The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer THE gap between the older generation of Bahamian musicians and the newer generation was bridged last month in a collaborative remake of Dr Off's classic mid 1980's hit song "Get Involved". The remake is now the official song for Volunteer Bahamas, the initiative launched by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham last November to get Bahamians to be more generous. In a similar fashion to the first and second re-recording of Michael Jackson's classic "We Are The World", Bahamian artists, young and old, modern and traditional, volunteered their time to make the new song. "This collaboration put an end to the lack of confidence some people have in non-traditional Bahamian artists," said emerging music artist Junior Prodigy. "It was amazing to work with artists that I listened to growing up. This was an unexpected and rich experience. It was a mind-boggling experience because here it is, I was working with artists who I really respect and I thought they would never take the time to even listen to my music, but they encouraged me to present myself and my music in the best way possible," she said. Featured on the remake are KB, T'rez Hepburn, Funky D, Veronica Bishop, Ronnie Butler, Wilfred Solomon, Ira Storr, Papa Smurf, MDeez Knight, Dyson Knight, Rick Carey, Junior Prodigy, Lady E, Colyn McDonald and the Spank Band. "We had just about two weeks to get this together. The Minister of Culture commissioned me. It was somewhat short notice and it was very challenging," said producer Kirkland "KB" Bodie. "To do this remake my idea was to get a cross-section of artists, and this was the challenging part because some of the artists had conflicting schedules and not all of them were able to do the remake because they had other things going on," he said. Despite conflicting schedules, the artists turned out and the work paid off. Musician Raphael Munnings, a first cousin of Dr Off, praised the collaborative effort. "Dr Off had quite a bit of notoriety in the local arena. A good song is always good and "Get Invovled" is a good song. Koodoos to the governement for the concept of remaking the song. It has a very good message and the remake has the potential to extend the longevity of the song for many many years," said Munnings, who also co-wrote "Funky Nassau" with Dr Off. Other popular songs from Dr Off include "Junkanoo", "Ratbat", "Goombay Summer", and "Do More In 84". The "Get Involved" remake does not stray far from the original, said KB. A few verses were added to make the single more relevant to the country today and the producers did their best to "accommodate all of the rappers". "We wanted to talk about the young men and encourage them to get involved. In Dr Off's original version he did not speak directly about young men. We thought to make a verse that will teach our boys how to be good men because we really need to make sure that message gets across," said KB. The music video for the new song focuses on the studio recording session. Many of the artists met each other for the first time during the production. "This was a wonderful experience. It is an honour to be part of this project. This is a classic song and it was also great to be amongst artists who have done so much for Bahamian music. Ronnie Butler was part of this and I never thought I would ever be working with him," said Bahamian reggae artist MDeez. Although some artists did not have the opportunity to be a part of the collaboration, KB said next time "everyone will want to do it because this was a wonderful experience".