Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A poet and cultural commentator who wrote anthems for a generation of black British immigrants, blending Jamaican patois with reggae.
On the island
Eight records
It's very upbeat. It's the kind of thing that on a desert island that would, you know, sort of lift your spirits. And it it also reminds me of my childhood in Jamaica. For some reason or the other, when I hear this harmonica, it reminds me of Christmastime.
for me it's it's nostalgic, it's Jamaican jazz, Jamaican blues at its best, it expresses the soul of Jamaica. It's a very beautiful melody and it's very evocative of the Jamaican churches for me.
I chose Imagine because it's the kind of utopian dream of what society should be.
Embraceable YouFavourite
I love the contrast between this bebop style of playing and the fact that it's a slow, very laid-back ballad. And of course there's the added bonus of of a young Miles Davis there playing trumpet.
Spring (from The Four Seasons)
This is the only piece of classical music that I can hum. I just think it's just a fantastic piece of music. And it's the kind of thing that one would like to have on a desert island because when you're feeling a bit down in the dumb sp a tune like this would make you realize how good it is to be alive.
because if I needed to be reminded of who I am and where I'm coming from, then this is the song to do it for me.
I think this is one of the greatest love songs of all time, and it it'd be something that I would like to play on when I'm on the island and um Feeling romantic and missing my woman.
It's very upbeat, very uptempo, full of life, very happy. It reminds me of my adolescence when I was just starting to go out clubbing and having girlfriends and that sort of thing.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:13Why did you choose to write in your own Jamaican patois?
It was an act of rebellion really, choosing that particular um way of writing verse, that particular language. It was an act of of rebellion. I suppose subconsciously I wanted to subvert the English language.
Presenter asks
6:48Was it anger really that was your muse?
Yes, to a certain extent. I mean, my friend and mentor, the Trinidadian poet and publisher John LaRose, describes my parents' generation as the heroic generation, because they had to put up with a lot of things when they came here in the fifties and sixties. … My generation, we had no such qualms about standing up and fighting back.
Presenter asks
7:26What kinds of jobs would you and your contemporaries have been naturally pushed towards?
Not just the black kids, white working class kids too. We weren't invited to this country to become lawyers and doctors and politicians, you know. Britain needed cheap labor for reconstruction in the post-World War Two period and that was w what we were brought here for. So, you know, you're expected to go and work on on for London transport or work in the hospitals or work on building sites or work on the conveyor belt in some factory.
The keepsakes
The book
Gabriel García Márquez
It's a fantastic novel. Um saga set over several generations. You know, it's just a fascinating book.
The luxury
I've always been a closet musician. I use the bass to compose my music that accompanies my my verse. It would be an opportunity for me to become proficient.
Presenter asks
12:16What did you think you were coming to when you left Jamaica for England?
Literally, I came with the idea of England streets of London paved with gold kind of mentality. And I thought all the houses were like palaces. I got a rude awakening when I saw an Englishman sweeping the street. I didn't think that white people did that sort of thing. I thought those kind of work were only reserved for people like me.
Presenter asks
26:13Why did you turn down a six-album deal with Island Records?
I wasn't gonna go around and contrive material to fit somebody's recording schedules, you know, that you know, you have to every six months you have to or every year you have to bring out a new album and then you have to go on tour to promote it and all this kind of stuff. I wasn't into that at all.
“I wear two hats. I'm wearing the reggae artist's hat and I'm wearing the poet's hat. I normally make sure I do wo at least one poem without the band's accompaniment to remind my audience that I began with the word.”
“I'm pretty good at at taking care of myself. You know, I was taught all the basic skills at a very early age. Cook, wash, sew, iron, everything I can I can look after myself.”
“I am very happy with my own company. I am my best friend at most times. Like the great poet once said, no man is an island. But I like myself. I like my own company. I can live with myself.”