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| Balance and Control: Trevor "Holly" Hollingsworth, mastering CANARadio CricketPlus, during a live transmission at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown (BARBADOS NATION) |
TREVOR CLAIRMONTE HOLLINGSWORTH (1955-2018)
But for the joint efforts of his father, Clement Arthur, and Barbados Rediffusion's Chief Operator Clyde Clarke, Trevor Hollingsworth would have been memorialised as a giant in refrigeration and air conditioning. For that is the industry for which Trevor Hollingsworth was receiving Polytechnic training, age 17, in 1972.
He had three choices: policeman, seaman or… linesman? It was somebody doing something at Rediffusion. What it was, he himself wasn’t quite sure, but Father’s good friend “Clarkie” would see to the rest.
And so, “laddie” Trevor grew into Technical Operator “Young Hollingsworth”, and eventually, “Holly”, beloved of presenters, producers and fellow technicians in Barbados and the Caribbean.
Balance and Control
At Rediffusion, later Starcom Network, Holly’s domain was the control room where programmes were mixed live, recorded or edited. The control room’s doors were labelled “B&C” -- an old-fashioned radio term for Balance & Control; for the next three decades, a home away from home shared with his mentor Wolseley “Baucky” Roach, Harold “Ebony” Tull, Glyne Bryan and his boon companion, Tony Redman.
Balance and Control, in life as in radio. A mix of good humour and deadly seriousness. Of being as welcoming and charming to the ministerial maguffie charging into an interview as to Granny – times 10, 20, 30, 40 – shuffling in to record a Sunday Half-Hour of sacred songs. Balance and control of playing the fool and never being foolish, of tolerance and yet not suffering fools gladly, of great pride and deep humility.
The great and good of Barbadian radio came to depend on, and expect, this master craftsman’s skilful balance and control of sound and art.
For Dame Olga Lopes-Seale, no one but Holly could record her Sunday evening compilation of beautiful words and music, where she would routinely acknowledge his company in the studio; a joint partnership for the listener, which indeed it was.
For Jeannette Layne-Clarke and Desmond Bourne, only Holly could master the prolific creations of their fertile producers’ minds – from quiz shows to magazine programmes and features.
For the News Editor Eric Nurse, no one else could edit his Point at Issue discussion programme or his Year in Review.
For Patrick Gollop nobody but Holly could do anything!
For Vic Fernandes, none but Holly could record the musings of a Market Vendor.
For Stan Carter, one of the four advertising gurus of HCA Advertising, only Holly could properly mix all the many layers of his radio commercials.
And for Hugh Crosskill, editor of the fledgling CANA Radio Service in the 1980s, observing Holly at Kensington Oval, balancing and controlling two heavy Ampex reel tape recorders to replay the day’s cricket highlights, he, too, soon found he could not do without a Trevor Hollingsworth at CANA. It wasn’t too auspicious a start: Holly became aware, and deeply suspicious, of a strange bearded man in the commentary booth, asking after him, enthralled by his every deft touch of the machines….
A programme-maker
But for Crosskill, Trevor Simpson, Wendy Sargeant, Ulric Hetsberger, Lance Whittaker and the other household names of CANARadio’s Caribbean Today programme, Holly would prove to be more, much more than a revered 'tech', good at making CANA folks sound good to thousands of Caribbean listeners. He became a programme-maker himself and an innovator who made programmes far, far better.
There was CricketPlus, the international cricket broadcast from the West Indies that he worthy of ball-by-ball export to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and elsewhere in the cricket world. His brainchild, We Kinda Christmas, was Christmas Eves spent connecting by phone with Caribbean people wherever they were and whatever they were doing, serenaded by school and village choirs, steelbands, even chimers on the forecourt of the CANA studio on Beckles Road.
Ports of Call, CANA Radio’s travel magazine show, where Holly teamed up once again with the late and legendary Carl Scott, was inspired by Oliver Chandler’s Latin Scene on Rediffusion.
And somewhere in the archives of CANA, now CMC, there is a programme of Christmas music produced and presented – yes, presented -- by him – Christmas with Holly.
It was at CANA that I found Holly in 1993, and from then until now, until forever, Holly became not just a partner in crime, a fellow co-conspirator in brainstorming under a barren ackee tree, but a friend with whom I entrusted my life, particularly my appetite.
