'Whitty' keeps Uptown Mondays going

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Whitfield 'Whitty' Henry has played multiple roles on the business side of music. He owned and operated a record store on Utica Avenue in New York for 10 years and also ran the Whitty Music and Music Master labels, Shelly Thunder's 'Kuff' among his catalogue's hits.

He also owned Soul Tone sound system in Jamaica, the name - and eventually the sound system as well - making a resurgence many years later in what has become Henry's most prominent music involvement, the Uptown Mondays dance, famous for the dance crews which put their best moves and body parts forward, as well as the selections and surprise performances.

Before the dance, however, there was the Soul Tone Wine Bar, which Henry runs at Savannah Plaza, Constant Spring Road, St Andrew. Starting the club was simply a matter of turning over money more quickly than it spun off from the business of making music.

"We used to get paid at 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. I said I need to get paid weekly or even daily," Henry said.

Operating as a vintage music club, where Henry says "all the top selectors and collectors play", after about four years Soul Tone Wine Bar's doors were opened to the hot dancehall tracks of the moment - not that the tunes were let in, but the dancehall sound was let outside to the open-air setting of Savannah Plaza in what eventually became known as Uptown Mondays.

It took some time for the session to get its name and also develop into the huge event that it now is. Henry shows The Gleaner a poster from January 14, 2002, which advertised a 'Monday Night Jam', featuring Stone Love and Black Prince sound systems. Henry says Stone Love played free for six months, selectors Tony Matterhorn and Richie Feelings also contributing in the early going. However, Henry says "it never jump off. We were there struggling for years and nothing happening".

Turning point

Henry says the turning point came "one night we on the verge of giving up and Bounty Killer come by with an entourage of people. From that night we don't look back".

The name change, which transformed the event from another session to a brand, came through an informal process. "It was the only thing happening on the street on Monday and everybody used to say 'we a go uptown'. So there was no better name," he said.

In earlier stagings the music at Uptown Mondays started at 6 p.m., but with a school now based in the plaza the tunes are now turned on at 10 p.m. There has been another change - Skyy Disco was once the house sound system, but when owner Squeeze withdrew from the event Henry revived his Soul Tone sound (with assistance from Squeeze), which now plays at Uptown Mondays.

The economics of the party has also changed significantly. Uptown Mondays used to be free, but there is a low entry fee of $300 for men and $200 for women. Henry says this is not a profit-making move, but simply covering an unavoidable cost. "The selectors used to come and play for free. Now they want pay, so we try to get the selecting money from the gate," he said.

Still, he points out that there are selectors, among them Hotta Ball, Foota Hype and Boom Boom, who have got a big break in the music business from playing at Uptown Mondays. Unlike other street dances, Henry does not get into the business of selling videos from the event, leaving room for the videographers to make a profit for themselves.

He credits much of the event's continued success at a time when many street dances have flourished and then faded to the tight security provided by the police stationed at Half-Way Tree and King Alarm.

Henry says the criminals who steal and break into cars, as well as rob persons, are not tolerated.

In addition, Henry says persons attending Uptown Mondays know they will see the hottest dancers and hear the hottest tunes. One of his treasured 'hot moments' at Uptown Mondays was a night when Bounty Killer and Beenie Man performed one after the other, at a time when they were still attempting to bury the lyrical hatchet in each other rather than bury the hatchet between them.

With a singing and deejay competition being run along with The STAR now in its second week, Henry says the resulting advertisements are one of the few sponsorship supports that he has received. Drink sponsors want to sell at volume for a low price, he said, which does not bring him a profit.

Henry goes back to his high school roots for encouragement, though, crediting Gussie Clarke and Sylvester O'Gilvie for their support when the going gets tough.

"Them people a real Fortis," he said. And, although he says Uptown Mondays does not make him much money - if any, Henry will keep the session going "as long as the people come with good behaviour and respect".

"Entertainment is our life," Henry said.