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WHEN Tony Carr got his first radio job in December 1979, he had no experience as a broadcaster. But that one-year stint at WHFS 102.3 FM in Washington DC launched the most enduring career by a Jamaican disc Jockey in the DC/Maryland area.
Since 1989, Carr — a former athlete who competed for Jamaica at the Pan American and Commonwealth Games — has hosted This Is Reggae Music, which airs Sundays from 10:00 pm to midnight on WPFW 89.3 FM. It is his second stint at that radio station, having done a three-year run from 1980-83.
This Is Reggae Music is heard in Maryland, Delaware, southern Pennsylvania and northern Virginia. It is rebroadcast Tuesdays from 9:00 am to 11:00 am on Oneharmony radio.com.
“My objective is to introduce great reggae music and upcoming artistes to them (listeners) each week. I want them to hear great music and information when they tune in,” said Carr.
Carr boasts that his listenership is diverse. Most of them are Jamaicans in the DC/Baltimore radius, who have listened to his playlist of mainly classic reggae for close to 40 years.
“My audience have stayed and grown. I run into people all the time who tell me that they have been listening from the ’80’s,” he said. “I had an African man who told me it does not matter where I am on the dial or what time I’m on, he listens.”
Born in Christina, Manchester, Carr moved to the United States in the mid-1970’s. A quarter-miler, he won a bronze medal at the 1963 Pan American Games in Brazil, and was a member of Jamaica’s crack 4 x 400 metres team (with the Spence brothers, Mal and Mel, and Rupert Hoilette) at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston.
He became a coach while still competing, directing Excelsior High School at Boys’ Championships from 1964-69. In DC, he coached Archbishop Carroll High School and University of DC.
Listeners to a Tony Carr show will likely hear the giants: Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Beres Hammond, Third World, Maxi Priest, Freddie McGregor or Marcia Griffiths. Over the years, he has interviewed Richard Bernal (Jamaica’s ambassador to Washington); members of the groundbreaking Jamaica bobsled team that competed at the 1989 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada; and The University of the West Indies vice chancellor, professor Rex Nettleford, whom he describes as “the most brilliant man I ever met”.
Unlike New York City which had several Jamaican nightclubs and West Indian radio stations due to its large Caribbean community, there were not many outlets for that region’s culture in Washington DC and Maryland when Tony Carr arrived there 40-odd years ago.
Even now, it is tough finding consistent reggae locales.
“There have been many changes with regards to venues that featured reggae for years, such as The Kilimanjaro and Crossroads Entertainment Complex. The only venue around that still hosts reggae from time to time is the 930 Club in DC,” Carr said.
In addition to his work as a disc jockey, Tony Carr has been MC at major reggae shows in DC including Jamaica Reggae Day Festival, DC World Reggae Festival and DC Grace Jerk Festival.
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