Months before the second Reggae Sunsplash in Montego Bay in June 1979, Ronnie Burke of promoters Synergy recalls meeting superstar Bob Marley at the latter’s Hope Road home.

“He said, ‘How come yuh sey yuh have the biggest reggae festival inna the world. A lie yuh a tell, cause mi nuh dey pon it’,” Burke remembered.

Marley charged J$10,000 (well below his usual fee) for the gig. It turned out to be a game-changer for the fledgling Sunsplash.

“Everything started to come into place,” said Burke, who turns 73 today. “The bookings for Montego Bay was so overwhelming they (tourism interests) had a crisis. Montego Bay had to send for staff that had been sent home for the holidays, trucks were rolling in from Kingston with liquor from Grace Kennedy and all the big suppliers…it was chaos,” he added.

Last week, it was announced that Burke will receive the Order of Distinction, Jamaica’s sixth highest honour, for his contribution to the development of Jamaican music.

Before Marley stepped into the picture, things were not bright for Burke and his partners in Synergy (Tony Johnson, Don Green and John Wakeling) who launched the inaugural Reggae Sunsplash in 1978 from June 23-30 at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay.

Jimmy Cliff was headliner, complemented by a strong cast that included Dennis Brown, Third World, Inner Circle and Toots and the Maytals.

“There were really marvellous performances but not really a good crowd. After the show, we got calls from the bank to bring in our cars which we had put up as surety,” said Burke.

Reggae Sunsplash experienced excruciating teething pains. Promoters had to deal with societal prejudice against reggae and Rasta, and skeptical officials at the Jamaica Tourist Board.

“If we had been businessmen and not some guys with a vision, we would have called it a day from early,” Burke stated.

The original Synergy ended its association with Jamaica’s Sunsplash in 1994. Johnson ran Reggae Sunsplash International for several years, promoting shows in Europe, North America and Japan.

He died of a heat attack in Los Angeles in 1997. Wakeling died from lung cancer the following year.

Green resides in New York. Burke, who lives in St Andrew, is the first member of the classic Synergy team to earn a national award.

Jerome Hamilton, who operates the Headline Entertainment agency in Kingston, is a Burke protege.

“Ronnie Burke is an outstanding pioneer in the live music business in Jamaica. Synergy lay the foundation for every reggae festival across the world,” Hamilton told the Jamaica Observer.

“As the calm, confident and affable leader for Sunspash Jamaica, he influenced many and created so many great memories.”

The second of three children for a government lawyer and mother who worked in administration at Excelsior High School, Ronnie Burke was the only member of Synergy with ties to the music industry.

With Michael Johnston, his schoolmate from Jamaica College, he operated Micron Ltd, which distributed albums and singles for acts like Marley and the Wailers, Gregory Isaacs and Burning Spear.

The idea for Reggae Sunsplash came from Johnson and Green, who lived in Los Angeles and New York. They saw the popularity of reggae abroad and were shocked it was still an underground music in Jamaica by the late 1970s.

Burke, who currently works as an advisor for roots singer Half Pint, said he will accept the OD on behalf of the dreamers who made Reggae Sunsplash reality and a success.

“I will receive this honour on behalf of a group we lovingly refer to as the ‘Sunsplash Family’ who fought in the trenches with us through the toughest of times. Especially on behalf of Tony Johnson, John Wakeling and Don Green, Charles Campbell, Junior Lincoln and Sharon Burke.”

Nyahbinghi drummer Ras Michael, music producers Winston ‘Niney’ Holness and Donovan Germain, musician/composers Harold Butler and Marjorie Whylie, are among the entertainment personalities being awarded this year.

They will receive their insignia in October during the National Honours and Awards Ceremony at King’s House on October 19.