Sonia Pottinger


Sonia Eloise Pottinger OD was a Jamaican reggae record producer. An icon in the music business, Sonia Pottinger was the first female Jamaican record producer and produced artists from the mid-1960s until the mid-1980s.

Biography

Sonia Durrant was born in Leith Hall, Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica. She moved to Kingston as a child, and attended St George's girls school. She trained as a secretary and followed an accountancy course before marrying accountant Lindon O. Pottinger. The couple set up several businesses in Kingston, including a bicycle shop and a bakery. In 1961 Lindon Pottinger opened a small recording studio - the first in Jamaica to be owned by a black person - to produce recordings by local acts. He set up several record labels including Gaydisc and SEP, and recorded acts including the Maytals, Derrick Harriott, Lord Tanamo, and teenager Millie Small.
In 1964, Lindon Pottinger sold his recording equipment to Duke Reid and shortly afterwards the Pottingers separated. Sonia decided to continue producing records. She opened her Tip Top Records Shop in 1965 and started to record musicians in 1966. The first single she issued was "Every Night" by Joe White & Chuck. Other artists recorded during this period included Roland Alphonso. Throughout the rock steady and early reggae eras, she became prolific with hits by The Ethiopians, Delano Stewart, The Melodians, Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis and Toots & the Maytals, released on her Gay Feet, Tip Top, Rainbow, and High Note labels. In the early 1970s her work was less prolific, but in 1974 she bought the Treasure Isle label from long-time friend Duke Reid shortly before his death. Her rights to the label's recordings were challenged by the Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio Limited, Reid's son Anthony and his company Treasure Isle Records International Limited, and Edward "Bunny" Lee, but the case was decided in her favour in 2009.
In the 1970s, she produced albums by Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths, Culture, U Roy and Big Youth. Her most well known production is Culture's Harder Than The Rest album, released in 1978. In the dancehall era show produced Archie & Lynn's "Rat in the Centre". She retired from the music business in 1985.
Sonia Pottinger died at her home in Kingston on 3 November 2010, after suffering for some time with Alzheimer's disease. A thanksgiving service in her honour was held on 19 November 2010, attended by Minister of Culture Olivia 'Babsy' Grange and major figures from the Jamaican music industry including Judy Mowatt, Alvin Ranglin, Donovan Germain, and Tommy Cowan.

Partial discography