Bob Marley
IN FEBRUARY this year, the House of Representatives paid tribute to Bob Marley by approving Motions honouring him in mid-February.
The Motions were tabled by Government Member of Parliament for Central Kingston, Ronnie Thwaites and Opposition Member Olivia 'Babsy' Grange(Central St. Catherine).
They sought, among other things to: canvass public opinion and recommend further public and official honour for the late reggae star; and to seek the creation of a national award, the Bob Marley Award For Culture, to be made each February to a Jamaican upholding his ideals and contributions to Jamaican culture.
A number of speakers, including Opposition Leader, Edward Seaga, contributed to the debate, heaping praise on Marley's talent and achievements. Mr. Seaga based his contribution on his long association with Jamaican music.
They eventually agreed, however, that any further honour for Marley should come out of the conclusion of a study by a body appointed by the Government, with support from the Opposition. That body was seen to be the committee to advise the Prime Minister on whether or not an eighth National Hero should be named.
In early March, Parliament appointed four representatives to sit on a committee to advise the Prime Minister on the possibility of naming Marley as a national hero.
The four were Miss Grange and Senator Anthony Johnson, for the Opposition; and Arnold Bertram, Minister of Local Government, Youth and Community Development and Senator Burchell Whiteman, Minister of Education and Culture, for the Government.
However, the law requires that, in addition to the four Parliamentarians, the Prime Minister also needs to appoint three other persons to represent him on the Committee.
We were surprised when we heard last month that the committee had not sat since its appointment, because those three persons had not been named!
We are now advised that the Prime Minister's three persons have now been appointed. They are the Rt. Rev. Neville deSouza, attorney -at-law Lawson Crawford and communications specialist, Amina Blackwood-Meeks.
Hopefully, the first meeting on the subject will finally happen soon.
But it really shows what priority the Government places on the industry and people like Marley, despite all the praises heaped on him in the debates, that it has taken some nine months already and they have not met yet!
Overseas markets
Greensleeves continues its support for its recently launched reggae albums by providing access for both Elephant Man and Red Rat into the North American and European markets.
Red Rat has just completed an East Coast tour before moving over to the West Coast, where he caught up with Elephant Man for the coastal launch of his album, Comin' 4 You.
Elephant Man went to Europe where he accepted a gold award for his single, Throw Your Hands Up, which was featured as a track on the big selling Teddy Bear compilation album.
He then travelled to London for two shows - in Brixton and Birmingham - which also featured Ward 21, Captain Barkey & Wickerman and Wayne Marshall.
Now that he is back home, he says that he will be concentrating on a number of singles for the Xmas season, including a much anticipated collaboration with Ward 21, entitled Rude Boy No Deal With 911 for Jammy.
Sanchez
CD launch
Reggae singer Sanchez was scheduled to launch his latest CD, Simply Being Me, at the Palladium night club in New Rochelle, New York City, on Friday night.
Simply Being Me is being handled by VP Records and features 15 tracks including covers of R&B hits like Back At One, Sometimes and Pretty Girl which has already been released as a single in the U.S.
