PRESIDING over the birth of the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA) in 2002 was a dream come true for veteran show promoter Michael Barnett.

Finally, Barnett thought, there now existed a vehicle through which he could give back to the artistes and industry personnel with whom he and his business partner Keith Brown worked for more than 18 years staging the popular vintage stage show Heineken Startime.

But that dream, Barnett now says, has become a nightmare, as many of JAVAA’s prominent members — among them Ken Booth, Queen Ifrica, Bunny Brown, Carlton Tamlin, Bob Andy, Max Romeo, Jimmy Riley, Luciano, Keith Brown, Tommy Cowan, Johnny Clarke, Lone Ranger, Lloyd Parks, Mikey General, and Boris Gardener — “have walked away because they were not happy with the direction” of the association.

According to Barnett, his intention was for JAVAA to serve as a social club and lobby for vintage artistes.

He liaised with other members of the music fraternity to put an executive body in place, as it wasn’t his intention, he said, to play a major role in its operation.

“I felt they (artistes/musicians) should be at the forefront of the organisation with my assistance and guidance,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Barnett said the mistake he made was to invite Frankie Campbell from Stage Records to steer an organising committee in 2003. That decision, he said, was “one of the worst mistakes of my life”.

According to Barnett, he became unhappy with the way the association was being run, so in 2006 he decided to walk away. However, he was persuaded by then vice-president Junior Sinclair to stay as they felt his input was needed.

Several months later however, Barnett said he threw in the towel for the final time with the words, “I will always be a member, but I’m off the executive.”

Sinclair, who is no longer a member of the board, accused Campbell of failing to deal with issues affecting the association.

“I told Campbell that we needed to have a board meeting to iron out some issues plaguing the organisation; that meeting was never called,” said Sinclair, who alleged that Campbell told him that he didn’t respect any member of the board.

Barnett, Sinclair, and Joel ‘Bunny’ Brown — who all shared their feelings with the Sunday Observer in an interview over a week ago — said they felt insulted when they found out that Campbell went to the Companies Office of Jamaica on May 12 this year and made an amendment to the board of directors, replacing them.

“We were never notified about the changes, we just found out about it,” said an upset Barnett.

Former member Lloyd Parks said he walked away from JAVAA because he was disrespected. “I joined because it was a united force and I have made a lot of sacrifices in the organisation. Frankie says he doesn’t want to work on any stage with me,” commented Parks.

Sinclair, who was invited by Joel Brown in 2003 to be a part of the association, said he, too, has several issues with how JAVAA is run.

“Whenever there are JAVAA events I can never get another band to be used for them. On more than one occasion I suggested Lloyd Parks and We the People; it never happened. It’s always Fab Five and Unique Vision,” he said, pointing out that both bands are managed by Campbell.

Sinclair went on to point out that Lloyd Parks and We the People used to be the backing band for late reggae prince Dennis Brown and he felt it was appropriate for that band to back the artistes performing on JAVAA’s Dennis Brown tribute concert.

“Campbell vetoed that,” Sinclair said.

When the Sunday Observer contacted Campbell for a response, he declined to comment, offering only: “Write what you want to write. I am not going to respond to them.”

Despite his disappointment, Barnett said he still has dreams for the organisation, one of them being the re-establishment of the directorship.

“JAVAA has become a monster. I’m very sorry to see it has become a useless, ineffective organisation and it pains my heart,” said Barnett.

“I have put a lot of money into the organisation — both in registering it as a non-profit organisation, paying the rental at the previous office out of my own pocket and other things,” he added. “I did it out of a desire of wanting to see it become a thriving force that would help artistes.”

— Cecelia Campbell-Livingston