Caribbean Beat — January/February 2017 (#143)

word of mouth
Dispatches from our correspondents around the Caribbean and further afield
House of Tosh
Three decades after the violent death
of Peter Tosh, a new Kingston museum
remembers the legacy of the reggae
superstar. David Katz pays a visit
The opening of the Peter Tosh Museum in
Kingston marks a milestone for reggae
fans, and provides additional impetus for
devotees to visit the Jamaican capital. Housed in
the Pulse complex on Trafalgar Road, the museum
celebrates the life and work of the reggae firebrand,
who was born in 1944, rose to prominence during
the 1960s alongside Bob Marley in the Wailers, and
subsequently achieved greater fame as a solo artist.
The most censorious of the Wailers, Tosh cowrote
their militant anthem, “Get Up, Stand Up”,
and demanded the decriminalisation of marijuana
in his 1976 epic, “Legalise It”. Tosh’s second
album, Equal Rights, contained pertinent calls for
social justice, and after haranguing the leaders of
Jamaica’s two main political parties at the One
Love Peace Concert in 1978, he was signed to the
Rolling Stones’ label, yielding wider international
exposure. His music remained uncompromising,
vociferously attacking Apartheid and questioning
the stratification of Jamaican society, while “Bukin-Hamm
Palace” and “Nothing But Love” were
pioneering forays into disco reggae. Then the 1987
release No Nuclear War became Tosh’s swansong,
as he was tragically murdered that same year.
There is a timeless quality to much of Tosh’s work,
and he had an obvious influence on noteworthy
dancehall stars such as Luciano, Garnett Silk,
Anthony B, and Bushman, with Sean Paul and
Christopher Martin among the many contemporary
artists to cover his work. He has also been venerated
by Jamaica’s former finance minister, Omar Davies,
and US President Barack Obama even referenced his lyrics in a university essay
— all of which points to the need for a Peter Tosh Museum.
The project was spearheaded by Kingsley Cooper, whose Pulse agency
represents some of the Caribbean’s most famous models. Cooper produced
Tosh’s final concert, and has spent the last fifteen years doing the necessary
groundwork to create the museum in conjunction with the Peter Tosh Estate
(headed by the singer’s youngest daughter, Niambe), along with Tosh’s widow,
Marlene Brown, who collectively provided most of the memorabilia on display.
Despite its relatively small size, the museum has been tastefully arranged,
conveying a lot of contextual information in a small space, with illuminating
passages on Tosh’s childhood, his time with the Wailers, and his gravitation
to the Rastafari faith, as well as the life-changing car crash that resulted in
the death of his girlfriend Evonne in 1973. The solo years of the 1970s and
80s are given ample room, and the circumstances of his murder are relayed
with sensitivity. Fans will be delighted by items such as the original golden
microphones given to Tosh by Mick Jagger and the legendary “M16 guitar”
gifted by an American fan. There are also several other guitars and souvenirs of
his first tours in Africa, as well as evocative painted portraits, one of which was
done by fellow singer Junior Moore.
The official opening of the museum last October was attended by some
of the island’s most prominent businessmen and politicians of all stripes —
somewhat ironically, given Tosh’s predilection for the chastisement of the
ruling class, but it is highly significant that no lesser figure than Prime Minister
Andrew Holness presided over the opening itself, proof that the Jamaican
government takes the legacy of Peter Tosh very seriously. A related UWI
symposium highlighted his importance, and a gala concert saw Chronixx,
Luciano, Tarrus Riley, and Tosh’s son Andrew revisit his work with original
backing band Word, Sound, and Power, reunited for the first time in decades.
Kingsley Cooper says the museum is likely to expand, but in its present
form, the Peter Tosh Museum already constitutes a fine counterpart to the
nearby Bob Marley Museum — both worth visiting as Jamaica celebrates
Reggae Month in February. n
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