DANCEHALL artiste D’Angel has penned a novel entitled, Love  Triangle. It is set for release in late February.

Love Triangle is the first of a two-book deal between the artiste  and Pageturner Publishing House. The other publication, Break Free, a tell-all  autobiographical effort, should be released at year end.

D’ANGEL… said she is sure  her fans will love it

D’ANGEL… said she  is sure her fans will love it

Love Triangle is about three fictional characters Dylan, Brandy  and Malcolm. Three different individuals from different walks and realities.

And, according to D’Angel, whose real name is Michelle Downer, she  is excited about the project.

“This effort just tells a story that is designed for adults, so I  am excited about it, and trust me, I can’t wait to hear what my critics have to  say this time around,” she said.

Publishing house Pageturner’s Karl Larmond describes the book as  “interestingly pulsating with adult content about adult subject matter.”

“I mean, let’s be real. This is not a kiddies story. This is a  story for a mature audience. It’s not porn, soft or hard. We could call it  dancehall with a soca undertone,” Larmond said.

D’Angel said she is confidence of the book’s success at the  stands.

“I know I did a great job. I’m sure my fans will love it, but it’s  still my first book so it’s almost like the first time on stage, it can be a  little unnerving,” she said.

The book will be available at all major books stores  islandwide.

source: jamaicaobserver.com

OCHO RIOS, St Ann — The governing People’s National Party’s  (PNP’s) much-talked-about Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) will be  incrementally rolled out in seven parishes this week.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced yesterday at the  party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in this resort town on  Jamaica’s north coast that a small part of JEEP, in which 700 jobs are to be  created, will be launched on Wednesday.

Members of the PNP’s NEC at  yesterday’s meeting, the first since the party won the December 29 polls last  year. (Photos: Alesia Edwards)

Members of the PNP’s  NEC at yesterday’s meeting, the first since the party won the December 29 polls  last year. (Photos: Alesia Edwards)

During its election campaign last year, the PNP promised that JEEP  would not only create jobs, but spur investment, stimulate economic growth and  ensure prosperity for all the people.

“Seven parishes we will be starting where 700 persons will shortly  be put to work,” Simpson Miller told the first NEC meeting since the party’s  victory in the December 29, 2011 general election.

“When we talk about JEEP, we are not joking about it, and the  other ministries and ministers are working to ensure that as soon as we can, the  other areas of the JEEP will be unveiled.”

She mentioned that Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke is continuing  discussions he started with both local and foreign investors so that more people  can be put to work and for some areas in the agriculture sector to be  revived.

Meanwhile, Simpson Miller said some members of the business  community have reacted positively to her appeal for at least one qualified  individual to be employed by the private sector under an initiative she dubbed  ‘Jamaica Employ’.

The prime minister made the appeal last Wednesday as she broke  ground for ATL Autohaus’ $13.5-m facility on Oxford Road in New Kingston and at  the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Lasco factory in St Catherine.

source: jamaicaobserver.com

“Judging from the feedback, I am aware that many persons were  surprised at my loss. I will admit that I was also surprised as I felt we would  win, but by a smaller margin than in 2007,” Tufton said. “In the end, however, I  take responsibility for the results, and now, along with the team, must learn  from it.”

Some of the development  projects included in Tufton’s “report card” to his constituents.

TUFTON… I take  responsibility for the results and must learn from it

Some of the  development projects included in Tufton’s “report card” to his  constituents.

The surprise that he speaks of seems to belie the long list of  achievements outlined in the glossy, full-colour, 15-page election pamphlet or  “report card” that the former parliamentary representative who served in the  Cabinet prepared for his constituents going into the election.

Each page is chock-full of photos showing him opening new projects and newly constructed buildings across the constituency. One shows GraceKennedy’s new pepper mash factory at Hounslow, where peppers are prepared for bottling as hot pepper sauce. This venture was piloted by Dr Tutfon when he was the agriculture minister.

source: jamaicaobserver.com

WINSTON Riley, the singer/producer whose career spanned 50 years,  died Thursday evening at the University Hospital of the West Indies. He was 65  years old.

Kurt Riley, one of Riley’s children, told the Observer that his  father had been hospitalised since last November when he was shot in the head at  his St Andrew home.

Veteran singer/producer  Winston Riley in his studio at Orange Street in downtown Kingston. (Photo:  File)

Veteran  singer/producer Winston Riley in his studio at Orange Street in downtown  Kingston. (Photo: File)

Riley had been in an induced coma and had briefly come off life  support, his son said.

The police have made no arrest in the incident which came months  after Riley’s landmark store, Techniques record store on Orange Street, downtown  Kingston, was destroyed by fire.

Kingsley Goodison honoured Riley for his contribution to the  development of Jamaican music at the 2009 staging of his Tribute To The Greats  awards ceremony. He described him as an ‘unsung hero’ of the local music  business.

