Tinga Stewart thrilled with his festival hits as well as his other songs. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer THE VETERANS of the festival/popular song competition gave cosmic level performances on Saturday night at the Goodyear Oval in Morant Bay. The Festival Song Showcase highlighted that not only have some great songs come out of the National Festival/Popular Song Contest but some of Jamaica's best performers have passed through it.
The St. Thomas leg of the event featured quite a few festival song winners of the past as well as the younger crop. While the younger members held their own the veterans really shone.
Stanley Beckford is one of those names that has become synonymous with the competition. He has entered as the leader of the Turbines, collaborated with the Astronauts and flown solo. Either way, his engine has never cooled. Stanley's fans can usually be sure of a raunchy good time.
Stanley's trademark has always been his amazing reserve of energy, which when combined with his whine (of voice and waist) gives him the same enigmatic power as a car wreck. The small audience gathered at the Goodyear Oval were treated to full 'Stanleyism' and while a few members of the audience questioned whether he was sober or not, everyone seemed to enjoy his antics.
He began with one of his most popular tunes Trash and Ready but quickly changed tune and went into the severely raunchy with Saudering, and then from there moved to Fi Wi Island a Boom (with his signature pronunciation). For this song, Stanley left his perch on the stage and went into the audience in search of a woman on whom he would unleash his pelvic thrusts. However, while she was a good sport, dancing up a storm on the stage, when his thrusts got a bit much, she deftly moved out of his way, leaving him only air.
Even though his time on the stage was to have ended, Stanley refused to leave until he performed Kasi Loo, much to the audience's delight.
Tinga Stewart also thrilled his audience with both his festival favourites and his hits from his commercial career. He began his performance with his 1981 winner No Wey No Better Dan Yard, getting into the festival groove. He quickly changed the mood, singing his cover version of Take Time To Know Her which he had performed with Ninja Man, singing his and the deejay's part.
The audience sang along with him as he made a detour through early R&B land. He crooned hits such as Inside My Heart, I'm Aware of Love and I've Been Missing You.
When he started his rendition of Cover Me, he gave the audience the slip. They fully expected him to sing Ninja Man's contribution to the song and so quipped Das why me bawl, Unger Mi Love but Tinga had other plans and deftly switched to Save The Last Dance and this time he performed the deejay's 'learn fi bubble' contribution.
What the audience seemed to really want to hear about was 'Uncle Benji...' and they truly started to 'jump like leggo beas' when Tinga began to perform Play Di Music his 1974 festival song winner. Several shoes were abandoned as most of those who had been seated sang "Mi seh fi, mi seh fi, mi seh fi, play di musi sweet!" Tinga ended his performance with Hooray Festival and Nuh Weh No Better Dan Yard which kept the audience rocking.
The Astronauts, dressed in their traditional white, appeared earlier in the show and gave it its first blast of fuel to take the night to the higher level. They came to the stage singing the 1979 winner Born Jamaican. They then moved into one of their lesser known entries Mek Wi Go Spree, but this one failed to move the audience, which did not seem to know it. It was quickly abandoned for more pleasant pastures.
With only the words "Yuh memba da one ya dough" they began singing the very memorable words:
A so mi rub i yuh fi rub i back,
A so mi jam i yuh fi jam i back,
A so mi kotch i yuh fi kotch i back
Most of the audience went into a near frenzy as they cheered the Astronauts along. They then switched to I Want A Woman. However, soon after beginning the song, Zack Henry announced that he knew some people did not want to hear him sing "I want a woman to jam" (instructions included). He added that they would prefer to hear an amended and much slower version which he demonstrated, singing:
I want, I want a lady,
I need, I need someone,
Any lady who wants a gentleman (where he pauses dramatically)
I want a lady to dance.
With that he yelled, "But yuh no waan hear dat?" to which the audience yelled a resounding "No!" That said, he launched into the beloved version, which included some very energetic jamming.
The Jamaicans also put their stamp on the event. When they started singing their 1967 hit, Baa Baa Boom, they laid claim to the audience. Noris Weir, who led the group, pointed out that he remembered singing Jamaica 5, but he amended to Jamaica 40 to suit the occasion.
Other veterans of the festival performance who also gave good performances were Roy Rayon and Eric Donaldson. Rayon performed Love Fever, Give Thanks and Praises and Come Rock. Donaldson also pulled from his extensive festival repertoire. He performed Cherry Oh Baby, Sweet Jamaica and This Is the Land of My Birth among others.
From the newer crop of winners, the showcase featured Chetenge, Heather Grant (the first woman to win the competition) and Neville Martin.
