was heightened through the hosting of the Merritone Amateur Talent contest. This became a springboard for many artistes to break into the music business, including the likes of Beres Hammond, Cynthia Schloss, The Mighty Diamonds, The Tamlins, Sugar Minott, Jacob Miller, Ras Carby and Desi Jones. The Blake brothers were also involved in music production and produced for I-Roy, The Heptones, Hopeton Lewis, Inner Circle and Barry Biggs.

STALWARTS IN THE BUSINESS

Commenting on the achievements of the disco over the years, Winston admits that the Mighty Merritone was and still is a fortress of contribution to the music and culture of Jamaica and has helped to break antiquated norms and institute new rules. "We were the first disco to play overseas and nowadays you have people leaving school to be disc jocks. [That] was unheard of in that era. We really broke some boundaries after leaving Kingston College."
"We [as Jamaicans] have in a way gained a new respect for the music but at the same time that respect has been trampled. In the dancehall, music now takes second stage - disc jocks chat too much and what they say is not really worth much a lot of the times. My grandmother always used to tell us when we were young that if you can't improve on silence don't break it.

"Dancehall culture is an outer show. It's a culture that has greatness because it has contributed a lot. However, it lacks discipline and has no social conscience," he commented in reference to the point that many DJs in the dancehall play their systems unnecessarily loud.
"Merritone is a brand that does not cater to slackness. I don't play a number-one record if it does not meet my standards. We have never been guided by Billboard charts or the Grammys - that is about politics, who the 'gods' favour. We have distinguished ourselves from the rest by virtue of the good music we play - we don't deal with trick and gimmicks."

Beres Hammond woos Toronto fans

Toronto film fest includes Spike Lee, Coens movies

Caribbean Model Search unveils Sunday