“He really produced some outstanding songs. Very few people in the  business worked harder than Winston Riley,” Goodison said.

Four years ago, Riley established a museum dedicated to the  history of Jamaican pop music in downtown Kingston.

Born in the west Kingston community of Denham Town, Winston Riley  started his career in the early 1960s as a performer on the Vere Johns  Opportunity Hour. In 1964, he became a member of harmony group, The Techniques,  which recorded for producer Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid’s Treasure Isle label.

Led by the gifted singer, Keith ‘Slim’ Smith, the original  Techniques line-up had hits in the ska era with Little Did You Know. The group  excelled when ska evolved into rock steady, becoming one of the genre’s top  acts.

Riley was with the Techniques during their glory years, appearing  on big hits like Love Is Not a Gamble, My Girl and Travelling Man. He left the  group in the late 1960s and went into production, launching his Techniques  label.

He had instant success with Double Barrell, a massive hit in  Britain in 1971 for Dave Barker and Ansell Collins. Around the same time, Riley  produced Come Back Darling which was done by singer Johnny Osbourne.

In the 1970s, Riley teamed with Collins and the Soul Syndicate  Band to cut the Stalag ‘riddim’ which has spawned some of the biggest hits in  dancehall music, such as General Echo’s Arlene and Ring The Alarm by Tenor  Saw.

Ring The Alarm was recorded on an updated Stalag in the 1980s when  computerised beats took over Jamaican popular music. Riley embraced the new  sound and had an impressive run throughout the decade with several upcoming  artistes.

Some of the acts who scored for Riley during this period were  Super Cat (Boops), Sister Charmaine (Granny Advice), Red Dragon (Hol’ A Fresh),  Sanchez (Loneliness) and Spanner Banner (Life Goes On).

Kurt Riley says his father never stopped trying to break new  ground.

“He always wanted people to be creative and original, he didn’t  want people to re-create the wheel,” Kurt Riley said. “He wanted reggae and  dancehall to cross new boundaries.”

Winston Riley was pre-deceased by his wife Yvonne and younger  brother Buster, also a producer. He is survived by several children and  grandchildren.

REGGAE artiste Errol Scorcher passed away in the Spanish  Town  Hospital, St Catherine on Thursday. He was 55 years old.

According Dorna Brown, his partner of nine years, Scorcher — whose  real name is Errol Archer — died from a ruptured blood vessel in his head.

SCORCHER… died from a  ruptured blood vessel in his head Errol Scorcher

SCORCHER… died from  a ruptured blood vessel in his head Errol Scorcher

He has been in the hospital since Tuesday after collapsing at his  St Catherine home.

“I am very devastated right now. He was such a wonderful person.  He’s my other half. When I met him, I didn’t miss family, he was like everybody  in one,” Brown told the Observer.

Scorcher dominated the 80s with songs such as Roach Inna Di Corner  and Bubble Under Me.

Longtime friend and colleague Errol Dunkley said he was looking  forward to an upcoming dance that both planned to attend.

“We were scheduled to play at a Fish Fry and dance on Dillenger’s  roof located at 35 Lane and Waltham Park Road. He would have represented with  his sound Upsetter and I with Black Pepper,” Dunkley said.

“I am really gonna miss him,” said Dunkley.

He said Scorcher and himself would regularly hang out at Sound  Wave studio.

“He was at the studio most days doing specials,” Dunkley told the  Observer.

Monday of this week would have been the last day he would see his  friend alive.

“When I saw him on Monday, he never gave any indication that he  was ill,” Dunkley said.

Selector and engineer at Sound Wave Studio Granville ‘Grabba Fire’  Mais described late artiste as “family”.

“When I saw him on Monday, he was in good health. In fact, I was  supposed to record a song for him and he was excited about the upcoming dance,”  Mais said.

“Errol is a man a recording music from long time. He told me one  day that he has paid his dues a long time but had not gotten his fair share from  it,” Mais added.

In June 2010, Scorcher was interviewed by this same writer with  him clearing up the misconception that he had died since 1982.

Born Errol Archer in the parish of St Catherine, Scorcher emerged  on the scene in the early 70s. According to his bio, he began working as a  deejay on several sound systems and eventually released a single entitled Leggo  Mi Hand Babylon, which, while wasn’t a runaway success, did manage to garner him  some attention in the dancehall.

Scorcher followed up that release with singles such as Jolly Bus  Ting, Engineer’s Affair and Peace Truce. He later teamed up with Nicodemus,  Nigger Kojack and Mother Liza on Prince Jammy’s Tapetone Sound System.

Errol Scorcher got the breakthrough he was seeking in 1979, when  he recorded the popular Roach Inna Di Corner, catapulting him into the spotlight  and making him a dancehall staple on many top events.

Scorcher followed up that success with singles such as Frog In a  Water, Mosquitoes, Borrow Man, Under Me and Rude Bwoy Step.