Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Stokey Love as a sound system selector. The jocular Jamaican will be spinning the ‘tunes’ on August 26 at the Pre-Labor Day Weekend Party, Kiwanis Center, in Lauderdale Lakes.
It will be Love’s third time at the event. His game plan is similar to his previous visits.
“Wi play music from the ‘60s to the ‘90s once it fits in. Wi play music from the 2000s too, but some nice lovers rock that the people can relate to,” he told CNW.
Stokey Love, whose real name is Seymour Mundy, started playing music at a young age. He grew up in West Kingston during the 1960s. That area’s thriving music scene shaped his appreciation for different sounds, from mento to ska, rocksteady and soul from the United States.
That diversity formed his playlist when he started Soul Ghetto sound system in 1968. Twenty years later, it had a name change to Rapture.
Though Rapture is no longer around, Stokey Love still plays the party scene in Jamaica. But these days he is best known as a Disc Jockey on KOOL FM, a popular oldies station.
Stokey, got his nickname however, from working in the sugar industry in 1970, when his coworkers saw it fit to name him after the Civil Rights Activist, Stokely Carmicheal, as he was always defending their rights.
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While his eclectic tastes largely suits a mature audience, Love believes younger listeners are tuning into him and KOOL.
“A lot of them are in the car when their parents are listening to KOOL, so eventually they get won over,” he said.
DJ Radcliffe and DJ Everton are also scheduled to take the turntables at the Pre Labor Day weekend Party.
Howard Campbell
