This interview with John Holt, conducted by David Rodigan, was broadcast on Kiss 100fm in London on 22nd October 2000.

Intro music : Time Is The Master

Rodigan John, welcome back to Kiss 100, welcome back to London it's good to have you here. How do you feel about your first show tonight with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra? What's going through your mind?

John Wow! Well, as usual I'm nervous before a show, but this one is like...this one we call "the bomb"

(tracks played The Further You Look and Help Me Make It Through The Night)

Rodigan John, how do you do a "wheel and come again" with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra? (laughs)

John You can imagine us getting a "wheel and come again". Maybe during rehearsals I'll break them into that, maybe work with the conductor on that (laughs).

Rodigan That was the one John wasn't it that made you a household name in 1974, did it change your life? What was that like?

John Well, telling you the truth, it really did change my life musically for a while because, knowing to the fact that it's the first anything like this ever happen to reggae music, with the Brian Rogers orchestra playing this great music behind the reggae song. It really changed my life, just musically speaking, knowing to that fact that, this is really happening to me. That's what went into my mind.

(tracks played Stick By Me and Memories By The Score)

Rodigan John, how did it all begin. The concept of lush orchestral arrangements set to your reggae beat? That was something quite different.

John Oh yes. How it started out was theres a brother living in England here, his namme is Tony (Ashfield), and he met Jimmy Riley. It seemed as if I was his favourite Jamaican singer, let's call it that, or his favourite singer in the world according to what he told me. He asked Jimmy for some information, how to get in contact with me, because he'd like to do an album with me, but he wants to do a album not just the regular way, he wants to get an orchestra to play everything on it. So he came to Jamaica and I met him there, and we talked about doing a album, and I say "yeah, I'm ready for that album". He brought Brian Rogers out of London here, into Jamaica, to do some rehearsals with Chinna playing the guitar. So Chinna was the man who rehearsed the rhythms, while Brian Rogers played the piano, and he was setting out all the rhythm arrangements. And then we come here now here in England, we did the rhythms in Jamaica, then Tony, myself, Jimmy and Brian we flew up to London here, and then Brian strated writing all the (orchestral) arrangements and then we went to the studio and did the voicing, then all the arrangements went on. It was beautiful. The first that ever happened to reggae music.

(track played You'll Never Find)

Rodigan I wish this was television, because if you could see John's face when these tunes are coming on, you can see him kicking back and he's going somewhere, and he's just said to me "I'm getting recall on the moment I recorded"

John I'm telling you, my mind is in the studio that Sunday evening.

Rodigan For those listeners that are coming to John's work for the first time, there is a massive repetoire of hits that you have recorded over the last 4 decades, not only as a solo artist but as a member of the Paragons. Had you John had any idea as a teenager growing up in Jamaica that your career would be this successful?

John Not at all, not at all. I can remember when I was a younger youth than I am now (laughs), all of us used to go an record a song and all we wanted to do was mostly to hear it on the radio, hear your voice, and you could go to your friend and say "hey that's me". But as far as imagining anything like this would happen, I never see it at all, at all in my mind.

(tracks played It May Sound Silly & For The Love Of You)

Rodigan What was life like growing up in Kingston, presumably in Kingston, I don't know?

John Oh yes, I was born in Kingston, I was grown up in Greenwich Town. Life there was kind of easy, 'cos it was not like what is going on today, it was like everybody were friends, I had a lot of friends and we used to go from street to street. Nowadays you can't do that, 'cos this street is not with that street. Growing up in Kingston I had a wonderful time, 'cos most of the people there would give you fruits. You didn't really have to buy much things as a little boy, you just go and pick some mango's or some oranges and stuff like that. It wasn't really rough for me, because my mother and father was very protective of me. I really grew up like a egg as far as my mother and father is concerned! My mother especially wouldn't really allow me to go out much, I don't know what was the reason. I guess it's just because she discovered I could sing from when I was about 7 years of age. I can remember my mother telling me that.

I grew up around a lot of trade people, I usually keep friends that were a lot bigger than I am, I guess I was just trying to gain experience before my time. So I would listen to their experience and then I would sort of try to live up to their expectations as big and decent people. All of them things I had in my mind, and suddenley I decided to go to school, like leave from one school to another school, to try to become a doctor, then the music took me away again. And I went back into the music and I told my father I wasn't going back, so I just decided to stick to music and as a little boy I used to sing at, they call it penny concerts, then I used to sing for my sister and brothers. I never really sing in the church or anything like, that I was asked too but I was too shy to do that.

Rodigan You are being very modest, because you won the Vere Johns talent contest, how many times?

John Oh yes, I won 36 times actually, you know, winning, winning, winning, winning, winning all the way.

Rodigan That was the biggest show in Jamaica at the time.

John Yeah, and what I used to do, I used to learn the new songs fast. Didn't have a record player so you can imagine what I was going through. I used to listen to the song on the radio, and after 3 or 4 times I could talk and speak every word, the melody, the whole entire thing would be in my head. I used to use that on the other guys, the new song, the latest one. I was just on top of things.

(track played The Tide Is High)

Rodigan The Tide Is High, and boy it went very high for Blondie didn't it.

