Nadine celebrates the big 4-0
Published:Friday | January 10, 2020 | 12:00 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
“Surreal” was the term singer and performer extraordinaire Nadine Sutherland, used to describe her career hitting the big 4-0 in December 2019. This milestone marks the journey from winning the inaugural Tastee Contest in 1979 to the many triumphs and accolades collected along the way.
“Forty years seems like yesterday,” Nadine said softly about her win, which she said was a real-life Cinderella story. “It’s a journey of life, and, on reflection, it has been a good journey. I’m alive, I’m healthy, mi face nuh drop pon grung yet,” she said laughing.
Admitting that the financial rewards were “not as much as I should have received”, she hastened to add, “but mi not starving.”
It was the second Thursday of December 1979 when a little girl from Above Rocks in St Catherine edged out Kingston College student Paul Blake (Bloodfire Posse), by a mere two points, to walk away the winner of the Tastee Contest as it was named then. Interestingly, Yellowman placed third that same year. She captivated the judges with her rendition of Peter Tosh’s Buckingham Palace, and, according to them, Nadine worked the stage like a pro.
Forty years later, there was a meeting of the greats in the home of a great to celebrate this achievement. Nadine was invited to the Tastee boardroom at their headquarters in Cross Roads, where specially invited guests surprised her by turning up to show their love. Songwriter, Sangie Davis, who wrote Nadine’s first two songs, Starvation in the Land and A Young One Like Me; Howard McGowan, one of the first judges of the Tastee Contest; veteran booking agent Copeland Forbes, who was present when Nadine went on her very first tour Hey World; and Tastee director Simone Chanpong, daughter of Vincent Chang, the man whose vision started the enduring contest. Present, too were Nadine’s mother, Beverley Sutherland; her cousin Wayne Sutherland; and Tastee CEO Patsy Latchman-Atterbury.
The hugs and admiration flowed as the good times rolled. Various persons recalled precious moments, and Nadine even spoke about the outfit that she wore to the finals. “A relative had sent the velvet pants from America, and mi mother go a town and buy the red cloth to make the blouse,” she reminisced.
Nadine was presented with a citation from Tastee and the New York-based public relations company, Images LLC. One of the founders, Anthony Turner, told The Gleaner why his company hailed the songstress. “Dave Rodney and I have had a long and very productive alliance with Nadine over many years. We have watched her develop from a teen star to the talented superstar she is today. We are extremely proud of this important 40th anniversary milestone and wish for her nothing but the absolute best as her star beams brightly into the future.”
High Points
An appreciative Nadine shared with The Gleaner that there have been so many high points during the four decades, it was hard to choose just one.
“So many awards, especially in the ’90s. Having a song that has transcended time, a successful TV show, getting my master’s degree, and landing a teaching job are somewhere up there. There have been so many highs, but most of all, I am proud of the woman I’ve become. I’m happy that my parents are still here, that most of the persons who started the journey with me are still here,” she said.
Of course, she had special words of commendation for Tastee and unhesitantly acknowledged that her destiny has been “intertwined with them”. She praised them for being “the representation of a corporate entity of Jamaica who invested back into the people so a Nadine Sutherland can stand here right now”.
“I met Bob Marley, I met Peter Tosh. Sangie wrote my songs. It’s like a Cinderella story, so I’m forever thankful to you,” she said at the “lovefest”.
Nadine believes that her own principles are part of the reason for her longevity in a business that can be quite fickle and corrupt. “I was never a shallow person. Getting caught up in the fame and the name-dropping was never my thing. I value people and situations and can go to bed at nights and sleep peacefully, knowing that I never did any song that would send people pickney astray,” the St Andrew High School for Girls alum shared with The Gleaner.
She concluded: “I have kept my integrity intact. I have tremendous respect for the institution Tastee, for Bob Marley, and the Pan African ideals I grew up with. Mi not perfect, but mi think mi did right as a person.”