When I first went to live on Bequia Winston John had already left to seek his fame and fortune. He was born and raised in Lower Bay but I didn’t have the opportunity to meet him for quite a few years. When Winston DID return to Bequia it was as “Papa Winnie”, with a beautiful Italian wife named Liana and adorable twin girls named Rootsie and Boopsie. Winnie built a large home overlooking Lower Bay, and each year he and his family came to visit during the winter months.
Winnie had made Reggae music his career, and was very well known in Italy as well as the Caribbean. His signature dreadlocks were not his alone, the twins had dreads too, and watching them play in the kiddie pool at Lower Bay with their little Rasta mops was a treat! Winnie also had a signature song, the song that had launched his career and made him famous in Italy. It was called Rootsie and Boopsie (You Are My Sunshine).
Bequia’s finest band, New Direction, played Papa Winnie’s music at dances, and whenever they played Rootsie and Boopsie the crowd would go wild! The talented drummer and lead singer of the band was Chester Derrick, and when he wasn’t playing in the band he worked as a waiter at the Pizzeria. Whenever New Direction had a gig my staff would cover for Chester, which wasn’t always easy to do during the busy season. New Direction was so good they were often flown to New York and Montreal by the country’s diaspora to play at North American events. Yes, they were THAT good.
The Wind Star and Wind Spirit asked me to find them a band to play on board whenever they had a buffet night, and I never hesitated to hire New Direction. The fellows would load all their equipment onto the ship’s tender during the afternoon, set up on deck, then lug it all ashore at the end of the evening. It was a lot of work, and of course my staff had to cover for Chester each time he played on one of the ships.
Mac and I were often on board for the ship’s buffet, and we agreed that the cruise-ship- style music they played wasn’t the REAL New Direction, not the “Rudeness on De Road” and “Rootsie and Boopsie” group that we knew and loved. When the band performed on cruise ships they toned their music down, and I found it a titch boring. They were still GOOD, just not THAT good. It was all very “vanilla” but the passengers seemed to enjoy them well enough. They didn’t dance with wild abandon or listen to and enjoy the lyrics, but as long as the passengers were happy that’s what mattered.
One night, Mac and I were on board for the Wind Star’s buffet, and New Direction was playing their usual cruise-ship-style music. The ship that week was on a special charter, it was an incentive tour for the top sales people of an Italian company. I had mentioned this fact to Chester the day before, and something had obviously clicked in his brain. When the passengers had finished dining the band suddenly came alive with Rootsie and Boopsie. It was amazing, those Italian passengers jumped up screaming “Papa Winnie! Papa Winnie!”, and the dance floor came alive.
The band continued to play Winnie’s music until Captain Kaj ordered them to stop. The last tender was going ashore, and anyone not sailing with the ship at mid-night had to be on it. The Italians begged Captain Kaj to postpone sailing but that wasn’t on, he had a schedule to stick to. After a hurried consultation the Italians decided that if the ship had to sail they would take the band with them, they wanted them on board for the rest of the trip. They would pay for everything, including their flights home from Barbados. I could scan the band’s passports while they packed their bags, I would need the copies to deal with customs and immigration clearances in the morning. The Captain, who I think actually considered taking the band along, decided the answer was “no”, it would cause too much confusion and would delay the scheduled departure of the ship. The passengers were terribly disappointed and so was the band, they were keen and eager to keep playing to such a receptive crowd!
I have never forgotten that night, and the reaction of those Italian passengers when the band exploded with Rootsie and Boopsie. New Direction was THAT good, and so was Papa Winnie’s song!