COMMENTARY: BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 30, 2019 – I take tremendous delight is sharing the Facebook post that accompanies this commentary because it provides extremely valuable information on The Bahamas’ rich musical cultural history. David “Funky D” Ferguson, the talented Bahamian entertainer, posted a collage of mementos regarding his participation in the “Tingum Bahamian and More” Cultural Day at T. G. Glover Professional Development & Research School on May 23, 2019 with the following caption:
“Nothing is more rewarding than giving back to the community which has been so supportive of me and my career. Thank you T. G. Glover Professional Development & Research School for having me. God is Good!”
I don’t think it is a secret to those persons who follow my posts on Facebook and feature articles I have written as a working journalist that FUNKY D is one of my favourite Bahamian entertainers – actually, he is one of my favourite entertainers world-wide.
As I have noted in previous articles I have written on this immensely talented entertainer, David “Funky D” Ferguson was a banker before the lure of a better income encouraged him to become a full-time entertainer, and for more than 20 years he has been the star of the show at SuperClubs Breezes. He is a versatile, multi-talented singer who has a number of recordings of original Bahamian songs, but during his show his talent really explodes when he performs popular ballads by internationally known stars better than they do – although my personal opinion in this regard may be influenced by a tinge of bias fostered by my Bahamian pride.
One unfortunate aspect of Funky D’s long-term contract with SuperClubs Breezes is that Bahamians generally no longer get to see him perform unless at some special events away from SuperClubs Breezes, whose entertainment packages are provided primarily for their all-inclusive guests. Funky D’s contract with SuperClubs Breezes no doubt has also prevented him from “testing the waters” of the entertainment industry internationally.
Indeed, lack of international exposure shackled the careers of many Bahamian entertainers to goal posts firmly planted in The Bahamas. Indeed, as I noted in one of my recent OSWALD BROWN WRITES columns, when Ronnie Butler died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 80 — bringing to an end more than five decades as one of The Bahamas’ top entertainers — interred with his human remains were a warehouse of missed opportunities for him to become one of the giants of the entertainment industry internationally if, in his prime, he had made the decision to venture beyond boundaries of The Bahamas more frequently to expose his immense talent to a wider audience.
The same was true of Ezra Hepburn, the multi-talented Bahamian superstar, who died in 2018 on June 18. During his early years as an entertainer, Ezra was primarily known a wonderful guitarist, but after establishing his own group, “Ezra and the Polka Dots,” as the lead singer and guitarist, his raspy voice over the years catapulted him to stardom among the galaxy of local entertainers. His “Stop the World and Let Me Off” runaway hit, which he recorded late in his career, is still one of my all-time favourite Bahamian songs.
I have always found it difficult to understand why there have been so many exceptionally talented Bahamian entertainers over the years who were and are so content to confine their talent to The Bahamas. Among other outstanding Bahamian performers that I am convinced would have become international stars had they had more exposure abroad are Mavin Henfield and Jay Mitchell, both of whom have fantastic voices as well as spectacular stage presence.
Several Bahamian entertainers, of course, did indeed expose their talent to the outside world-at-large, most notably “The Beginning of the End,” which made a big splash on the international scene in the early 1970s with their monstrous hit, “Funky Nassau”; Johnny Kemp, whose “Just Got Paid” was a big hit internationally in the 1980s; and more recently, Baha Men, with their big hit, “Who Let The Dogs Out.”
That’s why it’s so encouraging to see Julien Believe, the gifted singer and songwriter, making a concerted effort to expose his tremendous talent internationally with his “The Julien Believe 2019 World Tour” that published reports said “kicked off in Miami, Florida on April 5th and stops in Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Washington, New York, Orlando and Atlanta.”
Thanks to Barry Rassin, the Bahamian outgoing President of Rotary International, more than 25,000 Rotarians from around the world got the opportunity to see Julien Believe perform during the opening night of the Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany on Sunday, June 1, 2019.
This exposure certainly has the potential to provide an enormous boost to his aspirations for more international recognition and, hopefully, he will take full advantage of the opportunities that may loom on the horizon.
In the meantime, it’s important that events like “Tingum Bahamian and More” Cultural Day at T. G. Glover Professional Development & Research School, at which Funky D made an appearance, are inculcated as a learning experience regularly in our schools.
