As Tony Carr celebrates the 41st year hosting the This Is Reggae Music radio show on WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington DC, he credits his longevity to a simple policy.
“I play good reggae music. If you don’t like good reggae music, you are not going to like my program,” he says, bluntly.
This Is Reggae Music airs Sundays from 10 pm to midnight on WPFW, a public station that has a strong straight jazz format, complemented by slots of R&B, Latin, African and reggae.
Carr moved to the station in 1980 after one year at WHFS 102.3 FM in DC, where he made his broadcasting debut. Originally from Manchester parish in central Jamaica, he was more known as an athlete who represented Jamaica at the Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games in the early 1960’s.
After a stint coaching in Jamaica, Carr migrated to the United States in the mid-1970’s. He has become the voice of reggae in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) region which, though not as lucrative as New York and Los Angeles, has long had a happening reggae scene.
Interestingly, This Is Reggae Music had a different flavor in the early days.
“Back in the ’90’s, there was a heavy mix of dancehall music on my program. Today, not much mainly because of the negative lyrics,” he said.
Carr has not turned his back entirely on that genre. There is space for songs like Go Down Deh by Spice, Sean Paul and Shaggy on the playlist as well as tracks from Live N Livin, Sean Paul’s latest album.
But for his listeners — whose ages range from 20’s upwards — he sticks to conventional artists who are tried and proven such as Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Etana, Christopher Martin and Romain Virgo.
While lamenting the fall in music production coming out of Jamaica, Carr pointed to a region that is leading the way in releasing quality songs.
“A lot of good music is being made in South Florida. Artists like Lady Tia, Novel-T, Hopeton Lindo and (producer) Willie Lindo. I could go on and on, so there’s hope,” he said.
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