News : Ranking Toyan invites Ja to 'Spar Wid Me'

[Roots Archives]

When **Rankin Toyan** issued the invitation to "spar wid me mek me show yu **Barry G**" in the lyrics he first delivered live on Volcano sound system and recorded soon after he was, among other things, waxing warm to a woman.

And it seemed that the opportunity to see Barrington 'Barry G' Gordon in the flesh was the chance for matters of another kind of flesh, as Toyan predicted "ship ova de ocean an' boat ova de sea, one day gal yu haffi bubble wid me".

In those early 1980s days of two radio stations, RJR and JBC, seeing Barry G was not a small matter. He was after all, the top jock on radio. He was so dominant in his afternoon slot, Gordon told The Sunday Gleaner, that "at the time RJR was the number one station and JBC was number two. But when I went on in the afternoon JBC was number one".

He also held another distinction. Gordon said, "At the time I was the only radio disc jock who worked in radio and also had a disco. Those times it was Barry G, the guy on the radio, clashing with the guys on the sound. Admittedly, they were ahead of me, because they had a lot of specials and I was playing what was on the radio."

*Audition process*

But before a song even made it to the stage of being cut as a special for a particular sound system, it went through the informal audition process of being performed live. "The response to the music was a guide to what should be recorded," Barry G said.

So when Spar Wid Me was first done live by Ranking Toyan, Barry G was a guest on Henry 'Junjo' Lawes' Volcano sound system. "Toyan was paying tribute to me. He was meeting this guy who he heard on the radio," Gordon said.

Those broadcast roots showed in the lyrics, as Toyan deejayed "come dung me selector nice up radio station, day nah light till a morning".

Those were the days when sound system owners were almost automatically record producers, the systems carrying a crew of live deejays. So it was with Lawes and Volcano, King Jammys and Black Scorpio, among others.

And when Lawes cut Spar Wid Me, he told Gordon the reason for the recording. Barry G said Lawes told him, "Bway Barry G, yu no know whey yu a do fi de music. We love you."

"He did not know the commercial value (of Spar Wid Me), He did it out of respect," Gordon said.

That respect came in large part from the sound system/radio connection, as "artistes were impressing me in live performance. Such performances would encourage me to go back on the radio and talk about them. People got curious and the producer would push it".

So when Spar Wid Me was recorded it was handed over to Gordon as a special for him. It was not, as it turned out, the only copy. Not by thousands. "I thought the record was going to be given to me as a special, not knowing that Sonic Sounds latched on to the vibes and the record was going out in the thousands," Gordon said.

"When Toyan made it, I got it on dub plate. They produced it on 45 without me knowing. I had it playing on Wha Dat, but it was cut and released commercially," Gordon said.

"In three weeks that song was number one."

*Memory*

While Barry G cannot remember the place where he first heard Ranking Toyan do Spar Wid Me, the memory of hearing another sound system play the song is very clear. "They played it in Skateland, Half-Way Tree," he said, chuckling as remembered that in those days it was a two-way road. It was a Gemini vs. Wha Dat session and "Gemini drew it before me".

Welton Irie was the selector and "they knew it was a must play for me. They drew it first and teased me".

Over two decades after Spar Wid Me was released, Barry G is the only one of the three major persons involved in doing the record who is still alive. Both Ranking Toyan and Henry 'Junjo' Lawes were murdered, the former in 1991 and the latter in June 1999.

"Toyan, it was controversial. We could not get much information. The two deaths jerked me. There was Toyan, under controversial circumstances, and Junjo was killed in London. It really moved me," Barry G said.

So now, whenever Spar Wid Me is played, as it was by Killamanjaro at 'Booyaka!', held at Mas Camp, New Kingston, on Saturday, December 1, a tribute session which Barry G co-hosted, there are mixed feelings. It is a special tribute originally done on special, but which was released commercially and went to the top of the charts, but at the same time, Gordon said, "Every time the song is played I have to remember the two deaths."

And while many people have the record, only one man has that special first special cut.

"I have the original copy. I can't lose that," Barry G said.

Mel Cooke

*source : [jamaica-gleaner.com](http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com)*

[Roddy]

Oh Men, Would love to hear that Gemini Vs Wha Dat Session

[Dadi Digi]

Wicked story, thanks for posting it.

[sleng teng]

thanks for the story. This is Reggae History. This tune is one of my very favourites, wicked !

[Ranking Toyan]

R.I.P Junjo and Ranking Toyan!!!

[rokkimake]

So many years I've been wondering whatta heck is "barry G", cos me patois nah nuff nuff. Nice story. The rydim is a murderer and I tend to include it on my reggae showcases with Linval's vocal version.