'70s, '80s and '90s to highlight GT Taylor's Christmas Extravaganza

While many promoters have chosen to feature mostly current reggae and dancehall acts on the line-ups for their events, GT Taylor, who promotes the annually held GT's Christmas Extravaganza stage show, has opted for a wider selection of artistes.

 The veteran broadcaster, who is popularly known as the Dancehall Master on IRIE FM, said that in his opinion no real major Jamaican stage show is complete without a line-up that features artistes from the early eras of popular Jamaican culture.

"As a promoter, I don't see how it's possible to stage a major event without featuring artistes from the different eras of our music. Our musical culture is so diverse and all eras produced a plethora of stars, so I don't really see how it would be possible to keep an event such as mine without featuring some of these acts," said GT.

According to GT, over the years he has always selected a number of these artistes to be part of Christmas Extravaganza, and this year the trend will continue as the likes of George Nooks, King Yellowman and Johnny P will be among the plethora of stars that will grace the Christmas Extravaganza stage on Christmas night.

Stars of the '70s, '80s and '90s

 

George Nooks, who recently released a brand new album titled Broken Vessel, has been around since the 1970s. Most of his earliest works were done under the moniker Prince Mohamed. However, his version of Little Roy's Tribal which was done in in 1978 under the name George Nooks is arguably one of the biggest hits of that golden era of Jamaican music.

Winston Foster, who is known worldwide as King Yellowman, became a major dancehall star in the 1980s after winning the popular Tastee Talent Contest in the late 1970s.

In 1981, he became the first dancehall artiste to sign with a major American label (Columbia Records).

King Yellowman still draws some of the biggest crowds on tour.

Johnny P was certainly one of the hottest deejays during the early 1990s.

He began his career towards the end of the previous decade and by the mid-90s he had cemented his place in dancehall history by scoring a string of hits such as Ital Jockey, Cut Up, Fight Fi Old Bruck, If You Love Me, Mix Up, Natural Beauty and Bike Back.

In 1993, Johnny P rocked the United States billboard charts with a remix of his hit song titled Look Good.

The line-up for Christmas Extravaganza will also feature headline acts such as dancehall stars Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Beenie Man, Ninja Man, I-Octane and Khago.

A host of other popular artistes are also on the line-up, including Romaine Virgo, KipRich, Lady G, Macka Diamond, Pamputae, Lutan Fya, Chuck Fenda, Anthony Cruz, ANG, Tidal, Stacious, Tiana, Mikeylous, Alva, Villa Dutch, Inoah, Hitman Wally and Brimstone.

Christmas Extravaganza will be staged at Independence Park, Black River, St Elizabeth, on Tuesday.

(from Jamaica Observer)