John Oh yes it did, so great man, so great. I really thank her for doing that you know. The first name of this song was really "The Time Is Hard" when I wrote this song the first line was "the time is hard but I'm holding on, I'm gonna be your number one". And then I used to live in Greenwich Town that was very near the beach, so I had a lot of fisherman friend, so put it in a nutshell, one of my friends went out to sea, but he came back in like a couple of minutes, so I said to him "hey, why you came back so early?" and he said "well, John, the tide is high y'know, can't go out today". And I had my guitar, 'cos I never leave my guitar when I was growing up, and I was in the process of making this Time Is Hard, then I just say "the tide is high but I'm holding on".

(track played Only A Smile)

Rodigan You were Jamaica's superstar group, you had all these hit singles. How did the Paragons form, how did you join them John?

John Well what happened is that I used to sing all by myself, first with the Vere Johns opportunity hour and then I made my first song for Beverley's records, and then I went on to do a few tracks for Coxson, and then I made a few tracks for Randy's Records - Vincent. Then I used to hang out on King's Street on a Friday and a Saturday, you know as a young youth hanging out where it's really happening. So, while I was there I saw Tyrone Evans, he was introduced to me by a friend. He was in this Paragons group with Bob Andy, Tyrone and a couple of other guys - Howard Barrett wasn't in the Paragons during that time. So he heard about me, and Vere Johns opportunity hour and the songs I'd recorded, so he asked me if I could even come and listen to them, to see if I would be interested in joining the group.

So, I went right away, like something just hit me to go right away, because where we was going was parish church. So Tyrone myself went in there, and Bob Andy was there as well, so we were playing around the piano, and thats where it just started right there and then. Our first hit was Love At Last, that was a slow song for Coxson. That went number one on the RJR charts, and then we went on to do, I think we had about 11 number ones in a row. All theses songs, the Paragons songs were number one songs, all because the effort we used to put in it, because there wasn't a day pass where we didn't rehearse for 10 minutes. We become very close to each other, so we were always together, together, together, day in, day out.

Rodigan And the final line up was you, Tyrone Evans and Howard Barrett.

John Yes, Bob Andy, he left and went on his own. He only did 2 songs with us which were Love At Last and Good Luck And Goodbye, and then he left. I was the one who really found out that he's got a talent that he could do great on his own. He was the lead singer, and then I came in the group, and it was like, most of the songs I didn't choose to lead, but I was told "hey lead", and he would say "hey, lead", and I say "why, you're the guy" and he say "no, you're the guy". The Coxson thing come around, I say "well Bob, Coxson want you to do a song for him, so why don't you go and try a thing, you never can tell"

Rodigan And look what happened to Bob Andy as a result of that.

John I'm telling you. And I used to be on my own...you know the Paragons didn't really break up, it's just that the both of them won scholarships to go to the United States of America, because they are ,like I would say, bookworms. So they won scholarships, Tyrone left and got a scholarship from the Bauxite company to go and study some tool technician thing, and Howard Barrett got a scholarship from the telephone company, to go and do some big technician thing in New York.

Rodigan Some of your fans from, shall I say, a more conservative background were a little shocked when you grew dreadlocks and embraced Rastafari. What brought about that change in your lifestyle, which is still very much part of your life of course?

John Oh yes it is. Speaking of Rastafari you see, when I was growing up, the first set of Rastafarians in Jamaica, my mother grew up one of them, his name is Curtis. He died, God bless his soul. So, because of that, when I was growing up, from I can remember anything about people, I remember seeing these, they would call them bushy head and Blackheart man. But there was Curtis, there was George and there was another one, so they used to come in my home, 'cos my mother was the only one who would accept them inside the yard. From then I would see them, I would be like the only one who is not running away from them. I knew them before they started dreading, and they used to talk about Marcus Garvey, back to Africa, and His Majesty. I used to hear them talk but I didn't really take it unto myself, because I was just a youth I didn't have the full understanding of what they were saying. And as time goes on, they were trade people as well, they used to make things and sell downtown, they weren't workless Rastas or rascals.

So by hearing that and by listening to them read the Bible, and growing up with them, I'm picking up on what's going on. They weren't really reading it to me, but I was there, just listening and listening. I decided on day I was gonna do Reggae Sunsplash, and I was in the bathroom shaving, to go and do the show. While I was shaving and shaving, I just speak out aloud and said, look at myself in the mirror and said, "well John Holt, this is the last time you gonna shave". And then I didn't shave after that, but I wasn't saying "Rastafari, almighty God" I couldn't get it out, I just couldn't say that, because of the teaching you got from church and listening to the radio, and your mother and father. One night I was going home, and I would be thinking "what am I gonna do now", then I just shout out "Rastafari is the almighty God, without apology" When I say that I'm just looking around me to see if anything is gonna happen to me (laughs). So from that night, I just acknowledge Rastafari and embrace him.

That's about 22 years ago now, 'cos I didn't grow my dreadlock earlier on because I hear a lot about image, and especially Byron Lee and those guys, they would say "if you dreadlock your hair they're not gonna play your record on the radio". And I really came to prove that too, because I remember Skill Cole, Bob Marley and myself we had to go up to RJR and really demand the airplay. Not violently, we just talk about the music, and what they're playing, what they're not playing and why they're not playing our songs. The reason for that is because Bob Marley, the Wailers and the Paragons, we started doing our own recording the same day. We put money together to book the studio, but we weren't getting play just because of the Rastafarian movement. We came to prove that. That's how I came to be Rastafarian, and hold on to the faith, and I'm a true Rastafarin too I'm not one of the follow ons. I respect everybody. That's the main thing I think,to have respect for everyone, 'cos if a nation lose respect for each other, we're not gonna go nowhere at all.