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March 2015

Paul Hutton - Atlanta - Lifetime member / Director

The “Grand Master”, “Mr. Excitement”. When at the turntables Paul doesn’t just play records, he performs. A Foundation member of VRCA, vinyl collector, record dealer, co-founder and host on collectorskornernow.com, Paul originally a New York member he has recently relocated to Atlanta.

During his early days in Waterhouse, being exposed to the great sounds of King Tubby’s Hi-Fi and Prince Jammys it was almost inevitable that some musical gene would become ingrained in his DNA. Migrating to New York in 1969 Paul’s enterprising attitude led him to initially open Soul Heaven and then Soul to Soul record stores.  At that time, in our fraternity any collector of note in or outside of New York, would at some time inevitably visit these stores to purchase some of the rare finds which Paul had discovered on one of his many search expeditions. 

Elected and installed as the District Grand Master of Composite Grand Lodge # 2 of the Independent United Order of Mechanics FS W.H. Inc. in 2004, he held that position until 2008.

Never shy about putting forward ideas to assist in the evolution of our organization, Paul was the conceptualizer of our annual raffle, which is now established as a key element of our annual fund raising efforts.

Always up to a good tease, there is never a dull moment around Mr. Hutton. In 2009 he was honored with the VRCA Lifetime Achievement Award.         

Charles Kennedy “Charlie K”– Atlanta - Director

From the early years until now, Charlie K’s persona has been shaped by, and has revolved around music.  In the early 60’s then a founding member of “Wild Bunch Disco” until now, he has been playing music to entertain.  Now a host on reggaeworldmusic.com.  Friday nights find him along with his co-host and wife Jennifer aka “Silky Voice” in “The Lava Lounge” sharing his music via the worldwide web on his show Quiet Vibes from 9:00 pm to 12 midnight.

His solid dedication to VRCA was convincingly demonstrated when the Association held its Memorial Weekend event in Atlanta in 2013. Charlie spearheaded a tremendously successful weekend, a feat that is even more commendable given that this was the inaugural staging of the event in Atlanta.

Charlie became a member of VRCA in 2011 and was awarded a Lifetime achievement award in 2014.       

Stephen "Bunny" Knight - Jamaica

Part owner and selector of the popular sound system Plus X Aggregation (1972-82) Steve “Bunny” Knight is a consummate lover of music. Attending our MWE event in Florida 2014 and Atlanta 2018, Bunny is an Information Systems Consultant. Most importantly he has expressed a willingness to be a member of our organization with particular interest in lending his expertise towards maintaining our website.

A founding member of The Muzik Connexion internet radio network, Bunny has also made appearances on CKN playing from his vinyl collection post the Plus X era. Yes he still has them. 

 

Donald Smith - Connecticut

Growing up in Shady Grove in Kingston, Jamaica his early influence in the music came from listening to the sound systems that played near his home as well as his mother who was a great fan of Nat King Cole. In 1965 he joined the highly popular fraternity of Merritone fans, by 1968 he was one of the co-founders of Young Folks Disco out of Mona Heights. Interestingly, he recalls there was friendly rivalry between Young Folks and Ovations Discos, the latter was operated by Clayton Young himself another VRCA member (Florida Chapter). Donald migrated to Connecticut in 1977 where he linked up with Clayton and Wesley Blake who shared a similar passion for the music…...and the story continues. A current host on crazyvibezradio.com his Saturday morning program airs from 9am - 12 pm.  He names his favorite song as The Heptones “Fatty Fatty”.

Donald joined the VRCA team in 2012, the decision he says was influenced by the camaraderie and charitable outreach of the organization.

Aubrey “Stumpy” Grant - New York - Lifetime member and Vice President

Aubrey “Stumpy” Grant personifies dedication and loyalty to VRCA. Aubrey Grant has been appointed to Lifetime membership from 2018. Our newest Director Stumpy was appointed to that position in March 2015, having been a member of the organization since 2010.   

Unusually his early exposure to music came from his mother Doris Grant. A lady who loved to entertain her friends on weekends, music was always an integral part of the package. Aubrey’s job was to load the records on the stereogram to keep the music flowing. She must have sensed something about him and the music because of all his siblings he was the only one who was assigned to this job. To this day “Stumpy” still has records in his collection with his mothers name on them. These represent a real treasure for him.

Stumpy started buying records in the late 1960’s to early 70’s and was a member of the Plus X Aggregation -  a renowned Disco in Jamaica in the 70’s -80’s. In those days he recalled playing every Sunday at the Flea market on Trafalgar Road often times having to hustle to that venue straight from their frequent Saturday night engagements. In 1987 he migrated to New York and, it was no surprise that his records went too. Interestingly the records were sent by airfreight in 2 barrels as no costs were spared to ensure that his gems accompanied him. In New York he reconnected with friends Trevor “Bop” McDonald and DJ Yo-yo, himself an old Plus X associate. Already on the record-collecting scene in New York these two friends took Stumpy around on several trips hunting for records. Inevitably he joined the fun and started collecting ardently.

A lover of soul music Stumpy just never seems to get enough of this genre.

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