Lloyd Lovindeer in performance at 'A Night of Strictly Culture', held in honour of Joseph 'Culture' on the lawns of the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, Hope Road, St. Andrew, last September - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Sunday Gleaner: Hurricane Gilbert was obviously the inspiration for writing the song 'Wild Gilbert', but what else helped to inspire you?

LL: I had to write something about it. It is not just my experience, but everybody's. I would go into the different communities after it happened and talk to the people and some of the experiences were other people's.

Was there a slack version to Hurricane Gilbert?

I don't do slack songs.

Fine, the questionable version.

No, it's just that the song went for about five minutes and radio faded it about three. It was saying that Gilbert gave one hell of a blow job to Jamaica. Some people thought all sort of things and that was not what I meant in the song. The blow job simply meant the way the hurricane blew. It wasn't a man/woman thing, so I don't know why people thought that.

Do you ever feel that the popularity of the song limited you in any way?

It just meant that one of the most popular songs was associated with one artiste. Some artistes never have a song that people associate with them, so it doesn't bother me, because I also had songs like Pocomania Day, One Day Christian, Blinking Bus, Babylon Boops and others, which were all big hits in the '80s.

Do you see a connection between 'One Day Christian' and Shaggy's 'Church Heathen'?

Of course, because we are dealing with the same subject. I don't think his Church Heathen was as a result of hearing my song. Some 20 years after this someone else will come with the same topic about how some of these Christians are not true to what they preach. It is just current social commentary.

Do you have a background in pocomania?

The thing is that because I grew up in Ewarton, St. Catherine, before coming back to Kingston to go to KC (Kingston College). At the time I lived near a revival church and at nights I could hear the drumming, the tambourines and the singing and it really had an effect on me. I always loved that kind of sound, so I decided that when I could I would record something like that. I grew up in church, it was the Baptist church, but there was still the revival influence.

What kind of reception did it get from the revivalist community?

They loved it. A lot of people asked me if I was a deacon in the poco church or something, but I justloved the music. Even in the video, I borrowed the costume from an authentic revivalist.

What was the response to 'Happiness in the Park'?

It made some people stand up and take notice. It was just humorous. It played on prime time and it just depends on how people pronounce the word 'happiness'. If you say 'ha-pee-ness' you are going to hear something else.

- KC