Contents - Beth Lesser

what he claimed were unpaid royalties. Eventually, Mr. Lee got so tired of
Saw coming in and making trouble that he decided to stop pressing ‘Pumpkin
Belly altogether. Tenorsaw often got a bad rap from the producers he worked
with. Winston Riley, who produced Saw’s massive hit ‘Ring the Alarm’, said,
“I get through with him and I never make a next tune with him after that,
through him behavior.”
But Yami Bolo remembered a different side of the youthful singer. “Tenorsaw
was like a brother to me. Because I came from Kingston 13 and he came
from Payne Avenue which was in the same Kingston 13. So when we met at
Youth Promotion, Tenorsaw discovered that I had a Michael Jackson voice
and a range that a lot of the artists couldn’t sing. I was younger, so he became
like a big brother to me. When we came together, I taught him to ride the
bike, even though I was like a little son, to teach a big man to ride a bike! So,
we became more bothers now. Whenever he went shopping, he would shop
for me and get me stuff – get me my pants, shoes, whatever – cause I wasn’t
making money at that time. Whenever he was shopping, he shop for me –
underpants, shirt, whatever.”
In fact it was Tenorsaw that gave Yami his first stage show appearance.
Tenorsaw had a slot in Dancehall Night in Harbourview Drive-In following
the release of his mega hit, ‘Pumpkin Belly’. It was to be Tenorsaw’s first big
show. When his act was finishing up, he called Yami on stage to sing a song.
The people loved it and the crowd appreciation gave Yami new confidence.
It was also Tenorsaw who introduced Yami to Winston Riley. Riley recorded
three songs with Yami and gave him $1,000 and a bank book. Tenorsaw
showed Yami how to budget. He told him, “Yami, you have to save money but
you have to spend too.” So, straight away, $700 went into the bank and the
rest into his pocket.
It is said that Sugar Minott found Tenorsaw on his doorstep one morning
like an abandoned kitten. The troubled youth from the desolate Payne Ave.
neighborhood was trying desperately to get a break. “’I see a youth outside a
lick the stone, outside of the studio at mi house. So I check him and him seh,
‘Bwoy Fadda, a long time mi a try yuh, nuh, and mi caan get nobody fi listen
mi’, Minott recalled.” * Sugar listened and was impressed by his vocal style.
Tenorsaw had the unique vocal ability to be both expressive and detached at
the same time. Sometimes a bit off key, his voice had with a wailing cry to it
that could be both heart rending in its intensity and chilling in its flatness. It
was a vocal style that influenced many of the top singers of the era like Nitty
Gritty, King Kong and Anthony Redrose.
Tenorsaw got his break as a Sugar protégé around the Youth Promotion
sound. But, after being groomed and supported by Sugar, Saw left Youth
Promotion around 1985 and went up to Jammy where he enjoyed his famous
string of computer hits.
* Tenor Saw still on dancehall’s roll call, Gleaner, Sunday, August 31, 2008
240 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall