By Caribbean News Global CASTRIES, St Lucia – October began with the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) – “the mood is red” – and The United Workers Party (UWP) – “yellow is the code” – chanting and trading press releases in the quest to defend democracy and the rule of law, the state of crime […]
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OTTAWA, Canada – As part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario and unleash its economic potential, the province has proposed new regulation setting out draft criteria for designating Special Economic Zones to build a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy. This draft regulation has been informed by consultations with Indigenous communities across Ontario. It is being […]
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Administration hardliners Stephen Miller and Marco Rubio are said to be pressing for military actions inside Venezuela, citing unproven counternarcotics claims. By Andreína Chávez Alava CARACAS, (venezuelanalysis.com) – US president Donald Trump reaffirmed threats against Venezuela following deadly strikes on alleged drug boats, as top officials are reportedly pressuring for military strikes inside the South […]
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By Rochelle Williams KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – The Blue Economy remains one of Jamaica’s most valuable resources, presenting opportunities in renewable energy, sustainable fisheries, tourism, shipping, logistics and marine technology. Minister of transport, telecommunications and energy, Daryl Vaz, said these opportunities can only be unlocked through collaboration. “The future of our ocean depends on partnership. governments, […]
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By Daniel Dickinson USA / HAITI – As gangs in Haiti continue to expand the areas under their control and show no signs of holding back on terrorising the population, decisive action has been taken by the UN Security Council to fight back against the violence they are perpetrating. Here’s what you need to know about the new Gang Suppression […]
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By Sheena Forde-Craigg BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) is needed now more than ever to help reshape the Caribbean’s tourism product and chart a way forward in an evolving global environment of changing travellers and product offerings, says chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Barbados’ minister of tourism and international transport, […]
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By Johnny Coomansingh Actions have consequences. The universal law states: “For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.” This statement is Isaac Newton’s third law of motion. It means that if an object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts a force back on the first that is equal in […]
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This Tier 1 placement marks the ninth consecutive year that Guyana has demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to combat this insidious crime. GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – Guyana has once again earned a coveted “Tier 1” ranking in the 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the US State Department. The annual report assesses the global […]
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – The ministry of agriculture launched Agriculture Month 2025 on Wednesday, under the theme ‘Transforming Lives Through Agri-Food Systems.’ During this month, the ministry will showcase several events aimed at amplifying the government’s investments in transforming the sector into a resilient, dynamic, and competitive industry. The goal of Agriculture Month is to […]
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By Ileana Exaras For George Stroumboulopoulos, WFP Goodwill Ambassador, the only way to get to an inaccessible destination near the border of Chad in 2004 was to fly on an UN Humanitarian Air Service plane: it was the first time he’d ever heard of UNHAS. “I just watched how it was a central driver for humanitarian agencies from […]
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Allan “Skill” Cole’s role in transforming radio playlists in Jamaica was recalled by Kay Osbourne, his friend of over 60 years and former general manager at Television Jamaica, during the thanksgiving service for his life at the National Arena on Saturday, October 11.
Unlike today, Rasta and reggae were forbidden on Jamaican airwaves in the early 1970s. It took some muscle from Cole to get the music of The Wailers on radio stations like Radio Jamaica.
She said Cole, raised in a middle-class home, defied societal norms.
“It is in this Jamaica that radio stations outright refused to play music created by Rastafari. They shut the airwaves to the message that Rasta brought; no radio station would play a tune that glorify natty dread or venerate kaya,” she noted. “But as The Wailers manager, and immersed in Wailers music, Skill knew he had to attack the system, knowing that The Wailers’ messages were vital to and the sound was essential to the upliftment of the entire world.”
The aggressive methods by Cole against disc jockeys coincided with the roots-reggae explosion of the 1970s. While Radio Jamaica remained largely conservative, the rival Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation was more receptive to Marley and his contemporaries who included Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, his former colleagues in The Wailers, Burning Spear and The Wailing Souls.
A prodigy, Cole played for Jamaica at age 15, but had strong ties to music. At last Saturday’s service, there were tribute performances from the Binghistra Movement, Denzil “Dipstick” Williams, Leroy Sibbles, Bongo Herman, Dean Fraser, Tarrus Riley, Luciano, Beenie Man, Junior Reid, and Stephen Marley, son of Bob Marley.
The mercurial Cole epitomised the growing social awareness that gripped Jamaica in the 1960s and 1970s. Like Marley, he embraced Rastafari through the teachings of Mortimo Planno, a leader of that movement who lived in Trench Town.
Cole was Marley’s manager on his final tour, which was of the United States, in 1980.
Marley died from cancer in May 1981 in Miami at age 36.
Some of the music industry figures who attended the thanksgiving service were I Three members Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, mother of three of Cole’s six children; Entertainment and Culture Minister Olivia Grange; Opposition People’s National Party President Mark Golding; veteran tour manager Copeland Forbes; Mutabaruka; Tommy Cowan; Cindy Breakespeare; musicians Robbie Lyn, Stephen Stewart, and Noel Davy; singers Maxi Priest, Desi Young, Sampalue, and Ras Michael Jr; Michael “Mikey Dan” Whyte (Bob Marley’s former cook); consultant Clyde McKenzie; and music producers Mikey Bennett and Trevor “Leggo” Douglas.
— Howard Campbell
