TRIBUTE TO TONY McKENZIE

     TONY MCKENZIE WAS NOT JUST A CLUB OWNER.

 

Irrespective of the mindset of the naysayers, the parochial thinkers, the free willing-willy-nilly perpetual and judgmental embracers of their perceived negativity of others when their own closets may be laden with atrocious skeletons, Tony Mckenzie wasn’t “just a club owner” and FUNK YOU wasn’t just another black club in Antwerp City.

 

Although Tony may have merely envisioned and established a fun-oriented club exclusively for black music, in the process, whether consciously or unconsciously, he created a monumental bridge to a much needed social, cultural, and interracial cohesion that was hugely important at a crucial and pivotal period of time in the history of the city.

 

Yes, the music was always great…the best, and Tony was always fun and awesome. However, the undeniable magic of FUNK YOU was embedded in the much larger and much bigger picture that the club significantly represented---a place where race, color, religion, origin, sexual orientation, etc; didn’t mean a damn thing.

 

Such conceptual ideology of oneness in the FUNK YOU experience was immensely groundbreaking in the early 80’s Antwerp where racial harmony was nothing to write home about, and where many notable nightclubs brazenly denied entrance to black folks or had a 5% entrance quota policy for them.

 

My brother, Kay Kool, emphatically stated during our reminiscence conversation about Tony McKenzie on Whatsapp yesterday that more than 90% of all biracial children who were born in Antwerp in the eighties and early 90's owes Tony a huge THANKS because their parents most likely met in FUNK YOU. Kay himself met his now late ex-wife, Martine (may her blessed soul continue to rest in peace) in FUNK YOU. Their two beautiful and wonderful children together, Joyce and Kay, Jr. are just two of perhaps several hundreds of second-generation living testaments to the awesomeness of the house of racial harmony that Tony built.

 

And there’s no telling how many people got attracted to Antwerp from places far away who eventually made a concerted decision to settle down in the city and became productive tax-paying members of the society because of FUNK YOU. Another brother and a friend, Stephano Noumbissie, check positively into the above column. News of FUNK YOU reached him in Paris via a young woman who frequented the club. The woman would later become his wife and the mother of his two marvelous daughters. He also became very tight with Tony whom he has never once shied away from openly praising and honoring as the man solely responsible for mentoring, tutoring, and imparting in him virtually all of the managerial skills that have made him the dynamic businessman he truly is today.

 

Tony touched and inspired a whole lot of people of all races. His highly successful FUNK YOU business model was replicated by many across Europe. Although some people would like to undermine and play down the smart and innovative business acumen aspect of his life, I strongly believe that it is crucially important for everyone to recognize the level of the positive impact that FUNK YOU had on Antwerp’s continued economic growth back then.

 

Anyone with basic knowledge of economics can wholeheartedly attest to the imperative necessity of tourism and the influx of foreign currencies into any economy. Size to size ratio, FUNK YOU at its peak drew more tourists and foreign currencies into the city weekly than any other nightclub. Folks traveled to Antwerp every weekend from FRANCE, HOLLAND, the UK, LUXEMBOURG, IRELAND, and as far away as ITALY with ample amounts of foreign currencies (at a time when the Euro was not yet in existence) just to have a little taste of Tony's creation.

 

The club was the quintessential heart and soul of Antwerp's good vibes. The nucleus of her positive buzz. A welcomed ray of sunshine that brightened up a city that was although fiscally responsible and very successful economically, but distinctively cloudy, dreary, moody, and grumpy in just about every other conceivable area of life's endeavors.

 

FUNK YOU indisputably elevated Antwerp's popularity internationally in the '80s and early '90s. How high was the elevation? Well, let me put it this way: FUNK YOU was to Antwerp in the aforementioned period of time as ZILLION would later be to the city from 1997 to 2002. Now, ain’t that truly something…especially considering the fact that ZILLION was a super mega club that easily accommodated 5000 people in the weekend while FUNK YOU was structured like a simple dance-café with a max capacity of say 200?

For Tony McKenzie to have built something so little in size and yet catapulted it so high in popularity while carrying along with it the second-largest city in Belgium, is nothing short of sheer genius.

 

So, please, let all the owners of all the lips that have ever uttered condescending and undermining words that belittled Tony as “ just a club owner” put a tight zip on them, and then, quickly learn how to fully appreciate and respect him for the one in a million icon, pioneer, innovator, motivator, outstanding artist, superb performer, inspirational DJ, a business wiz, and an awesome dad that he sincerely was.

 

May your blessed soul rest in perfect peace, Tony. Keep it FUNKY up there, bro. Jah bless.

 

                                                             Monday Midnite. (March 4th, 2019)