- FILE
Gem Myers in performance at 'Jammin' on the Faultline', Jacks Hill, St. Andrew, in June last year.
Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
IT IS coming up to midnight at the Mas Camp Village, New Kingston, and the hands of many in the large audience are in the air. There is a curious thing about those hands, though; many sport long, multi-hued nails and all within sight are obviously female.
But the person on stage spots one which does not fit in. "Hol' on! Everytime I do this song a man put up him han'!" she says. The song is 'One Man Woman' and the person singing it, Gem Myers, had been exhorting all to "hol' up yu han' if yu have one man".
There is laughter all around and the song is started again to overwhelming (female) response. And at the end of her performance, there is loud, long applause for Gem Myers. Again.
There have been many post-performance 'agains' for Gem Myers since 1980, when she steamed over the horizon into national recognition with 'Communication', her duet with Bobby Dockery which landed them third position overall in the Festival Song Competition. They were the top ballad, in a year when the song categories were subdivided.
NO CATEGORISATION
There will be no such categorisation on Sunday when Myers performs at an 'Evening on the Harbour' in Port Royal, a concert which American R&B singer Jerry 'The Iceman' Butler will headline. What excites Gem Myers, though, is the presence of someone from closer home.
"It is the first time I will be sharing a stage with Marcia Griffiths. I did a show with Bob Andy, ironically filling in for Marcia Griffiths," she said.
It has been a long way to the Morgan's Harbour Hotel, where the concert will be held, for the little girl from a big family (six sisters, two brothers) in Cheesefield, St. Catherine. "Just above Time and Patience," she laughs. "I am proud of my community, off the beaten track."
Even with only two sisters following her, Myers was not pampered ("In that family there is no time for foolishness") and the singing came early, as she can remember letting the vocals go at three. Although there were no choirs at her schools, there was always family harmony, the Myers Sisters singing in church. It was at Dinthill High, where she did two years after spending three at Ferncourt, that she really got into singing and her family really got into her.
"They did not like it at all. Me get beating. Whole heap a beating. Nobody thought this was a feasible way of making a living," she said, laughing as she remembered late evenings after rehearsals. "I am sure they are proud of me now," she said.
DUO SPLIT UP
After Festival 1980, Gem Myers and Bobby Dockery became vocalists for the Unique Vision Band and she stayed on even after the duo split up. In fact, 'Communication' had been written by Fab Five's Junior Bailey and "Fab Five has me under their wing since then".
With Unique Vision, she did the gamut of barbecues, tea parties and concerts, delivering "the top 40 of the day". Like everybody else with Fab Five, there was the chance to record, one song, 'Got To Be a Woman', done specifically for the National Family Planning Board. There was the ballad 'Forever', also in the early going, and then the still very popular 'Big Stuff', 'Shame' and, naturally 'One Man Woman'.
There was a shift of gears in 1984 going into 1985, as Gem Myers got up close and personal with her audiences, doing cabaret shows, which she still does today, although not as much as before. "I love it, because it is very intimate," she said.
In terms of performance, in addition to her own songs "I try to do the songs that people can identify with, they can remember what they were first doing when they heard that song. I like when my audience knows what I am singing of."
A Gem Myers performance is high-energy, in movement (although she laughs merrily when The Sunday Gleaner mentions the word 'dancing' and asks 'what dancing?') and voice. It is an intensity which comes from her own passion. "I love to sing. I don't know what I would do if I could not do it," Myers said, although the travelling back and forth is just no fun. "Once I hit the stage I am all right," she said.
And the studio as well. Gem Myers is slated to release a long overdue album by the end of March. She will go back to her gleeful 1980s roots, the 13 songs on the album being covers of songs once a regular part of her repertoire. Among them are 'You're Gonna Make Me Love Somebody' by the Jones Girls, Chaka Khan's 'Tell Me Something Good' and Melba Moore's 'Lean On Me'. Entitled 'Lovelines', the album features musicians Donovan Thomas from Fab Five and guitarists Steve Golding and Glenroy Samuels.
Gem Myers is particularly excited about 'Lovelines' from a non-vocalist perspective. "I am proud of this, because I did a lot of producing on it, so I am happy," a Gem of a singer said.
