Stephen Vasciannie | Looking at ‘Swing’ magazine

The librarian seemed a little hesitant when I asked her if the library had copies of Swing. So, I quickly added, ex abundante cautela, that the Swing I had in mind was a weekly Jamaican magazine published in the 1960s and ‘70s by Golding’s Printery at 46 East Street, Kingston. That library did not have Swing, but my next stop at the National Library of Jamaica was more productive.

MUSICIANS

Not all back copies of Swing magazine have been retained by the National Library, but the librarian there produced a good stack of issues from across the years, enough to stimulate some youthful memories and recurring points of local culture. Here are some of the items from memory lane that caught my attention.

Swing was predominantly a cultural offering that embraced fully local music and entertainment, but which also carried contributions on sports and some items from topical public affairs. From the music scene, the magazine carried regular features on established stars and on artistes on the rise, together with photographs that now have vintage status.

Bob Marley and The Wailers, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, Dennis Brown, Sonny Bradshaw ( The Man with the Golden Horn), and Clancy Eccles were among those featured, as are advertisements for the Sombrero and Ackara nightclubs. Photographs of Marvin Gaye in town with Bustamante and Michael Manley also call for a second look.

OLD-TIME FAVOURITES

I was struck by the generous attention paid by Johnny Golding, the editor, and his team of writers to JBC Television, and the two radio stations, JBC and RJR. Swing carried several reports concerning the media activities and prospects of old-time favourites such as Tony Verity, Desmond Elliott, Jeff and Winston Barnes, Charles Hyatt, Don Topping, Neville Willoughby, Marie Garth, Charlie Babcock, Ralston McKenzie, Allan Magnus, and, in later editions, Elaine Wint.

At one stage, JBC radio enthusiastically promoted itself as Big J, with comments such as Big J is Mine for 69 and Big J: 19 hours a day and 20 on Saturday, advertised in Swing.

News items about male media figures appeared to outnumber items about women by more than a small margin. This apparent bias, however, was a reflection not of Swing policy, but is rather a reminder that the media environment at the time was male-dominated. Swing, for its part, carried substantial articles on entertainment and related matters by both men and women. Jean Fairweather, on the early steps of the National Dance Theatre Company; Barbara Gloudon, on parenthood, and Beverly Anderson (as she then was) on subtle ways of introducing groom’s events before a wedding along the lines of bridal showers, remain noteworthy from a historical point of view.

THEATRE

With regard to the theatre, Swing, from the early 1970s, carried the interesting observation that actor Carl Bradshaw emerged from the status of the cool, ruthless Jose in The Harder They Come to that of the lovable skankist Ringo in Smile Orange. Bradshaw and other actors from that era were frequently performers in offerings from the self-styled Bellas Gate Boy, Trevor Rhone.

But this was not exclusively so. When Swing mistakenly attributed Edward E. Henry’s play, See Mama, to Rhone, Munair Zacca (long before his Sonny T days) made the written request that the magazine should render to Rhone the things which be Rhone’s and to Henry the things which be Henry’s, please. Ed Bim Lewis’, A Gun Court Affair was also noticed in the pages of Swing. I saw, however, no discussion on the popular turn the tables song, I Would Like You and My Sweetheart to be Friends, emerging from that play.

SPORTS

On the sporting scene, a front-page story catching my eye was the pending visit of Santos Football Club of Brazil in January 1971, to play at the National Stadium against a Cavaliers Invitational team. King Pele was promised and delivered as the star attraction, with Edu, Coloaldo and Carlos Alberto in the powerful line-up.

My main recollections of this match are that Edu hit the post directly from a corner kick, then scored for Santos in a 1-1 draw, and that Alan Skill Cole laid off a through pass so exquisite that he had the home fans roaring as loudly as they did when Jamaica reached the World Cup final round in 1998. That Baall may have landed Cole a ticket to Brazil, but it is also the case that Cole scored a penalty for the home team and generally played at the level of the strong Brazilians.

Swing also carried occasional references to schoolboy soccer, Boys’ Champs and hockey, items on Fuarnado Roberts’ back spin successes in table tennis, as well as stories on Caymanas Park developments. And Jimmy Carnegie’s sporting essays, a memorable feature, were designed for people in the know who yearned for more.

POLITICS

On the political side, Swing was not afraid to take up controversial topics. From the copies available at the National Library, I saw, for example, a submission from Omar Shabaz, minister of Muhammad’s Temple of Islam in Jamaica, to Michael Manley calling on the prime minister to ban the Rhodes Scholarships in Jamaica. Manley did not take up this submission and thus allowed the present writer and others the opportunity of exposure to the benefits and challenges of Oxonian education. There was, too, a cover story under the provocative title, ‘Is Haile Selassie Dead?’, a topic of existential significance to Rastafari and others.

On another plane of analysis, Swing, in a 1972 edition, pointed to the association between Manley and the notion of Power to the People; but this was not a definitive endorsement of the PNP, for the magazine also reported, with a smiling photograph, that Edward Seaga retained his seat in fine fashion in the 1972 general election.

In other editions, Swing noted the famous visit of Tanzania’s President Julius Nyerere to Jamaica in 1974, pointed to UWI protests in 1968 concerning Walter Rodney’s exclusion from Jamaica, and expressed the hope that lawmen in Jamaica would promote peaceful elections in 1972. By 1980, all the king’s men and horses failed to keep electoral peace.

ADVERTISEMENTS SPEAK

Looking across the years, Swing was not devoid of advertisements, some of which touch our nostalgic taste buds or remind us of evolving views. What could Liquid Foods have been but a brand of sodas? Do we remember today what it means to pop a top, sip a sip and take a taste of Canada Dry? Del Mar Photo Studio had pronounced diasporic links before the term assumed vogue connotations, advertising services to Jamaicans from a base at Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn 11212. We were encouraged, too, to sit in Kingston and share in American multiculturalism and diversity by watching the sit-com Julia weekly, as advertised by JBC.

Nor was that all. We were invited to have a big burp after gormandising a nyamburger from a certain restaurant, while, for patties and other quick eats, we could go to Pete’s at the Terrace at 140 Red Hills Road or 96D Molynes Road. The Teenage Dance Party was advertised from time to time, you could catch a James Bond flick at 4:45 on Saturday, Miss Pat was advertised as hosting ‘Romper Room’ with her magic mirror at around 5 p.m. each day. Another advertisement indicated that all workers could enjoy healthy splashes at the Forum Hotel, Port Henderson: this became a case of broken dreams for some local tourists.

CARIFESTA, ETC

Finally, all Jamaicans were enticed, in Swing and elsewhere, to join in the wonderful cultural extravaganza that was CARIFESTA 1976: Come to CARIFESTA, all you CARIFESTA people of the sun. Why, I wonder, has CARIFESTA not recaptured in Jamaica the excitement and spirit of 1976 – after a brilliant start? And what does the CARIFESTA experience reveal about social attitudes towards regional integration?

Swing made its mark. Let us encourage the National Library to seek out the missing back copies and to digitise the collection to promote greater availability. The cultural history of Jamaica implicitly and explicitly carried in the pages of this magazine should help form the basis of extensive scholarship that enhances our understanding of ourselves. On reflection, too, it is such a pity that Swing swang out. We should remember the way we were and record in durable form the way we are.

Stephen Vasciannie is professor of international law at The University of the West Indies, Mona. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com