Jaguar

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Band Reunites on St. John 30 years after Virgin Island Tour

Jaguar to celebrate anniversary at Morgan’s Mango tonight

By Andrea Milam
St. John Correspondent

Nearly 30 years to the day after a group young 20-somethings brought their unique contemporary rock-meets-reggae to the Virgin Islands, the five-member band, Jaguar, will celebrate with a reunion at Morgan's Mango tonight.

Jaguar's original members -lead vocalist Billy Kyger, bass guitarist Chris Sellman, drummer Michael Shipley, and guitar player Michael Stancliff- will convene tonight at 6:30 PM at the Cruz Bay restaurant, which server as their St. John stage three decades ago, when the business was called World Headquarters and the cover fee to see the band perform was just $3. The group is hoping to see old friends, meet new people, and perhaps even luck into some equipment, which would allow them tp perform during their Virgin Islands visit.

"The Virgin Islands changed our lives and we really wanted to go back and spend a week there to come full circle" said Stancliff, the bands guitar player. Berry, the band's other guitar player, spent 1988 on St. Thomas, living on the North Side overlooking Magens Bay, working in Havensight Mall, and performing every Monday night at Barnacle Bill's.

"It was a nice time in my life, and when it was over at the end of '88, I was telling Michael (Stancliff) about St. Thomas and he asked if there was any work down there," said Berry. "I made a few phone calls and got some interest in the band. Except we didn't have a band or transportation, equipment, lights, or songs."

The two gathered in Stancliff's bedroom to make a demo tape using a four track cassette recorder and electronic drum machine. "We put this tape together really fast, within a week and we didn't know what to call the band," Berry recalled. "Michael said, 'I'm sending the tape off, what's the name of the band?' I said, "What is fast?" and Michael said 'I don't know Dave, cars are fast, jaguars are fast.' I said 'Jaguar. That's it. That's the name of the band."

That hastily thrown together demo tape landed the band four weeks' worth of gigs -two nights at World Headquarters on St. John and two nights a week on St. Thomas. The duo quickly added Kyger, Sellman and Shipley to their ensemble, and Jaguar debuted on Jan. 19, 1989 at World Headquarters. The response was so positive that a four-week engagement turned into an 81-day Virgin Island tour.

"Having never been somewhere tropical before, there's something magical about the islands that we saw on a daily basis." said Stancliff. "It's hard to articulate, but for us it was the whole experience of creating something from nothing, then getting there and not only making it survive but thriving. I know I carried with me this confidence from the idea that you can come up with something and make it happen."

"That is the point; it gave us the confidence later in life to do the impossible things later in life we might be afraid to do otherwise," Berry added. "It really lent to each of our characters, and built us up in ways that carried us forward."

As quickly as the band had come together for their Virgin Islands tour, they scattered and went their separate ways upon returning to the states. They fell out of touch with one another until social media became prevalent, and the five members of Jaguar began toying with the idea of a 30-year reunion in the place where they'd experienced a magical 81 days.

"We can have dinner at Morgan's Mango, and stand where we once stood and celebrate," said Berry. "We'll have a lot of hugs and tears and make a toast." The band members welcome friends old and new to join them tonight at Morgan's Mango for the celebration. For more information on Jaguar's story visit www.Jaguar89.com