STORY OF THE SONG - Shabba compares himself to Stitt

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

They were from totally different eras of deejaying, but with one line in an unlikely song, Shabba Ranks connected himself with the late King Stitt, who died last Tuesday.

Winston 'King Stitt' Sparkes was honoured at the Afrique Pub, downtown Kingston, in 2007 for 50 years in the music business while Shabba's popularity outside Jamaica peaked with back-to-back Grammy Awards in the reggae category with As Raw as Ever (1992) and X-Tra Naked (1993).

Shabba Ranks makes the comparison with Stitt in the late 1980s Live Blanket, an ode to the comforting warmth of a woman. But he reaches out for Stitt (who, like many Jamaicans, he calls Stitch) in setting up the irony of his appearance with his romantic prowess, deejaying:

"See Shabba Ranks ugly like King Stitch

Me a gallis, me no homosexualis'"

However, in the later song Respect, Shabba Ranks pays proper respects to Stitt as he honours the elders. First up is U-Roy, followed by Big Youth, then Shabba deejays:

"Cool cool, King Stich done rule

Easy Father Stitch you well equip inna de school"

difficulties

In 2007, when he was being lauded for half century in music, King Stitt spoke to the difficulties persons involved in playing sound systems faced in the early days.

Stitt said, "I accept this with humility and pride. During the early days sound system business was rough. In those days playing a sound system was like you smoking herb. You have to decide to jump two fence and run from the cops if you don't want to go to jail."

"One Sunday night I run from police five times, just to play sound. Some of the times I say I would give up, but I say I love it and the people love me, so I going to please the people," Stitt said.

He made specific reference to a dance at Independence Lawn on Spanish Town Road, when Hugh Shearer was Prime Minister. A policeman told Stitt, "the Prime Minister say you must leave this and go look work".

"Me say is work I a work. Him say I don't business wid dat," Stitt said.

"Is not I alone had to run. U-Roy, Cuttings, Count Machukie had to run to bring this thing to where it is today," Stitt said.

He said that while there were disc jockeys on radio calling themselves selectors "and all kind a thing, we the sound system operators have done more for Jamaican music than any one of them".

"No radio station wanted to play Jamaican music, because they said it was rubbish," Stitt said.