ENTITY · PERSON (ARTIST, SELECTOR, PRODUCER…)
Barry G
Well supported
Barrington "Barry G" Gordon, born in St Mary on 26 September 1956, was the voice that defined Jamaican radio for a generation. He caught the broadcasting bug at Kingston College and joined JBC as a producer in 1975. From 1978 his six-hour Saturday-night Boogie Down and weekday Two to Six Supermix made him "the Boogie Man" and pushed JBC past RJR into first place in listenership for the first time.
In 1983 he began the on-air selector clashes with David Rodigan of London's Capital Radio that turned a sound-system format into transatlantic radio; the February 1985 meeting, broadcast across Capital and JBC as the Sleng Teng rhythm took over, survives in community recordings. He is credited with launching the careers of Yellowman and Beenie Man.
He left JBC for RJR in 1987, suffered a stroke in 2007 that kept him off air until 2010, when he joined Mello FM, and died in October 2025 of pneumonia, aged 70.
At a glance
- Confidence
- Well supported
- Sources
- Jamaica Gleaner, "Barry G remembered as a titan of Jamaican radio" and "Grange remembers Barry G, 'The Boogie Man'" (2025); DancehallMag (31 October 2025); Caribbean National Weekly.
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