Silverhawk flies again

Krista Henry and Mel Cooke, Sunday Gleaner Writers

With a promise made to departed producer and sound system founder Wycliffe 'Steely' Johnson to preserve the music, the hawk flies again.

Silverhawk returns to Jamaica in the Guinness Sounds of Greatness competition in what should be a memorable occasion. The veteran sound brings a feel of clashing in the days when sound system battles were standard.

For those with a long memory and who have been following the 'hawk', as they were fondly referred to throughout the years, Silverhawk is no stranger. To those new to sound clashes and who will be tuned into TVJ every Saturday for the Guinness Sounds of Greatness, The Sunday Gleaner spoke to Silverhawk about their past, their return and what comes after that.

The brainchild of producer Steely, who died in 2009, Silverhawk sound system were heavyweights in the clash ring from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

According to Silverhawk CEO Luciana Maneri, the name 'Silverhawk' was suggested by a friend of Steely's.

"The creation of the name was quite interesting, it was from a motor bike. Steely bought this bike that was called 'The Hawk', and the bike was silver and when it got to Jamaica a friend of his said that's what you should name your sound, Silverhawk," she recounted.

Original sound

The original sound consisted of Steely, selectors 'Ballsie', 'Jerry' and 'Fatta'. In 1991, Richard 'Richie Poo' Reid joined the group.

"Silverhawk is an original clash sound. It was created to expose the music of Steely and Clevie and to expose new talent. Ballsie was originally from August Town, and he and Steely created the sound which used to play on the corner in the community. Steely and Clevie would make a riddim and make the community hear it through the sound and the people just loved it, everywhere Silverhawk played, people just loved it."

He continued, "Silverhawk put the dub plate thing on another level, we put songs together in a different style from others and it was so creative that people have been playing those songs in the same way from us from then till now."

Ruling areas in Kingston such as August Town and Barbican, Silverhawk travelled across Jamaica making a name for themselves clashing against the greats. For Richie Poo, there are three clashes that stand out as moments of greatness.

"The most memorable clash was against Stone Love in St Ann, that was either in 1992 or 1993. That's when Stone Love taste Silverhawk, when they got a Billy Ocean dub plate. They were so surprised that we had a dub from Billy Ocean, who is an American R&B star, it was an exciting night. We as selectors were surprised too, I never knew about it. Steely, that was what he was about, he liked to give even his selectors a surprise."

Another memory came from Silverhawk versus Jamrock at the Student's Union at UWI, Mona. Then Silverhawk versus Bass Odyssey in Westmoreland. Silverhawk won both clashes.

"That was the first and last clash with Bass Odyssey. It was suppose to be Bass Odyssey versus Kilamanjaro, but then Jaro couldn't make it and we came to fill the gap. It was a nice dance and my toughest challenge. They played around us, but when it came to dub plates Silverhawk won again."

There is a famous loss, though, to Kilamanjaro at Skateland, Half-Way Tree, in 1987. In a 2006 interview with THE STAR, Ninja Man spoke about the battle.

"Time fe Silverhawk an' Jaro clash. Me a de top deejay pon Jaro, me an' Junior Cat. De clash a gwaan wicked," Ninja Man said of the historic battle, for which Barry G was MC.

Silverhawk vs He-Man

"You have a cartoon name Silverhawk, control by He-Man. So me mek a entry, 'if you are Silverhawk, I am He-Man". Jaro have a tune call de Bad Wud Special (done by Ninja Man). Is like dem draw it an de place mash up. Me sey me naa mek it dead dung. Me tek de mic. Inna tree song inna me performance, de people sey dem no waan hear no Silverhawk. Silverhawk come een nex' roun', pure boo," Ninja Man said.

However, in the late '90s despite their formidable catalogue, Silverhawk went into hibernation. Maneri commented, "the sound stopped in the late '90s because Steely and Clevie were heavily involved in production and they had Silverhawk which was taking up a lot of time and one was going to affect the other. So they put the hawk to rest 'til I came along."

Speaking to The Sunday Gleaner earlier this year about carrying on with the production duo's Memories album after Steely's death, Clevie had spoken about reviving Silverhawk even outside of Guinness Sounds of Greatness. He spoke about Steely's great enthusiasm for the sound system and how at times it even took precedence over music production.

Then, Clevie spoke about how important it was to get original selector Richie Poo back at the Silverhawk control tower.

A student of Steely and Clevie's, Maneri pushed Steely for the return of Silverhawk.

"In 2008 I brought up Silverhawk to Steely, and he thought Silverhawk should be in my hands to help preserve the music and the dub plates. Before his death, we were getting ready to launch it again and he took ill and passed away. Steely wanted Silverhawk back, and I promised him I would make it happen."

Now the team consists of Richie Poo, Evert Palmer as the road manager, Luciana Maneri and a new selector-in-training.

Silverhawk was relaunched in New York in January 2010 and in Jamaica the following month.  Since then they have been playing in places like Atlanta, Florida, New York, Japan and now in Jamaica.