Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter

Boris Gardiner in performance. - file photo

Boris Gardiner's music transports you to the happy side of love. It's a place that the three-second pop hits of today couldn't drag you to kicking and screaming. Think it's a lie? Try comparing a modern hit to yesteryear's I Wanna Wake Up With You. The song was Gardiner's biggest hit and, 20 years later, lives on, but not much has been heard of Gardiner on the local scene.

Sunday Gleaner: It is said that your song 'I Wanna Wake Up With You' was played at Princess Diana's wedding. Is that true?

Boris Gardiner: It wasn't Princess Diana. I think it was when Prince Edward or one of the other Princes was getting married - I can't remember who it was right now. The song was requested by one of the DJs and they sent it as a greeting to them. Everybody heard it and started liking it and buying it.

SG: How did that make you feel?

BG: It was wonderful to know that one of my records was selected to be played for a prince and princess. Because of that, it helped the song to become number one on the British charts. It's like all your life you work toward something and you feel as though you won't make it, but suddenly it's happening.

SG: When and why did you make the decision to go solo?

BG: Well I've been singing since the age of 17 with the Rhythm Aces, but I was more or less a musician. Then I started singing with the Carlos Malcolm band and after that I did It's So Nice To Be With You in 1969 and it was my first number one hit in Jamaica. Then I did the album Soulful Experience and it took the Caribbean by storm.

Gardiner also spoke of a great disappointment he faced in in 1969.

BG: I did a song called Elizabeth Reggae and it made the charts and was at number 15 and sold over quarter million, but I never received a penny of royalties. This was 1969 and I started to feel as if I should just pack up if is this I should go through. Then I did I Wanna Wake Up With You and it is still popular after 20 years.

SG: Back in the day, did you have a large female following?

BG: Well, yes. As teenagers and playing with the Rhythm Aces, whenever we performed, the young girls would come and scream and would want to hold your hand and things like that. As time goes by and adolescence sets in, you find that you can get yourself into some problems. You will have two or three girls turning up at the same time and everybody trying to claim you.

SG: Do you still have a large female following?

BG: Yes, the women will still come up and hold your hand and things like that. When I go to Trinidad and these places the women are so glad to see you and it makes you feel real nice. They just love your voice and they don't get to see you often.

SG: Did that affect your relationships?

BG: I've been married twice and the first one didn't work out well. Most of the time I was in the country or out of town playing in hotels four nights a week. She decided to leave. Then I just got married two years ago, but we have been together for several more and she has more time with me now.

SG: Do you think vintage artistes get their dues in Jamaica as far as stage shows and airplay are concerned?

BG: I don't think so. I'm sure we have lots more to offer, but it's up to the sponsors to take it up and put a show together the right way. But I guess they think that we are not drawing the crowd like the deejays, but all it needs is some publicity.

SG: At 17 years old you were diagnosed with a heart condition. To what extent has that affected your career?

BG: My condition is called tachycardia - it is caused from too much excitement, not getting enough rest, flu, or the common cold and that sort of thing. When that happens it causes irregular beating (of the heart) for three or four days and I have to take medication. It has held back my career somewhat and when I developed the condition I wondered how someone like me would be able to travel with this condition. It has acted up on me already in Guyana and Guantanamo Bay. I know that I should eat right, exercise, get rest, which is most important. With that I can go and do a nice one-hour show and feel nice after that. It's been over 20 years that it hasn't affected me.

SG: What are you working on these days?

BG: At the moment I'm working on my album, Reggae Songs of Love and I have been working on it now for about three years because I've had to stop for shows overseas, but it looks like it is on the verge of being finished. To me, it's a very good set of songs. It's not hardcore reggae, because I don't do that, but it's more lovers' songs.