Bam-Bam To Cherry Oh!

Song: Bam-Bam

Artist: Toots & The Maytals, Byron Lee & The Dragons

Album: From Bam-Bam To Cherry Oh! Baby (c. 1970s)

Genre: Sweet Reggae

This may sound very arrogant…. But…. In this day and age, the only people who can probably appreciate an album like this, are Jamaicans and West-Indians in my age group. Very few Americans would know anything about this album; unless perhaps you’ve dated someone for many years who happened to be from the island. One of the things I miss most from my childhood growing up was, in my neighborhood, we had one of the only record shops dedicated to 100% reggae! Both full albums and 12 inch reggae; many if not all were imported. All in a very short walking distance. I remembered this album being one of many my mom purchased there. I think this was when I fell in love with Toots and The Maytels’s music for the first time.

The first song I heard was “Bam-Bam” by Toots & The Maytels. I loved this song so much. I don’t know what was it that I loved it so much. Maybe it was his unique voice? Maybe it was his soul that came through his music? Or maybe it was his passion for political change I heard in his music? I played that song so many times. The second song I fell in love with was “Pomps & Pride.” Very catchy tune, and you can’t help but to move your hips just a little bit when you hear it. I was really surprised to find out that Spotify has the entire entire album. The album has various artists, which includes Desmond Dekker (which is another talented favorite of mine.