Bob Marley and Marcia GriffithsJAMAICA HAS many things to be proud of. There is our natural beauty, our culture, and of course our people.
Of these our culture seems to be the single aspect about which there is little ambivalence. Unfortunately, the fact that we ignore litter laws, pollute the oceans with untreated garbage, are destroying the reefs and by extension the beaches, means that we may be on our way to losing the natural beauty. The murder rate and poverty seem to be intent on wiping out much of the population.
Culture then seems to be our mainstay. Although Jamaican culture far surpasses music, the latter is the most celebrated aspect and the one easiest to dust off and put on display to impress visitors.
Jamaica's musical history is one of the areas of which we are most proud, thanks in part to all the hype which follows Bob Marley. Not surprisingly, in celebration of the 40 years of Jamaica's independence we choose to celebrate the music. The result, the creation of a top 40 list.
For this purpose several persons in the music industry, including musicologists, producers, writers, musicians and radio jockeys, both home and abroad, were asked to select a top 100 list from which a top 40 will be selected. The public will make this selection and can do so at Bill Express outlets where they will find both the top 100 list, as well as ballot boxes to place their votes. Voting ends September 5.
The members of the Jamaica 40 Secretariat, the group in charge of this venture, noted that persons were selected so that songs from all 4 decades would be selected. This decision seems to be a wise one, especially as people generally think that the songs from their heyday are the best. Most persons suffer from the 'good ole days' complex, and it is good that the secretariat attempted to avoid this.
A simple glance at the 100 songs suggests that this target was reached. In the first ten songs, the time periods vary from the 1960s to at least the early 1990s. However, the late '90s is almost completely missing. This may of course be more of an indictment of the present crop of musicians than the list.
Another of the competition's criteria is that only original songs are eligible, which cuts out the repertoires of several persons who have shunned originality.
There are several expected names on the list such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff. Bob Marley and the Wailers has five entries. However, not everybody will probably agree that they reflect the best of their efforts. The five entries are One Love, Redemption Song, Jammin, Trench Town Rock and No Woman No Cry. To be honest, while One Love works great as a tourism gimmick, is it truly one of the top five of Bob Marley and the Wailers' best songs? There is also The Wailers' nomination, Simmer Down.
Peter Tosh gets his fair due with four nominated songs, which, given that he had also been in the The Wailers, gives him credit for at least Trench Town Rock and Simmer Down. The four Peter Tosh songs nominated are: Equal Rights, Coming In Hot, Buckingham Palace and Mawga Dawg.
For some reason, Jimmy Cliff only has three entries, The Harder They Come, Sitting in Limbo and Many Rivers to Cross. We All Are One, I Can See Clearly Now and You Can Get It If You Really Want all failed to make the list.
Buju Banton is one of the few artistes to save the '90s on this list, and slightly save face for dancehall, which does not make much of an appearance. In fact, he is the only deejay, other than U Roy, to have two. However, Banton fans may mourn the fact that Til Shiloh and other favourites do not make the list. Banton's two nominations are, Murderer and Untold Stories.
'Other dancehall songs to make the charts are, One Blood (Junior Reid), Greetings (Half Pint), Murder She Wrote (Chaka Demus and Pliers), Wild Gilbert (Lovindeer), 'Unmetered Taxi' (Sly, Robbie and the Taxi Gang), and
Twice My Age (Shabba Ranks and Crystal). It Was Written by Stephen Marley, Damian Marley and Capleton, which straddles the border between reggae and dancehall (if there actually is one) also make the list.
There are also deejay songs which came from the pre-dancehall era. U-Roy, the godfather of the artform, is featured with Wake The Town and Wear You To The Ball which was performed with The Paragons. S 90 Skank represents Big Youth's contribution to the genre while Nice Up The Dance from Michigan and Smiley has also been nominated.
Althea and Donna also make it to the list with their one-hit wonder Uptown Top Ranking. They are two of only five females who make it to the list. Joining the list of females are Rita Marley (One Draw), Sophia George with Girlie, Girlie, and Pam Hall with Book of Life (performed by Pam and Woody). Marcia Griffiths also appears on the list with Electric Boogie.
Several other great, and some which not everyone will agree are great songs, make up this list including Pass The Kutchie, Three Sevens Clash and Duppy Gunman. What is also interesting is that there are five entries from the national festival competition, a testament to the value of the competition to the music industry. Ba Ba Boom, Bam Bam, Give Thanks and Praises, Cherry Oh Baby and Sweet and Dandy all made the list.
