Irie times with Garnet Silk
The Jamaica Observer continues its daily 20-part series, 20 Days of Silk, which looks at the life of roots singer Garnet Silk. Next month marks 20 years since his death.
IN 1991 when Garnet Silk was making a name for himself in Ocho Rios, a groundbreaking radio station named Irie FM was doing the same in that tourist town.
Billing itself as ‘Reggae radio’, Irie had an all-reggae format which was a Godsend to Jamaican artistes and producers alike. Especially upcoming acts like Silk.
Dr Dennis Howard was among the first batch of disc jockeys at Irie. He told the Jamaica Observer that management at the station adopted a strategy of exposing new artistes they thought deserved attention.
“This was easy due to the huge amount of talented artistes that were not given a chance to be heard,” he said. Howard noted that although Irie played a number of Silk’s songs, the Manchester-born vocalist was getting airplay before Irie hit its stride.
“It all started with Courtney Cole who was based in Ocho Rios with his Roof International record label. He asked me if he should record Garnet and I told him it was worth it to do so,” recalled Howard.
The magic song turned out to be a cover of Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now on the Soap Rhythm. The Roof version, which featured a rap by dub poet and Silk’s mentor Yasus Afari, was the breakthrough for Silk after two years recording for producers Steely and Clevie.
“I started to play it exclusively the day after it was recorded and mixed. It was an instant hit so after hearing this song (producer) Bobby Digital sent me another exclusive track titled It’s Growing which was again well received,” Howard related.
As Irie’s reputation grew, so did Silk’s. Songs such as Mama (another Roof International production) and Fill Us Up With Your Mercy got power-play on Irie and his stocks soared.
Howard eventually produced a song for Silk on his Jahmento label titled Stay In Love with Me. He says what struck him most about the singer was “his humility and his absolutely magical vocals”.