NEW York-based broadcaster Clive Hudson believes the Caribbean community in the tri-state area owes a debt of gratitude to Gil Bailey and other Jamaican radio hosts who paved the way.

“It was a tight-knit community, Pat and Gil Bailey, Earl “Rootsman” Chin, Safia Seivwright, Clinton Lindsay were helping some of the top reggae entertainers in Jamaica at the time come to the US and the late Vonnie McGowan,” he said.

Gil Bailey, a pioneer of Caribbean radio in New York, died from cardiac arrest resulting from the novel coronavirus disease in Long Island on April 13. He was 84.

Bailey —who is from Bath in St Thomas — started The Gil Bailey Show in New York in 1969. He and his wife Pat co-hosted that programme on Caribbean radio stations such as WHBI, WNWK and WPAT, catering to listeners in the tri-state (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) area.

The show played reggae, calypso, soca and gospel music. Pat, whom he married in 1969, died in December 2016 at age 77.

“Gil was a giant who inspired us all. He was the ‘Godfather’, and he will be sorely missed,” said Hudson.

The Westmoreland-born McGowan migrated to the United States in her 20s. She worked for many years on radio in New York City and Florida, and was once publicist for singer Sanchez.

She died in 2016.

In the meantime, Hudson has launched a new programme, Brooklyn Swing, on Tuneinradio and on the streaming platform YouTube, which caters to members of the Caribbean diaspora based in New York.

“Presently, you can check me out on www.clivehudsonreggae.com, broadcasting 24/7. I am still promoting and establishing some of the best reggae out of Jamaica and the USA all over the world,” he said.

Hudson grew up in central and east Kingston, and attended Camperdown High School. Migrating to the United States in the mid-1970s, he enrolled at the New York School of Announcing and Speech.

After graduating in 1979, Hudson went to work at WNWK, one of the stations that exposed Jamaican and West Indian cultures to Americans.