Virtual launch gives Pat on the Chin to VP
Patricia Chin, co-founder of V.P. Records. Christina Santucci
Celebrate Easter at Home to
Prevent the Spread of COVID-19
Caribbean Life, APRIL, 2-8, 2021 11
Consider Jamaica’s music
industry.
The names Byron Lee, Lee
Scratch Perry, Bob Marley, and
countless other males’ resonate
with legacies of trailblazing
contribution to the genre
they are associated.
The list includes those of P.J.
Patterson and Edward Seaga,
two former prime ministers of
the nation.
Men and music it seems, are
a thing here, there and virtually
everywhere.
As traditional power-brokers,
their role often dominate
numerous categories ranging
from investment, production
to performance.
Women?
Not so much.
Few are afforded the accolades
showered on the gender
Yohan Sebastian Bach, Ludwig
Van Beethoven, Johannes
Brahms and Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart were born.
When Tina Tuner rocked the
stage in the 50s and 60s, it
was her wife-beating, guitar
strumming husband Ike who
was credited for the revue they
headlined.
Reasons attributed to the
under-credited gender ranged
from their perceived tug to
marriage, pregnancy and family,
domestic duty and other
distractions that could impede
maintenance of a prolonged
career in the industry.
Not only are they discredited
for having short-term bankability
but often women are
tagged with causing disruptions
resulting with the busting
up of successful groups.
Blame anyone for breaking
up the Beetles and the name
Yoko Ono will surface as the
source of separation of the four
British trendsetters.
Recently, during a virtual
launch of the book “Miss Pat:
My Reggae Music Journey”
Patricia Chin, the Asian-Jamaican
affectionately known as
Miss Pat shared details of her
rise to the top of the reggae
music industry.
For more than 80 minutes,
the former Pat Dorothy Williams
candidly detailed how
immigration, family, culture,
hard work, perseverance and
her gender factored in a career
that has endured six decades.
Along with introducing a
table top pictorial she verbally
retraced the path she took to
now being classified the ‘first
lady of reggae.’
Born to biracial parents, her
Chinese mother and Indian
father raised her in the modest
Greenwich Farm community
outside Kingston.
Her ambition was to join the
nursing profession but she met
and married Vincent Randy
Chin, a man who traversed the
periphery of music repairing
juke boxes for a living.
Instead of pursuing a career
in nursing she pooled her talent
with her husband to open a
retail record store named Randy’s
Records.
Located at 17 North Street
in downtown Kingston, Jamaica,
record buyers rallied there
to buy the latest recordings.
A studio there also endeared
budding talents to lease time
for recordings.
“Even Johnny Nash recorded
there,” Chin said.
At that time the repute of
the US born Nash extended farther
than Bob Marley’s ambition
to promote reggae music.
Signed to Epic Records, Nash
recorded the international hit
“I Can See Clearly.”
Of her husband’s daily routine
Chin said “he worked in
the studio and I worked from
9 to 7 selling music…my selling
was just a commodity…I
learned my craft…”
Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce
• Keep your gathering small and celebrate
with household members only.
• If you choose to celebrate in person, wear
a snug fitting face covering to protect the
elderly and vulnerable.
• Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines,
including which groups are currently
eligible to receive one.
For more information, visit nyc.gov/health/coronavirus.
If you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, book your appointment
by calling 877-829-4692 (877-VAX-4NYC) or visiting nyc.gov/vaccinefinder.
Bill de Blasio
Mayor
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc
Commissioner
/coronavirus
/vaccinefinder
