Henry Stennett, ‘great voice’ of radio, dies
Published:Monday | December 12, 2022 | 12:41 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Henry ‘Busha’ Stennett, the veteran broadcaster whose craft spanned more than three decades in radio, died at his home in Constant Spring, St Andrew, on Sunday.
Stennett, whose “large and distinct” voice filled a room whether talking or laughing, had been ailing for some time. He was 70.
His death comes a few short weeks after that of his wife, Lorna, and only months after his son’s Henry Stennett Jr.
A hallmark in many Jamaican homes for years on the ‘Evening People Show’ and through the ‘Roving Report’ with morning traffic update aboard The Wise Eye company helicopter, Stennett spent the bulk of his career at RJR FM, now Radio Jamaica.
He resigned from the station, where he began his career in 1974, in March 2006.
Stennett served as presenter, supervisor of off-air staff, executive producer of RJR 94FM, and programme director.
“He had a great voice and knew how to use it,” senior producer at Radio Jamaica, Derrick Wilks, told The Gleaner on Sunday.
Wilks shared a close relationship with Stennett who, along with Hol Plummer, recruited for Radio Jamaica in the early 1990s.
“There are many of us with great voices who don’t put it to use. Henry had a voice and knew exactly how to get the best of it. I think that’s what made him a hallmark on radio that a lot of people would warm up to him,” Wilks said.
“One of the things he enjoyed, like Alan Magnus, was playing a suite of cheating songs. When he gets into that, you know he’s going to get a little rambunctious, a little naughty, but totally entertaining, and he had the perfect voice for it. If there was ever a voice made for radio, it was Henry Stennett’s,” Wilks, a veteran broadcaster himself, recalled.
But Stennett was not purely known for his perfect radio voice, Wilks shared. Deep belly laughter, while downing a cold Red Stripe beer or two with friends, became a habit for him. That and his shoeless strides around the studio that often sent his colleagues gasping for fresh air.
“He was legendary for kicking off his shoes. If you pushed the studio door, you were greeted by his stinky socks long before you saw him. He wore his socks all around the studio. The moment he sat down, he kicked off his shoes,” Wilks said good-humouredly.
Norma Brown Bell, who together with Stennett guided Jamaicans through morning traffic, described their relationship as “excellent”.
Stennett, along with Plummer, Tino Geddes, and Ed Barnes, trained Brown Bell for the presentation of the report, which she did then on Thursdays as backup for Stennett.
“Henry and I had good communication between us. In everything that we did, the communication was always there. He would just call you and say, ‘This is what needs to be done. What do you think?’ Then we’d have a discussion either on the telephone or face-to-face,” Brown Bell recalled in a Gleaner interview.
“The relationship was very good. The working relationship was very good.”
Chief executive officer of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, Gary Allen, said the company is saddened at the news of Stennett’s passing.
“Stennett had been one of the household names and was a loved personality on Radio Jamaica for many years,” he said, noting the late broadcaster’s work on the ‘Evening People Show’ and news presentation.
Allen also highlighted Stennett’s work in delivering morning traffic reports, especially from the ‘Wise Eye’ that was used to traverse the city during the rush-hour period.
“An excellent voice, one of the best voices radio has heard,” he said.
Allen said the last few months of Stennett’s life have been tough, noting the recent loss of his wife and a son.
“It would have been a very difficult time for him. On behalf of the entire RJRGLEANER family, we want to extend our sympathies to his close former colleagues ... and to lift up his family in our prayers and to give them whatever support that we can offer to them at this time,” he said.