Grange brings message of respect at Stone Love 50th anniversary party
Johnny Osbourne blazes the park
Published:Wednesday | December 21, 2022 | 1:11 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Last Saturday night, an extra special cake designed with sound system boxes, turntables and cassette was presented to Winston ‘Wee Pow’ Powell while Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange led in the singing of Happy Birthday at Stone Love’s 50th anniversary party at Sabina Park in Kingston.
On a night when good musical vibes flowed and Stone Love selector and host Geefus constantly reminded that their big sponsor, Campari, was their “pari”, Minister Grange came with a message of respect for the longevity of Stone Love and it was well received.
“Stone Love friends and followers, my brothers and sisters, I want everybody who love Stone Love to put up oonu hand and mek some noise,” the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport told the huge crowd that had turned out to celebrate the sound system’s milestone.
“Dancehall is the foundation of music. Sound system is the foundation of music, and Stone Love and Wee Pow ... the foundation of dancehall. Tonight we celebrate 50 years, and it is important for all of you here to appreciate the fact that many come and many go, but Stone Love and Wee Pow still remain. And I want to thank him for the contribution he has made to the development of the music. And I’m saying to the young ones, you have to respect Wee Pow ... respect always ... nuff respect to him. Tonight, it is my pleasure and honour to present to Winston ‘Wee Pow’ Powell, the Stone Love 50th anniversary plaque. Enjoy the music ... God bless,” Minister Grange said.
Under a crescent-shaped moon, Powell waxed lyrical in his response. “My first lady, my ‘every lady’, my everything, the most hard-working politician I have ever seen. A no nuh joke ting, man. She look out fi we. She look out for the entertainment industry. She nuh have it like that, but she do her best ... and mi nah seh that just because she deh ya. She a work hard fi we. Give Minister Grange a round of applause!”
Declaring that he was not going to write a book, Powell, however, shared a little of the history of the sound.
“Most of you here will not know Stone Love before 1983. We started at 34 Molynes Road, grow up with Hopeton Lewis, the great, great singer ... and so on. So respect due to all my selectors who came on to this platform, but everyone come and see me with that platform. The biggest shoutout to the communities of ‘Jungle’ and Tivoli. I came into Jungle in 1985 and dominated, then I keep then to Tivoli, and after that the respect goes global. Stone Love has built that bridge across from Jungle to Tivoli with our music. I am glad to be a part of that dancehall culture and tonight I say, I love you all,” the sound system founder declared.
Earlier in the procedings, guest selectors shone brightly, keeping the juggling intense, with Welton Irie taking over at 10 p.m. and reminding that it was 50 years of music being showcased; and so he pulled from the Studio One classics, which had the park jumping and some patrons looking ready to ‘rent a tile’. “A foundation music this...we can’t just jump into the ‘80s and ‘90s,” Welton Irie shouted into the mic as he dropped tunes like Black Cinderella, Rising For a Fall and Book of Life.
By the time Bill Cosby took over at minutes past 2 a.m., the crowd was saluting tunes from Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, Super Cat, Garnett Silk, Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Richie Spice, Romain Virgo, Agent Sasco, as well a truck load of Stone Love one-of-a-kind dubplates. When the selector dropped the ‘Real Rock’ riddim, Wee Pow took the mic and told the ‘massive’ that “30 years ago I get sued by Coxsone for this riddim”, after which he called for the godfather for the riddim, and the ‘Dubplate King’, the legendary Johnny Osbourne.
He blazed Sabina Park with No Ice cream Sound, Rock it Tonight, Reasons and Yoyo. Osbourne’s performance was definitely a high point of Stone Love’s 50th anniversary celebrations. At that point, selector Randy Rich confessed that “growing up, it was always my dream to play this sound”, and that he felt honoured to be standing on the stage among such legends.
Plaques were also presented by Lady Rose, the East Japanese family, Cigar Records and the Stone Love selectors, who paid a special tribute to the founder.