VP Records co-founder Patricia Chin and the reggae group Third World were honored by the government of Jamaica through the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport. They were presented with citations at the Grand Gala 2024 celebrating 62 years of Jamaica’s Independence from the British colonial rule, held at the National Stadium on August 6.
“It gives me great pleasure to present this acknowledgment for the work and contribution of Patricia Chin and VP Records to Jamaican music, particularly the business of Jamaican music,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said as he presented the 86-year-old legendary impresario with the citation in front of 27,000 people.
“Thank you for this prestigious award. I have been away for 45 years, but I never forget Jamaica and my culture. We have the best culture and reggae music in the world,” Miss Pat said in her reply.
In an interview with World Music Views, Patricia “Miss Pat” Chin, now 86-year-old reminisces about her rebellious youth, rejecting a conventional career to pursue her passion for music alongside her late husband, Vincent “Randy” Chin. Together, they built a music empire from their small record shop in Kingston, Jamaica, to the top of the Billboard charts with artist like Sean Paul, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Beres Hammond and more.
She notes, “England was the first to make us know we had something good… when you migrate you carry your music, and your food and your culture.”
Discussing the roots of Jamaican music, Miss Pat says, “Jamaica on a whole they love to sing, we sing when we happy, we sing when we sad, we sing when we curse each other, when politics time comes around I curse you and you curse me in words. We sing at church, we sing when we working so we are just gifted with singing.”
Members of Third World, led by founding member Steven “Cat” Coore, accepted their citation and performed “Reggae Ambassador,” the Italian song “Con te partirò” written by Francesco Sartori and Lucio Quarantotto, first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival and later featured on his album Bocelli. The group also performed “Try Jah Love” and “Now That We Found Love.”
The band was formed by Michael “bIo” Cooper who died in October, “Cat” Coore, who had both left Inner Circle in 1973 and recruited members Carl Barovier, Milton “Prilly” Hamilton, and others to form a fully self-contained band.
Third World, signed with Island Records, released their self-titled debut album in 1976, featuring a local hit cover of “Satta Massagana.” Their success peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the hit single “Now That We Found Love” from the album Journey to Addis, which reached the top 10 in the UK. They performed with Stevie Wonder at Reggae Sunsplash in 1981, who wrote their hit “Try Jah Love” in 1982. Their music impacted the UK jazz-funk scene, notably with the reggae single “Lagos Jump” in 1983.
Renewed interest in their dancefloor music emerged in the early 1980s, particularly with the extended version of “Dancing on the Floor (Hooked on Love).” The group’s music evolved with the release of Sense of Purpose in 1985, and “Now That We’ve Found Love” received a club remix in the UK, while the original reggae version remained popular.
Coore told WMV in an interview, “Ibo was the band leader of Inner Circle so he became the leader of Third World.” Ibo stayed with the band all through their most successful years until 1997.
Other performances at Grand Gala 2024 include Lubert Levy and the gala ensemble who performed the national anthem.
