Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

"This is a classic one," cried Lady Saw in Healing. However, while the 'Queen of the Dancehall' has managed to stay hip and current, for some artistes classic songs are their lifeline in the music business.

The work of the pioneers of the '60s, '70s and '80s defined Jamaican music in its various stages from ska to dancehall. But as the era of dancehall began, a number of vintage stars were pushed into the background, with more and more people being influenced by not only the new Jamaican music but also the more current music from overseas as well. While some artistes labelled 'vintage' tried releasing new work, very few had much success on the charts or in sales.

Michael Barnett of MKB Productions, promoters of CVM-TV Startime, in a previous interview with The Gleaner said, "Veteran acts are enjoying the fruits of their labour now. They recorded for 20 and 30 years and never benefited. They were not educated about publishing and copyrighting laws and they would get a small fee from producers for recording and that's it. The producers benefited, but now the artistes are benefiting from numerous live shows."

While this may be so, the vintage artistes do their old hits on tour and at old hits concerts, with new material being rare to non-existent.

Relaeased single

Leroy Sibbles said last year he released a single, Baby G, following on I Cried in 2005. However, they did not do as well as expected. Sibbles said, "I couldn't afford to pay for the play. It is a lot different now. Radio deejays used to go out and look music and buy it, they were interested in doing so. Now it's a different business."

Sibbles said that it is very difficult for a vintage artiste to make new music that is accepted by the masses, who want the new persons who are throwing out the hits.

Bob Andy is another veteran who is still releasing new music, his latest album, Reggaeland, coming out last October. According to him it has been doing very well. He also released a single with Luciano called Creating History and Almighty Dollar by himself. Andy said that there was a number of dynamics as to why veterans don't release new material.

Special event persons

"Artistes have to be singing and performing to today's generation; they are what's happening now. In Jamaica people tend to see you as an older artiste, a kind of special event person. Pop music revolves around teeny boppers to age 25. It's very difficult for them to go into a record shop and pick up your album. Radio stations are not eager to play modern songs from older artistes. They stereotype you as an older artiste, a legend," Andy said.

For some, this stereotype confines one in a box of well-known work that is hard to get free of. Sibbles said, "When you create material and see it not played it dampens your creative momentum that you need to keep writing and creating new songs. You get a vibe when your material has gone a far way. There's no pioneer respect. Being that I am one who has paid my dues they would play our stuff 'cause we helped make the business possible, but they don't. It keeps you in a small area. You want to play new hits, but you have to satisfy by playing old ones. A lot of people are satisfied with that, 'cause they get their financial gain."

As one regular female vintage concert patron told The Sunday Gleaner, "Old hits - that's the point of seeing them, unless they have a new hype song and it's a instant hit. Otherwise, no new stuff."

Still tour

Yet the vintage artistes still tour, performing on songs that were not popular locally as well as the bona fide old hits. Sibbles said that he had a tour coming up in April and he would be performing the songs that people know. "People come out to hear what that artiste established. Music that is established is important," he said. Andy also said "songs of mine are popular in England that aren't popular here. An album of mine that is popular in Japan and not here is Friends. People here don't know it."

Despite the troubles of staying alive in a world of changing music, these older artistes still believe they have not reached their prime and have a number of hit songs still left. According to Sibbles, he could do a lot more with the right promotion, as he is a very talented person.

"If you have financial backing you can afford to do it, get your songs played. Anything can happen anytime. At this age you can do collaborations with young artistes. I understand that younger artistes get more promotions. We have to compete with the loss of some of our sting and the new generation," Bob Andy said.