Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

From left: The Jamaicans (Tommy Cowan, Martin Williams and Norris Weir) doing their second-placed song ' Feel it Festival' in 1969. They won in 1967 with 'Baba Boom'. - file

At the very beginning of the Festival Song Contest, it seemed, there could 'b' nothing wrong with the winner. In 1966, The Maytals took the first title with Bam Bam; in 1967, The Jamaicans topped a crack field with Baba Boom.

Tommy Cowan, now known primarily for his work in gospel through Glory Music, is one-third of The Jamaicans, which took the Arthur 'Duke' Reid production to the top and a permanent place in Jamaican music history. His fellow Jamaicans are Norris Weir (with whom Cowan co-wrote Baba Boom) and Martin Williams, Cowan pointing out that they are probably the only foundation group whose original members are all alive.

Festival Song Contest

"It was written specifically for the Festival Song Contest," Cowan told The Sunday Gleaner, acknowledging the influence of the 'b' that went before. Working with Reid was nothing new, as The Jamaicans had already hit with him. And it did not hurt at all that they had a crack team of musicians in the studio, including Lloyd Knibbs on drums, Jackie Jackson on bass and Ernie Ranglin on guitar.

"It was exciting!" Cowan said about the contest. He pointed out that there had been a split in the Festival Song format previously, so there was a pop and mento segment and then the actual Festival Song contest. So, The Jamaicans had conquered the pop and mento field, where the emphasis was more on movement and costume. He pointed out that for the Festival Song Contest, people actually voted by ballot.

Baba Boom was also directly acknowledgement of a changing Jamaican sound, as the ska pace was cooling and rocksteady was on the rise. Cowan sang a couple lines and reminded The Sunday Gleaner of the references:

"Freddie get ready

Come do the rocksteady

It's ba ba boom time, listen here"

And then there was the chorus, which was very easy to catch:

"You hear the people saying

Boom boom, ba ba boom boom

Boom boom festival

Boom boom, ba ba boom boom

Boom boom festival

Boom boom, ba ba boom boom

Boom boom festival

Boom boom, ba ba boom boom"

frontrunners

Cowan said that the song's title and refrain were not street slang adopted by The Jamaicans, but a phrase they came up with