By Kevin Jackson—
The old JBC offices which was located on South Odeon Avenue in Kingston.—
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TWENTY-FIVE years ago, the assets of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC-TV) and JBC Radio 2 were sold to Radio Jamaica Limited. The sale marked the end of a Government-owned entity that while influential was mired in years of political controversy.
JBC-TV was the first television station in Jamaica. It was launched in August 1963, while JBC Radio first aired on June 15 1959.
Tony Holness was among the disc jockeys who became popular thanks to the JBC Radio 2 (JBC FM) brand. He worked there for over 10 years.
“I worked at JBC FM as a DJ from the mid-1980s to 1997. Both JBC Radio and FM were special in many ways. At different times, Radio 1 had personalities such as Barry G (Barrington Gordon), Winston Williams, Beverly Cole, Mikey Dread (Michael Campbell) and many greats. On the FM side, there were Donovan Dacres, Ivor Smith, Dalton Leith, Troy McLean, Garfield Hamilton, Roderick Howell, and the list goes on. During those memorable years, we made good music live,” Holness recalled.
Campbell operated Dread At The Controls, a weekly, four-hour program that aired at midnight on Sundays and played mainly underground reggae. He died from a brain tumor in 2008.
Leading DJ at the JBC in the 1970s was Errol “ET” Thompson, whose innovative evening show attracted a diverse audience. He was killed in 1983.
Through its Float On program, JBC FM was a launching pad for Jamaican and overseas hit songs. Many of the American soul songs on that show were often covered by Jamaican acts.
“We were not just instrumental in breaking foreign music but also many local hits. A lot of foreign music dominated the programming schedule based on the fact that the surveys at the time showed that foreign music was the choice of the majority of the listeners,” Holness explained.
He shared his fondest memory of working at the JBC.
“Wow, where do I start? Well, my fondest memory was when a senior broadcaster called me to say that I helped them to plan their program just by listening to me while I was on the air working,” he said.
Because of its perceived coziness with the People’s National Party (PNP) during the 1970s, the JBC was often labelled as politically partisan. Shortly after the PNP lost the general election to the Jamaica Labor Party in October 1980, its entire newsroom was sacked by the new government.
Upon its acquisition by Radio Jamaica, JBC FM was rebranded Radio 2 FM. It is currently the all-reggae Hitz 92 FM.
Holness, who works as a broadcast engineer with RJR Communications Group, believes the JBC lives on.
“There was no final day for broadcasting, it was a transition. The station never came off air and all that happened was that the location was changed from South Odeon Avenue in Half-Way-Tree to Lyndhurst Road,” he stated.
Tony Holness
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