Vlogger Monte Blake spins ‘Merritone Taxi Tales’

Blogging and vlogging are activities that are usually associated with millennials, but increasingly they are becoming that pastime for the young at heart. Just ask Monte Blake. The charismatic owner of the legendary sound system Merritone, Blake, who celebrates his 77th birthday today, is spinning tales, and social media is loving it.

Musicman Blake has taken up vlogging and has been regaling his Facebook family with stories that keep them spellbound and now plans to launch on YouTube. On any given day, Blake can be seen sitting in the passenger seat cruising around the island with ‘Sir Richard the Great’ at the wheel and his daughter Monique sitting comfortably in the back seat as they film a new episode of Merritone Taxi Tales. It was actually Monique who pitched the idea to Blake. In the spirit that has kept Merritone on the cutting edge for 70-plus years, Blake enthusiastically embraced the concept, and Merritone Taxi Tales was born.

A GREAT STORYTELLER

“We ride around in the taxi every day, and one day I took my camera and did a little test. My father has lots of great stories, and he is a great storyteller, so I said we should record it. We do short videos – snippets filled with the history of not only Merritone Music, but also of Jamaica,” Monique told The Gleaner.

Blake admitted that he and Monique probably enjoy it more than anybody else and noted that their taxi driver encourages it.

“Along the Merritone journey, we have some interesting stories to tell, things that you don’t normally see in the newspaper. Monique recorded it, we put it out there, and boy, it’s on fire. Man call me from Canada and ask, ‘Wha happen, the taxi bruk down?’ One of the things that we want to convey is that people see us and we look merry, but it is not always a bed of roses. We are show people, and we have to keep smiling, but sometimes what we have to go through as sound system people is really not so nice, but there are also the good people who treat us well. I did one the other day how we played at a hotel, and they came with the food and passed us with this big pig with the apple stuffed in its mouth, and they never offered us anything ... and we were very hungry,” Blake recalled with a chuckle. It was a sound system friend in Ocho Rios, the famous Jack Ruby, who heard the music, identified it as Merritone and came along. Ruby was able to direct them to a 23-hour diner.

Another tale that Blake has shared is one about the actions of his brother Winston at a crusade held by televangelist Billy Graham at Sabina Park. “They called up who wants to be saved, and to my surprise, the first person who went up was Winston Blake. Winston was a very religious person ... spiritual. When we went through the things in his house [after he died], we found 14 Bibles.”

For Monique, Taxi Tales brings together the different eras and generations of Merritone Music, from the early beginning in St Thomas to Turn Table, Waterfalls. “These tales also catch up people who might not have been there at Peyton Place who didn’t know about the tree that comes out in the road that people used to run into after a session or some of the stories that used to happen with Bob Marley at Turn Table,” Monique shared.

Blake is confident that Merritone Taxi Tales has a great future, and it keeps the sound system in the spotlight in a different way. “Merritone is a lifestyle. It started from humble beginnings, and we haven’t forgotten that. It is family; it is love; it is charity and support. When people are sick, we are always there in the hospital; when they pass away, we are at the funeral. It’s not just the dance; it’s much more than that. Long after the sound dies, Merritone is still working out there,” Blake said.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com