On Wednesday 30th September 2020 I celebrated 30 years of Martin Jay and The Caribbean Affair which started on Choice FM in 1990 and moved over to Bakahnal Radio in 2013 when Choice FM was abolished and turned into something else.
I have been on such a high recently and much of that is due to the love shown by everyone so I wanted to take this opportunity to show my gratitude for the love and also try and explain why I feel on such a high at the moment.
Pretty soon after I started the Caribbean Affair on Choice FM I realised that this was a craft that I wanted to excel in and master and that meant I had some studying to do. I had to listen to the elders around me and understand where their passion came from, I had to watch my peers like Daddy Ernie, George Kay, Jigs and programme controller Ivor Etienne and learn how to be a successful presenter and I had to embrace the support of Caribbean music DJs like Smokey Joe and Ken Youngblood who helped me immensely build up my soca music collection and also my soca music knowledge. I decided from a very young age that I must pass on the baton and help others that come after me and that is what I have tried to do and still try to do to this day.
My twenty three years on Choice FM were full of amazing adventures and experiences which I cant even start to list in this blog but I am considering writing a book soon. When Choice FM was abolished in the first week of October 2013 I found it difficult to accept that everything had gone in a puff of smoke and the next 6- 8 months were probably the lowest I felt in my entire life apart from losing my Dad in 1984.
in 2014 I found an organisation called HARINGEY MENCAP and I started volunteering there two days a week which then became working there two days a week and then that grew to 3 days a week. This organisation saved me mentally and financially and they helped to rebuild me and I am so very grateful that I discovered them. On Wednesday 7th October our Chief Exec who is an Arsenal fan and scared of heights will do the Skywalk of Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium as a fund raising event to help us provide activities for the service users of Haringey Mencap.
In March 2015 I was hospitalised with a Pulmonary Embolism and a confirmation that I was in a really bad way health wise, not just overweight, I had a plethora of issues that I needed to address and bit by bit I started to deal with them. The reason I am telling you this story is because through it all THE CARIBBEAN AFFAIR has been my release. Whether I am happy or sad my radio show on a Sunday together with my family is what has kept me going.
In December 2015 the arrival of Granddaughter changed me greatly and I would say that the last 5 years of my life have been some of the happiest years and that is a great feeling to have as I approach my 50th birthday in November.
Cheers to 30 years of The Caribbean Affair and I hope we can celebrate many more years of jamming soca music. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to each and everyone of you that has tuned in along the way. Thank you to the friends that I have made along the way especially the ones that have stayed.
THERE IS SUNRISE AFTER EACH CLOUD
