Shaggy Photo - A Night At The Garden / CME Awards Dinner March 2002

'Sir Coxsone' Dodd was recognised. There was even a collective chuckle when a picture of Shaggy dressed in his US Marine uniform flashed on the screen during a video recap of his career. There was also a retrospective look at Jimmy Cliff's (James Chambers) achievements, although the Bob Marley Lifetime Achie-vement Award winner was not on hand to accept it. Two of his sons did so on his behalf. World record holder for most wickets taken in Test cricket, Courtney Walsh, presented both awards. "Wow. Courtney sey him waan deh pon de remix", Shaggy said, as he looked at the 2002 CME Award for Excellence he had just received. "First of all, let me say anybody else come to me an ask me about Grammy can go siddung", he continued, to laughter and applause. Shaggy thanked the Almighty for his talent and his mother, who was present, for her tolerance as he hooked up speakers all over the place as a youngster. He expressed gratitude to the entire Big Yard crew (Brian and Tony Gold,' a oonu mek mi soun good') and a special one to manager Robert Livingston."We start dis ting from scratch. Robert Livingston bway. It is not the smoothest of relationships. We cuss an' fight every day, but at the end of the day we have the same goal. Mi couldn' dweet widdout yu an mi wouldn' want no odda partner", Shaggy said. Shaggy got into the standfest as well, getting CME's Lloyd Stanbury to rise to accept the applause of the audience. However, the night's longest and most overwhelming standing ovation went to the all-star band of Dean Fraser on saxophone, Desi Jones on drums, pan player Len Boogsie Sharpe, Ibo Cooper on keyboards and Dale Haslam on bass. They played It Wasn't Me as it has never been played before and never will again and had many feet banging on the floor of the ballroom. Dean Fraser scattered notes as if he was getting out of town before he was caught by an irate lady and Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe made the pan speak in tongues. A drum solo brought a hand in the air salute from Shaggy. Still, it took an extended version of Many Rivers To Cross to take the house down. It seemed it would never end. Each time a plateau was reached, the musicians took the audience to another peak until they were tugged to their feet, applauding frantically for the last minute of the rendition. The four-man group QT also performed well. Dressed all in black, the groupd with If I Ever Fall In Love Again, acapella, then did Beres Hammond's Rock Away and Kiss and Say Goodbye. They earned good applause. Tommy Boy Records founder Tommy Silverman pointed to a window of opportunity within the crisis that exists in the industry. Noting declining sales and staff cuts at Warner, Sony, EMI, BMG and Universal, he pointed to independence and innovation as the only way forward. "Your only chance is your uniqueness. And you will become anonymous by trying to fit in a mould-- Today I challenge the Caribbean community to create a Pan-Caribbean chart, on an objective basis. This single move would allow more music from the Caribbean to be signed than anything else", Mr. Silverman said. Newest CME director, Josanne Leonard from Trinidad and Tobago, handled most of the compere duties, with Paula Ann Porter striking theng note. By Mel Cooke