KINGSTON, Jamaica — Fifty years after his voice was first heard on New York’s airwaves, Gil Bailey has again broken new ground. Two weeks ago, the veteran broadcaster debuted his The Gil Bailey Show on YouTube, and hopes the medium will introduce him to a new generation of fans.

During his daily four-hour afternoon slot, Bailey plays reggae, calypso, soca and gospel music, a mix that has endeared him to West Indian listeners in the tri-state (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) area.

Now that he is in a new format, Bailey says the response to date has been resounding.

“It’s very exciting…We’ve been getting calls from all over from people saying ‘dis is what wi want to hear’. Some of the people are also seeing me in action for the first time,” Bailey told the Jamaica Observer.

While secular music dominates his playlist, it is also heavy on gospel. Bailey has been playing religious music since the mid-1970s; he credits another well-known Jamaican Disc Jockey for him seeing the light.

“I was in Kingston and I heard Barry G (Barry Gordon) playing gospel along with reggae on his programme and when I went back to New York, I started playing it on WPAT 930 AM. I have never stopped,” said Bailey.

Known as The Godfather, St Thomas-born Bailey launched The Gil Bailey Show 49 years ago. In addition to WPAT, he worked at WHBI and WNWK, helping to expose West Indian culture when mainstream radio stations in the United States shunned that region’s culture.

For many years, Bailey and his wife Pat co-hosted The Gil and Pat Bailey Show. Pat, whom he married in 1969, died in December 2016 at age 77.

Gil Bailey’s commitment to promoting West Indian culture throughout the tri-state region was rewarded on August 3 at the Hilton hotel in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. He received nine awards including a proclamation from United States Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, and a certificate from the New York State Assembly.

On August 11, Bailey and his wife will be among a number of Jamaican broadcasters recognised at the Merritone Family Fun Day in Long Island, New York for their contribution to exposing Caribbean culture through radio, in New York.

Howard Campbell