Richie Stephens ... Jamaica needs to feel the pride. We need to start on the positive vibe and it will spread. - file

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

SINGER RICHIE Stephens may not be tugging at his gloves, willow wand under one arm, as he walks out to the crease prepared to defend stumps and country at all costs, but he certainly bats for Jamaica in song. And one of those songs, Come to Jamaica, has been adopted by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for World Cup Cricket 2007 as a part of its 'Take Jamaica to Heart' campaign ahead of the event, which starts in less than a month.

"This song was originally a song about reggae music," Stephens said. "Then CVM asked me to do the commercial." It was modified for that purpose and then Stephens decided to "change the lyrics and do a song for Jamaica as a concerned Jamaican", hence the familiar melody.

Stephens described Come to Jamaica as being "about our achievements, that we are on top of the world and we should be proud. It is a feel good song, for people to hear it and feel good."

Robert Bryan of the LOC must have felt good when he heard the song on radio, so much so that Stephens said "the LOC is now supporting the song". It was officially launched in late January at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, with the organisation's full support, Mello, the mascot, dancing up a hip-waggling storm with Miss Jamaica World 2006, Sara Lawrence.

Feels good about song

And, in turn, Stephens feels very good about a song that he arranged and, along with Danny Brownie, co-produced.

"I am very, very excited and happy because I am now given a bigger platform to reach the objective, Jamaicans at home and abroad," Stephens said.

"With the current situation we are in, with the crime rate going up rapidly, many Jamaicans feel that there is no hope for us. I know that music has great power and can reach people far and wide ... Music can reach people and calm them down," Stephens said.

"I know it will reach Jamaicans in Jamaica and around the world, and we will feel a positive vibe," Stephens said.

He has seen that positive vibration fluttering in the flags that greeted Come To Jamaica at the 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, the first major performance at which Stephens delivered the song.

"It touch me to the soul," Stephens said. "Jamaica needs to feel the pride. We need to start on the positive vibe and it will spread," he said, noting that Come to Jamaica will be a part of future performances, including Saturday's 'Symphony' on the lawns of King's House.

Serious batsman

There was a time when Stephens, who says he watches cricket a lot, used to take his stance before the stumps and bails and not behind the microphone and mixing board. "I am a serious batsman," Stephens said.

Position in the order did not matter and, in addition, "I love to dive and take catches." That agility still shows in his stage performances, where splits and flips are a snap for a man who celebrated his 40th birthday in December.

And the athletic suit in Jamaica's colours, which he was wearing when he burst through a screen emblazoned with the song's title at the official launch, as well as the one he had made specially for Jazz and Blues, are not a costume. "I am a very serious Jamaican. I am representing Jamaica, so I have to do it in fine style," Stephens said.

"I want people to take me seriously," he said.