Chris Blackwell inaugurated into the PSOJ's Hall of Fame

Saturday, November 21, 2009 9:13 AM

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By Al Edwards

Friday, October 30, 2009

Island Records founder and hotelier Chris Blackwell was inaugurated into the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica's (PSOJ) Hall of Fame in a glittering ceremony held at the Kingston Hilton Hotel on Monday night which saw many of Jamaica's leading business personalities in attendance.

For more than 40 years Blackwell has guided and produced some of the best popular music talent both in Jamaica and the wider international scene. Closer to home - Jimmy Cliff, Millie Small, Bob Marley, Toots & The Maytals and Sly & Robbie readily spring to mind. Further afield, Robert Palmer, Tom Waits, Roxy Music, U2, Grace Jones and The Cranberries number among many of Island's roster of stars from an international label that had its beginnings in Jamaica.

President of the PSOJ Joseph M Matalon (left) welcomes Chris Blackwell into the PSOJ Hall of Fame at a ceremony that took place on Monday night at the Kingston Hilton Hotel.

What makes Blackwell's entry into the Hall of Fame all the more noteworthy is that he has not simply stuck to one area of business. For a man who does not play a musical instrument or sing a note, his abilities as a producer are sometimes overlooked. He was not just a record-label boss but is also a notable hotelier who ventured into South Beach when no one saw its potential.

Commenting on his lengthy and diverse career, Blackwell once said: "For the first 20 years of my career, I worked 18 hours a day at something I loved, which was the record business. Then I wanted to expand away from it and then entered the film business (The Lunatic, Countryman, Third World Cop, Dancehall Queen, etc).

"In the back of my head I always wanted to develop properties and real estate in Jamaica. So with the money I made, I would always buy a piece of property with the hope of one day developing it sometime in the future. So things didn't happen all at once."

Blackwell is instrumental in putting Jamaica on the map as a cultural force and it would not be trite to say that he brought both ska and reggae, both indigenous art forms, to the wider world. Island Records is to Jamaica what Blue Note is to the United States -a champion and arbiter of an art form born at home and embraced by the rest of the world. This by itself would see him gain entry into the pantheon of greats, but Blackwell's contribution goes beyond that.

He came from an affluent family and so could have spent the rest of life on easy street, content to rely on the family name. He chose not to do so, which speaks to the character of the man. In addition to being well-to-do, he was from the world of the cognoscenti.

Speaking at the PSOJ ceremony on Monday night, Blackwell said : "When I started Island Records in Jamaica, it was because I was captivated by the musical talent and natural showmanship I saw at the concerts that used to take place at Palace Theatre at East Kingston. That's where I saw Wilfred Edwards, Laurel Aitken and Owen Gray, the three artists I recorded, and the first three singles I produced each went to Number One in the Jamaican charts.

"My granny specially loved Little Sheila, the song Laurel Aitken recorded and she said, 'That's gonna be a hit! That's what you should do!"

They say you can always tell the winners from the starting gate and that was the case with Blackwell. A year or so later, Dr No, the first James Bond movie, was filmed in Jamaica and Chris Blackwell was the local production manager. The James Bond character was born in Jamaica and the author Ian Flemming wrote every book at Goldeneye, his winter home in St Mary.

"After the production was completed, I went to England and formed Island Records to market to the Jamaican community who was thirsty for this new music from home. But I was not able to widen the market beyond the West Indian community in England until the big break came with My Boy Lollipop by Millie Small, which became a huge hit internationally. The musical arrangement was done by Ernest Ranglin, another Jamaican and a world-class jazz guitarist."

The former Island Records boss noted that like what Saturday Night Fever did for disco, The Harder They Come,'directed by Perry Henzell, did for Jamaican music. Because of Henzell's film a worldwide interest in Jamaican culture was set on its historic course.

Soon afterwards, Blackwell launched Bob Marley's Catch A Fire with Marley taking his music across Europe, then America, and now Jamaican music is being played in every corner of the world.

The Jamaican entrepreneur observed: "People were puzzled as to why an island of less than three million people should have had such an enormous impact on the rest of the planet. And all this was even before Lennox Lewis became World Champ and Usain Bolt, the fastest human of all time, and in fact the whole Jamaican athletic team who are collecting more gold medals than it seems possible."

At the turn of a new decade, the 90s, Blackwell sold his record company to Polygram for in excess of US$300 million but continued to play a leading role with the management of Island. Around this time he recognised the potential of what at the time was the rundown area of South Beach.

"After I sold the record company I invested in a number of hotels, including The Marlin and The Tides. I was one of the first people to invest in South Beach and create its renaissance. I believed in it; I saw what it could become. I see the same potential in Jamaica today.

"One of the reasons I sold Island Records was to form Island Outpost and expand my interests in Jamaica by developing a smaller up-market type of resort that would focus on the natural beauty of Jamaica and its people. I developed Strawberry Hill, Sally and Jason Henzell developed Jake's, Bertram and Greerann Saulter developed The Caves and now Island Outpost is expanding by building and selling 22 waterfront cottages and introducing a new destination spa at Goldeneye - yes, the same place James Bond was born.

The fact that the third international airport is located within 15 minutes of Goldeneye will assure it builds on its reputation as one of the world's most beautiful resorts. A large part of the purpose of the Goldeneye Project is to act as a spark to ignite further development of the Oracabessa area as Jason has with Jake's at Treasure Beach,"said Blackwell.

He has long had a deep-seated belief in destination tourism which sees visitors made to feel at ease to explore the locations of the hotels, seaside towns, mountain villages and meet the people while at the same time supporting small businesses which will benefit the people of the area. The idea is to have the visitors keep returning to Jamaica instead of going somewhere else simply because the hotel rooms may be US$5 cheaper.

"This, of course, is part of the philosophy that urges us to act locally but think globally. Based on my previous experience, I can only say if you think Jamaican, you can uplift the entire planet. Simply said, we have a natural and unique product here... we don't have to change it... we only need to build upon it. We don't have to imitate what anyone else has. We already have what they want, so let's keep it real. Let's keep it simple."

Now 71, Blackwell has entered the rum-making business with his very own label, Black Gold: Blackwell's Fine Jamaican Rum. Rum making was part of the family business, with J Wray & Nephew, Jamaica's leading rum producer, at one time owned and managed by the Blackwell family.

Chris Blackwell is one of Jamaica's leading entrepreneurs whose efforts put the country in the international spotlight. He has not forgotten his homeland and continues to make significant investments in Jamaica.
"We have a lot to celebrate... success in music, entertainment, athletics and agriculture. But let us also generate an excitement about the future... that is what I aspire to do. Let's keep a close eye on what is yet to come. In fact, I believe that the best is yet to come."

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