Dear Editor,
On October 20, Ron Robinson and Marcia Parker co-hosting and filling in for Kean McRae was a delightful change on the Voice of Guyana’s ‘Breakfast Show.’
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not in the least taking away from Ms Kean McRae nor am I in any way hinting that the sister has fallen short on her now popular show. I’m simply just observing a change in tone. Though Ms McRae, the shrewd and regular presenter on the Breakfast Show informed radio listeners that she would be off the air for a while, it completely escaped me until I heard that vintage voice, the ‘old maestro,’ Ron Robinson in banter with his youthful co-broadcaster Marcia Parker.
Well I tell you it was for me a bit of a swing, the coming together of the young and the old.
Indeed the change was delightful, I guess that’s exactly what is meant by the phrase ‘Variety is the spice of life’; changes do wonders sometimes and flip moods. It’s one good reason why we shouldn’t be bogged down in monotony; and I’m thinking that in various ways this kind of programme change from time to time should be indulged in, and not just happen incidentally.
With some of the songs played you knew Marcy could not have gone there – too young and out of touch with a time gone and not coming back. Of course the old master never lost a chance to roll back the years –hey! wait a minute, how could he after so long? Come on, it’s embedded. When you heard the music of the Shadows, Bumble and The Saints, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires and Manning, all reminiscent of ‘Good Morning Guyana’, when he (RR) became a household name, and with the banter between him and Matthew Alleyne, you knew beyond a shadow of doubt it was the RR man. There was one of his signature selections which his young protégé would have been at sea with – Marcy in Wonderland. And as listeners have observed, she has fitted in well, not to mention there is her jolly infectious laughter. But I have to say that with the regular host, it’s a different kettle of fish, as they say.
Kean McRae is sure one with a difference. For quite some time I can’t remember such a young person who in terms of music goes back in time as she does, and not only that but gives the distinct impression that she knows exactly what she’s into and is not just selecting ‘old sounds.’ In this regard you have got to give it to her, though it does say much about the home or environment she was nurtured in, for this is one young person who travels back in time way beyond her age.
One thing one had to admire was that you never in the least got the impression that Robinson was trying to ‘steal’ from young Parker; he never tried to upstage her, and in fact he promoted/highlighted her, while I have to say that she did her best – as usual – to keep her part of the bargain. This blending of the old and the new – a petal against a metal and the initials of her name, MP, which also stands for Member of Parliament, made me picture a young member of parliament – a neophyte sitting in the House paying rapt attention to a more experienced and seasoned campaigner addressing the Assembly.
Keep the good times rolling!
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe