ISSA snubs Ollivierre
CALYPSONIAN Michael ‘Lord Have Mercy’ Ollivierre’s song in tribute to the world renowned Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships has been rejected by the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA).
Documents obtained by the Observer reveal that the governing body for sports in the island’s high schools has dismissed Ollivierre’s offer to use the song as part of its centenary celebrations at the March 24-27 athletics meet.
“Thank you for the interest shown in assisting ISSA with a theme song for the 100th staging of the annual Track and Field Championships. The committee held a meeting recently and it was decided that the song used last year will be modified to fit our theme,” stated a letter from ISSA, dated July 31, 2009, to the former head coach of St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).
“We look forward to your continued support and wish you all the best in your endeavours,” the unsigned letter bearing the name of ISSA president Dr Walton Small added.
ISSA’s response has left Ollivierre, who coached at STETHS for 15 years, with a bitter taste in his mouth after spending more than a year to research, write and record the number.
Ollivierre, the 1980 Calypso Monarch in St Vincent who also wrote, produced and performed a soca song called Road to France for the Reggae Boyz in 1998, told the Observer he wrote to ISSA on March 30 last year proposing the tribute song for Champs 2010.
He said Frankie Campbell of Fab 5 fame was also a signatory of the initial proposal to ISSA. Ollivierre said he was not satisfied with the demo produced by Fab 5, so as the writer, he subsequently recorded the song with Gary Atkinson in September 2009.
“In fact, I got permission from them (ISSA) initially to go and record the song. After recording it, I’m really getting some negative vibes,” Ollivierre told the Observer.
The musician and athletics coach claims that the ISSA president had initially approved the completed effort, but later sent him an unsigned letter saying the association was no longer interested.
“I got a letter saying that they are thanking me for making this contribution, but they have other plans in mind. But I really don’t think that that has been a fair submission, so I’m still pursuing a way to have my song as part of the activity for Champs,” he said.
Efforts to contact Dr Small yesterday proved unsuccessful. The ISSA boss, who is the principal of Wolmers’ Boys’, was said to be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Kingston’s new Custos up to press time.
Meanwhile Ollivierre, who said he spent two years conducting research for the song which cost ‘a pretty penny’ to produce, said he did not expect any financial reward from ISSA for using the song.
“I would really like it to be incorporated in whatever celebration they’re having,” Ollivierre emphasised.
“…I’m a bit surprised and disappointed because I figured they would have embraced the idea seeing that no other artiste in Jamaica had the interest or passion, the commitment and the love to do something of this magnitude…
“But I’m not giving up in terms of its contribution to the whole landscape of music and sports,” he added.