There were many legendary feasts, whether at his home or at a holiday beach house, in Consett Bay. I believe the subject was pork chops. His technique for tender baked chops is cherished.
Trevor Hollingsworth gave of his very best because he believed the listener deserved nothing less.
Humour and humanity
Perfect he was not, and in this story, you may also discern his large capacity for self-mockery.
Witness one November Sunday morning in the studio with announcer Hugh Riley monitoring - or rather not really monitoring - the outside broadcast of the Remembrance Day Ceremony from the Cenotaph. At one point, they overhead … nothing … the dreaded absence of sound - dead air. Quickly, Trevor rushed a record - the nearest thing to hand – to air and up came some kind of music.
Later that morning, as the great and good of Rediffusion, the firm of Pardo and Pragnell, assembled in the officer's mess hall at St Ann's Fort for the customary post-parade festivities, the army top brass were heard guffawing and chortling. "Can you believe a radio station in Barbados interrupted the two minutes’ silence for the war dead with a calypso?"
Next morning, the meeting before management opened with the following request: "Tell us why we shouldn't fire the two of you for playing music in a Remembrance Day broadcast.”
Yet what we do in life often matters less than how we make people feel. Professionals who became friends, and strangers who became acquaintances will remember most feeling his warmth, humour and humanity.
This from Ulric Hetsberger now in the US: “I met Holly when I arrived early 1989 from Guyana to work as a radio journalist at CANARadio, and I never let go of him as a very dear and sincere friend and newsroom colleague. He made me feel singularly welcome to his beautiful island paradise, something I have never forgotten. In the business of broadcasting, I can say with no fear of refutation that I had the pleasure to work alongside the quintessential technical operator and splice-master, and there still exist recordings to prove it. My friend would lead a select group of journalists to calm their nerves with a round of beverage refreshments at the end of any working day filled with wracking deadlines, and neurosis. He was special, and jolly, and smart. He was well ... Holly. He told me that his parents worked in the then British Guiana, and Holly wore a high-carat gold ring that he wanted me to know was produced from the extractive Guyana metal and brought back to Barbados by his father. The more I reminisce, the greater the good memories overwhelm me.”
From Lance Whittaker, now in Jamaica: “Efficient, steadfast and dedicated in all his functions and even outside of his own remit, would always – because of his brilliant sense of radio -- have wise suggestions for a producer regarding anything from scripting to the choice of music for a feature. Holly immersed himself fully into every project he was assigned and it was always, always a great pleasure working with him.
I have to say also, that as a non-Barbadian arriving from Jamaica for my first ever overseas job in March 1995, settling in was a bit tough and Trevor Hollingsworth was one those extremely helpful and very quick to make me feel at home.”
A big heart
As Holly would eventually tell you, if you got to know him long enough, he had an enlarged heart. It is one life’s great ironies that a medical condition could so aptly describe the human condition that was Holly on this earth. It was indeed a big heart that embraced all, particularly the younger and the neglected folks at a studio or in the community. He angrily challenged management for chastising him for being seen breaking the social and physical barrier that existed between linesmen and studio staff at Rediffusion. “This is my friend,” he retorted. “I have known him since school, and I will continue to talk to him.”
His protection, advice, support, care, and daily laughter, were ever available above and beyond duty’s call, the job description or even the capacity of the normal human heart. He was an example of work ethic but also of ethics, of always doing the right thing the right way. In a world where exploitation, abuse and improper conduct have become an apparent new normal, Holly was the guardian of reputations and the north star of futures.
There are cadet reporters and interns become editors and managers; nervous, auditioning, would-be announcers who are now stars; boys and girls who grew up on station premises into men and women; all today grateful for his great and giving heart.
But that didn’t come from a studio manual on River Road or Beckles Road. It came from the direction, example and love of Clement and Gwendolyn of #10 Culloden Road. From his parents he learned to become the father figure for so many; everybody’s Uncle Trev.
Thank you, Trevor
It is customary - or it used to be - after a big broadcast, for the producer to thank the team involved in the production.
So, if we have not said it, or often enough, thank you, Trevor, for your dedication, devotion and service. If we have not said sorry for all the times that we in our all-too-human frailty, let you down, we ask your forgiveness now. If we have not said how much we have appreciated you as friend, confidant, advisor, sounding board, protector, supporter or just you for being there smiling and listening when we look up to the other side of the studio glass, we say now to you, we appreciate you, Trevor Clairmonte Hollingsworth. And if we haven't said we loved you, we say now, we love you. For I know you are listening.
