Jay Douglas shares the story of Toronto's almost forgotten Jamaican music scene
Jay Douglas is a Canadian reggae legend who was instrumental in the development of Canada's Jamaican music scene. Now, a new documentary, Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul, tells Douglas's story — and the story of the nearly forgotten Jamaican and Caribbean music scene in Toronto.
Douglas came to Canada from Jamaica when he was 15, but he was singing, auditioning and winning talent contests well before that. His early musical pursuits even led him to audition at the iconic Studio One in Jamaica on the same day that Bob Marley and The Wailers came in and got their big break.
In the '60s, Douglas became the frontman of The Cougars, one of Toronto's first reggae bands. In an interview with Q 's Tom Power, Douglas says the group "played just about every little venue in Toronto," becoming especially popular in Caribbean nightclubs, but their goal was to perform on Yonge Street in Toronto, which at the time was known for its vibrant live music scene.
It happened by fluke that The Cougars finally got to play their music at a club on Yonge Street during a Saturday matinee show. "We only [had] about 20 minutes to create an impression," Douglas recalls, "We were ready [and the place] went crazy."
But The Cougars weren't always welcomed into venues with open arms. Ironically, Toronto was a safe haven from discrimination and segregation for Black American musicians, but not so much for Black artists based in Canada. Many of these clubs exclusively booked American artists.
"One of the toughest places for you to make it as an artist is Toronto," Douglas says, "You mess up in New York, they'll tell you. Toronto, you mess up, your phone don't ring."
Eventually, The Cougars were featured on a Toronto reggae, ska and soul compilation album called Jamaica to Toronto. Douglas says he didn't make much money off of it, but he gained something "worth more than money," which was a boost in global name recognition. He thinks if the album had been recorded and promoted abroad, like in the U.K., it would have been celebrated on a grander scale.
Nonetheless, Douglas persevered in the face of what many artists fear: becoming irrelevant. After The Cougars split up in the '70s, he began a solo career traveling globally to gigs. Today, he remains a strong pillar in the reggae, funk and soul music scene with his influence reaching far beyond Canada.
Even though he didn't become as big as Canadian hip-hop and R&B artists like Drake or The Weeknd, Douglas is content with what he's achieved and the impact he's had on the Canadian music industry.
"The ego is always seeking to get," he says. "The soul seeks to give."
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