DAVID RODIGAN, British radio personality calls for Reggae Museum....The veteran broadcaster was speaking at Reggae Wednesday, the first mass event for Reggae Month held at Mandela Park in Half-Way-Tree.

BY RICHArD JOHNSON Observer senior writer johnsonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, February 05, 2016  

YET another call has come for a museum dedicated to reggae music in Jamaica.

This time it is from British radio personality David Rodigan. He is calling on those in authority to create a permanent space for Jamaican pop music.

A section of the audience at Reggae Wednesday in
Mandela Park, Half-Way Tree.

“There is a need for a reggae museum to be here in Jamaica to reflect the history of this music that you have created and is revered all over the world. The powers that be need to act sooner rather than later, in a bid to protect the music for future generations,” said Rodigan. “You have the instruments of people like Lloyd Parkes and the work of other artistes and players of instruments which must be protected and preserved. Jamaicans are unaware of how popular reggae music is all over the world. I have played across the globe, from Tokyo to California, thanks to reggae,” said Rodigan

The veteran broadcaster was speaking at Reggae Wednesday, the first mass event for Reggae Month. It was held at Mandela Park in Half-Way-Tree Wednesday evening. Rodigan, along with other disc jockeys from the BBC 1 Xtra radio station, Toddla T and Seani B, are in Jamaica to gather material for broadcast on their shows in the UK. They were special guests at the event where they presented a one-hour set of vintage reggae.

Last year, brothers Ian and Roger Lewis, members of the Inner Circle band, made a similar call for a reggae museum.

They suggested that the facility should include a hall of fame and be sited in the tourist belt to tap into that lucrative market.

                                              David Rodigan

“It would have to be somewhere scenic like Ocho Rios (in St Ann). It could be a place where people learn about the history of the music... learn ‘bout wicked singers, like Brent Dowe from The Melodians who was a innovator,” Ian Lewis told the

Jamaica Observer.

The organisers of the four-year-old International Reggae Poster Competition also see the need for a museum in Kingston and hold that, as well as ongoing support for the Alpha Boy’s School, as their vision.

Rodigan also expressed concern at the lack of support for a show like Reggae Wednesday.

“What is happening? What are we not doing?” he asked in an interview with Splash.

“This is Kingston, Jamaica. We are in Half-Way Tree and it’s a show for Reggae Month with the likes of major acts Leroy Sibbles, Daddy U-Roy, Big Youth and Half Pint. You look out there and there is barely 1,000 people in the house... Furthermore, it is free. What is happening?”