Thunder: "The music is gearing up towards a full-time ministry..."
Leighton Williams, Staff Reporter
AFTER EIGHT years of studying the word and about two years of preparing to minister the gospel, Shelly Thunder is ready to enter the world of gospel deejaying full-time.
With a smile almost constantly on her face and an occasional gesticulation as she talks about her musical career since she found the Lord, Shelly Thunder, whose real name is Michelle Harrison-Timol, holds nothing back as she talks about her desire to become a full-time gospel deejay. "I'm going to school now, but the music is gearing up towards a full-time ministry, although I don't know God's will. I have to pray and find out his purpose for me," she said.
The woman, who spoke with The Sunday Gleaner on the verandah of a house studio in the Kingston 20 area, was a household name in the 1980s. She came into the limelight in 1985 with Shock Me A Shock. That was the beginning of a career that saw her recording at least two lasting hits. The first was Break Up to Make Up (Walk Outta Mi House). Then there was Jump Around and Small Horse Woman and then the second keeper song, perhaps one of the most male bashing dancehall tunes ever Kuff.
Her secular career saw her also releasing two albums, Small Horse Woman ('86) and Fresh Out The Pack ('88). However, as is the case with many dancehall artistes she soon faded into obscurity. Her obscurity, how-ever, meant she took on a regular day job. She was the director of Human resources at a telecommunications firm with which she worked since 1996.
The firm, which is located across the street from where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York once stood, closed its operations a month before the September 11 bombings.
In addition, she took up acting and has appeared in plays across the Tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). She has been involved in theatre since 1995 and has appeared in Obeah Wedding, Undercover Lover, Boeing Boeing, Front Room and Same Song, Different Tune, and said the last is her most difficult role to date.
THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB
However, Mrs. Harrison-Timol began appearing on a different stage. She was 'washed in the blood of the lamb', became a brand new creation and ultimately turned her back on the secular part of music.
Now she has re-entered the music world but this time she is spreading the gospel with two former kingpins of her 'worldly' time, in the form of Lt. Stitchie and Papa San.
To her, the rebirth could not have come sooner, as reggae gospel now has a footing in Jamaica. "I didn't enter the genre sooner because I lived in America and my kind of gospel music which I would have done wasn't there. Also, you have to be grounded in the word. It's the spreading of the gospel a ministry. While I was in the world, people like Papa San and Stitchie were breaking ground. But it is a serious thing, as you have to be prepared and you have to set an example," she said.
In order to enter that arena, Shelly has been preparing herself. She has recorded two singles, both of which recently appeared on the Prodigal Son-produced compilation called Recharge. In addition, she has been on several concerts in Jamaica and overseas. Among her Christian stints on-stage locally have been 'Recharge' last year and this year, a show in Majesty Gardens, one in Trench Town in Kingston and another in Montego Bay., St. James. She points out that she also has upcoming dates in Antigua and the United States. She has also begun the process of putting together an album, which she hopes will be released in January of next year. She has already recorded two tracks with Trinidadian producer Sherwin Gardener the same tracks which appear on the Recharge compilation and has two other rhythms from him.
"I went to Trinidad for a visit and I met him on the Monday and by the Friday of the same week both songs were on the radio. He also sent me two rhythms to 'voice' on. Sherwin has a certain vibe and I want the album with a certain sound, but I don't want it to sound the same way, so we use variation," she said.
She seems serious about the January deadline, since while The Sunday Gleaner was doing the interview, we were introduced to members of her team who were busy building rhythms for upcoming tracks. When asked about the album, she jokingly said the January deadline would not be met if they did not hasten to find good rhythms.
DEADLINE/CHALLENGE
In addition, she points out that completing her studies (she refused to disclose the area) has made her deadline a challenge. "Because of school I haven't been here since January. But Jamaica has the vibe when it comes to this genre of music... I know it will be possible, because as one pastor said while I was at church in New York, God always uses you when you are at your busiest," she said.
However, she is anxious to enter the ministry and is aware of all the criticism that the genre of reggae gospel has faced since bursting on the scene six years ago. "I admit it's not the best way to reach young people, but it is one of the best. When you're young you want to have fun and be 'in'. So if you want a youngster who listens to Elephant Man and Beenie Man to listen to you, then that's what you have to do. I'm not saying you can't be converted by listening to Mahalia Jackson as a 15-year-old, but this is the chance to get to them," she said.
Shelly scoffs at critics who say the gospel deejays are in the ministry for financial gain. "I don't know which gospel they are talking about, because reggae gospel don't have a Kirk Franklin or Donnie McClurkin... I can't make people make me feel guilty about what I want to do," she said.
Apart from plans for the album, Shelly hopes to continue acting. In addition, she hopes she can motivate more young women to enter the arena of gospel deejaying. However, for now she is preparing her album, which she is thinking of calling Race.