Goodnight, my friend. Goodnight.
Holly and the glory days
Please forgive the indulgence today,
because I think it’s important to remember the contribution of someone behind
the scenes, someone whose professionalism and dedication made us sound so much
better in describing cricket on radio a few years ago for audiences throughout
the Caribbean and maybe even a few beyond our region.
Trevor Hollingsworth passed away a
week ago.
Technical operator, sound engineer,
call him what you will, but he was the man at the controls almost 20 years ago when
the Bridgetown-based Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) took on the challenge of
raising the overall standard of commentary for international cricket in the
West Indies.
Stalwarts
And while there was the usual
insular bickering about the composition of that commentary panel – which
remained virtually unchanged for the memorable 1999 home series against
Australia – no one questioned Holly’s role on the team as one of the stalwarts
of CanaRadio, which had transformed in collaboration with the Caribbean
Broadcasting Union into the CMC.
But whoever really takes notice of
the men (and women) behind the scenes of any production?
It’s all about the gallery-harrys
and assorted showboaters with our quips, quotes and unbearably stale jokes
trying, as many still see it, to be a poor man’s imitation of the BBC’s Test
Match Special.
It seemed to work, though. Andrew
Mason, Australian commentary icon Jim Maxwell and me were the travelling
ball-by-ball commentators, to be joined by the excellent and versatile Simon
Crosskill when the 2000 season rolled around with first Zimbabwe and then
Pakistan as the visitors.
A family
There was, of course, the
considerable expertise of Michael Holding as the lead summariser, supported by
other former international colleagues.
As with Simon’s arrival on team, Ian
Bishop’s debut as a member of the CMC CricketPlus (coined by another dedicated
Bajan servant of the media craft, Julius Gittens) family made that second
season feel like the high point of the entire experience.
And it was very much like a family:
old talk, laughter, arguing and quarrelling as those tiny commentary boxes
strained to contain the egos vying for attention at the microphone. At least we
only had to be on air for 20 minutes in every hour (30 minutes for the comments
personalities).
Holly had to be on duty all the way
through, from long before the first ball was bowled, through the lunch interval
and tea time programming to some distance after the bails were lifted, in fact
up to the point when Andrew was striking up the band and telling everyone it
was time to go home.
A generally pleasant man, he didn’t
hesitate about pulling up someone who was playing the fool with his broadcast.
Yes, it was his baby, and you got the sense that he shared in the pride of CMC
in being able to put out a product that was growing in popularity and acceptance
from even some of the most strident critics who never hesitated to remind us
that we were never going to be as good as Tony Cozier, Reds Perreira and some
of the other legends of Caribbean cricket and sports broadcasting.
Well, at least we tried, and no one
tried harder than Holly in ensuring that what went out on the airwaves was up
to mark.
Nothing got him more irritated than
commentators treating microphones, headsets and other equipment as if they were
disposable items. In fact, he took such care that you wondered if it was his
personal equipment he loaned to CMC.
But that was just his way:
professional, friendly and easy to work with if you came to work. However, if
you came to skylark, to disrespect his broadcast, well, it wouldn’t be long
before you heard about it.
You might be asking yourself what
could he, or any sound engineer for that matter, have done to make any real
difference to a cricket broadcast? Surely it’s only about turning volume levels
up and down. If only it were just that.
In the finale to that 1999 Test at
Kensington Oval, I was privileged to be describing the action when captain
Brian Lara drove Jason Gillespie to the Kensington Stand wall on the cover boundary
to give the West Indies a pulsating one-wicket win and a chance at reclaiming
the Frank Worrell Trophy.
Sense of timing
“The West Indies have won! The West
Indies have won! He snatches the stumps....what celebration!” was followed by
confused babbling with my tired voice clashing with the comments personality as
we both attempted to exult in the moment.
But you never heard that, for with
the same exquisite sense of timing of the champion left-hander out in the
middle, Holly turned off our microphones briefly to allow the roar of the
disbelieving crowd to tell the story. So Lara’s finest moment was also Trevor
Hollingsworth’s.
Well played, Holly.
§ Fazeer Mohammed is a regional cricket journalist and
broadcaster who has been covering the game at all levels since 1987.