Deejay talents useful to selector

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Welton Irie started deejaying in 1976 on Sir John the President sound system, which later became the well-known Stereophonic, musical home to General Echo.

These days, Welton is much more heavily into selecting, playing the early segment of Weddy Weddy at Stone Love's Burlington Avenue, St Andrew, headquarters on Wednesdays, as well as laying the tracks at Studio 38, New Kingston, on Fridays.

He made the switch in about 1987/1988, but Welton said the selecting bug had bitten him from his first sound-system days, when he would buy records for Sir John the President.

The distinction of being an early 'Irie' among many was given to him by Clement Dodd, after the deejay went to Studio One to record a song with Lone Ranger. When the session was finished, Dodd asked him his name. When he was told 'Welton', Dodd said "that cyaa put pon record. You know you sound irie?"'

Household names

"Me never like the name at the time. Me say a country man name," Welton said. Now, he points to the musical 'iries' which have after, including Clement Irie, Tippa Irie from England - and even radio station Irie FM, become household names.

"Me go England 1983 and buck up a man name Welton Irie," he said.

His deejay skills have served Welton Irie very well as a selector, as he was one of the first persons to start weaving stories around the songs as introductions.

"It was unusual. There was not much talking at the time," he said. "Me used to build some nice story with some humour. Any tune me could build a story around." He said that when he starts out a segment with Greetings and goes down to Under Mi Sensie and Man Fe Dead, putting his stories in between, it is a sure crowd pleaser, "no matter what a man do before".

And, for the 'foundation' songs he plays, Welton Irie said, "me have that lock. Me did live it".