Monty’s moment
FOR the 26 years they operated Turntable Club at 118 Red Hills Road, the Blake brothers were inseparable. But last Sunday when the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) designated it a heritage site, only Monty, youngest of the siblings, was present to savour the occasion.
Trevor, the eldest brother, lives in the United States. Winston and Tyrone died in 2016 and 2012, respectively.
Monty spoke eloquently for them, calling the gesture “seminal and historic. A singular honour.”
A massive plaque commemorates the Turntable Club, one of Kingston’s landmark venues which opened in 1973. Most nights Winston, second of the brothers, was at the controls of the Merritone sound system their father started in St Thomas in 1950.
His encyclopaedic knowledge of Jamaican music and American soul/rhythm and blues transmitted to the Turntable dance floor and helped make it the hottest spot on the nightclub-laden Red Hills Road strip.
According to Monty, “The Turntable Club became many things to many people and welcomed everyone.”
“Everyone” included politicians, countless Jamaican and overseas celebrities (Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Big Youth, Johnny Nash, The Dells and The Rolling Stones) and nefarious characters like Albert Robinson, the would-be spy allegedly aligned to Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in the late 1970s.
Blake made note of their presence at the Turntable Club, and also saluted its rivals during the glory days of Red Hills Road nightlife. Competitors included Tit For Tat, Stables and El Rancho.
When the Blakes packed up and left Red Hills Road in 2001, it closed an era. In a 2007 interview with this writer, Winston Blake bemoaned the high level of crime in the area and said the self-reliance mantra many hometown youth once adapted gave way to get-rich-quick schemes and criminality.
They moved to the Waterfalls in Liguanea, St Andrew, where Merritone still plays weekly.
No matter where they set up, Merritone will always be synonymous with the Turntable Club and Red Hills Road. It is an association Monty Blake acknowledges with pride.
“The Turntable Club made a mark on all those who came within its radius. It was generally regarded as the crown jewel of the strip,” he said.
Last Sunday the KSAMC also named secondary roads off nearby Park Lane in honour of dancehall artistes Flourgon, Sanchez, Red Dragon, Daddy Lizard, Fabby Dolly, and Sultan.
