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20 LIVE Performances
Onstage! The best of Caribbean music is celebrated in this annual awards
show celebrating Reggae and Soca Music. The ceremony will award top honors
in 32 categories including vocalists, D.J.'s, producers, albums, songs,
recording labels, Lifetime Achievement, Living Legend and Tribute. (PART
3)
Following
Travis Finley, came Peter Lowen singing
a powerful version of Bob Marley’s “No Sun Will
Shine” before Fay and Charlie returned to the
stage. They had the crowd laughing through the night particularly in their
interchanges with Razor.
The next award up was for Reggae Album Various which
was won by Joe Frasier for
the album Baby Why beating out VP’s “Reggae Gold 2002” and Steelie and
Cleevie’s “Old and New”. The next award went to Warrior
King who captured the Reggae
New Artist trophy.
As Warrior King left the stage with his award, Reggae Female DJ nominee, Cecile,
jogged on stage as the Fab 5 cranked up the sound for “Dance
Hall Diva”. Following her, Warrior
King returned to the stage to performed "Virtuous
Woman" and a couple of the other songs that
won him the best New Artist title. 
The Reggae Sound System / Selector title
went to Richie D. The
next award up was for Reggae Female Vocalist.
Nominees included Pam Hall, Fiona, Michelle Gordon and the category winner, Marcia
Griffiths. Marcia was one of the very few “no
shows” along with Beres Hammond, both of whom had been scheduled to appear.
There was plenty of talent on the stage through the night though so, they were
hardly effort of “Lady C” and her team. Kashif
Lindo was out next for another stellar performance
backed by The Fab 5. Next out on stage came #52 from the Miami Dolphins, Morlon
Greenwood, who performed a rockin’ number as
Harlan and The Ultimate Squad.
Reggae
radio star, Jamusa came
on stage next to present a Lifetime Achievement
Award to U-Roy.
U-Roy was born, Ewart Beckford, in 1942 in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies.
U-Roy, began as a sound system DJ in 1961, spinning records for the Doctor
Dickies. Around 1967 he began to work with King Tubby as DJ for his Home Town
Hi-Fi. From this association developed the whole modern DJ style; Tubby's work
at Duke Reid's studio, where he was disc-cutter, led him to discover dub. He
found that by dropping out the vocal track and remixing the remaining rhythm
tracks he created new ‘versions’ of much-loved tunes. He began to record a
series of special acetate recordings or dub plates for exclusive use on his
sound system. The space left by the absent vocal tracks enabled U-Roy to
improvise his own jive-talk raps or toasts when the sound system played dances.
The effect in the dancehall was immediate and electrifying. In 1969 U-Roy was
invited to play for Dodd's Down Beat sound system, playing the number 2 set; the
number 1 set had King Stitt as DJ. U-Roy became dissatisfied with playing the
latest Coxsone music only after Stitt had first exposed it to dance patrons, and
returned to Tubby's. He then began his recording career in full, recording two
discs for Lee Perry, Earth's Rightful Ruler and OK Corral, before moving to
producer Keith Hudson, for whom he made the outstanding Dynamic Fashion Way.
U-Roy then began recording for Duke Reid, using as backing tracks Reid's
rocksteady hits from 1966-67; their success was unprecedented. His first record
for Reid, Wake The Town, which used Alton Ellis’ Girl I've Got A Date as
backing, immediately soared to the top of both Jamaican radio charts. His next
two releases, Rule The Nation and Wear You To The Ball, soon joined it. These
three releases held the top three positions in the Jamaican charts for 12 weeks
during early 1970. Other sound system DJs were quick to follow U-Roy, including
Dennis Alcapone and Scotty. U-Roy is the man who is responsible for putting the
DJ on the map, both as recording artist in Jamaica and as a major indirect
influence on the US rappers. As such his importance is immense.
Up next to perform was Pam Hall singing
“Take My Love Forever” backed
by a Fab 5 that burned
the stage up all night, flowing from Ska to Soca to Reggae. Fab
5 were not left out of the honors for the night as
they got the next award for Soca Group Of The Year.
This award was followed by a tie between Richie
Stevens (Father I Love You) and Mikey Spice (Energy) for
Best Gospel Song. Luciano
topped Warrior King, Capelton and Morgan Heritage
for Reggae Cultural Artiste.
Next, The Fab 5 cranked
up the riddums again with a Tribute to Ska.
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