The Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment Desk continues with the 30th of its biweekly feature looking at seminal moments that have helped shape Jamaica over the past 60 years.

With uncertainty surrounding the 2022 Festival Song Contest, we reflect on arguably its most fiercely contested staging. It took place in 1976 with Dance dis ya Festival and All Night Till Daylight the favourites for victory.

Dance dis ya Festival by Freddie McKay got the nod over All Night Till Daylight, done by Jacob Miller. The former’s throaty number about wanting a “big heel boot an’ a bell foot pants to dance dis ya festival” was recorded for Channel One, then the hottest studio in reggae.

Miller’s toast to “Jenny and har sista from Manchester” was produced by Joe Gibbs. Both songs featured Sly Dunbar on drums.

At the time, Dunbar was driving force behind The Revolutionaries, house band at Channel One. He was in-demand as a session musician and Inner Circle — the band which Miller sang with — enlisted him to play on All Night Till Daylight.

Dunbar had worked with both artistes. He had greater success with Miller, playing on his hit songs Shaky Girl and Forward Ever, Backward Never.

In a 2013 interview with the Jamaica Observer, he recalled meeting with brothers Ian and Roger Lewis of Inner Circle. He suggested that they record All Night Till Daylight at Channel One.

“It had a better drum room than at Joe Gibbs where they wanted to record. Channel One also had a better board an’ yuh got a great sound,” Dunbar recalled. “I told them, ‘if yuh record at Channel One yuh going to win’ but Ian Lewis said no.”

All Night Till Daylight was recorded at Gibbs’ studio, the biggest rival to Channel One, which was owned by the Hoo Kim brothers (Joseph, Ernest and Paul).

Robbie Shakespeare, his colleague from Channel One and Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power band, played bass on the song. The Lewis brothers played guitars and Bernard “Touter” Harvey, another Inner Circle member, was on keyboards.

McKay’s song was cut at Channel One the following week. In addition to Dunbar, Shakespeare played guitar, Bertram “Ranchie” McLean (bass), Ansell Collins (keyboards) and Bobby Ellis (trumpet).

Dunbar says he used different drum patterns for the songs, but believes the clincher was the studio sound.

“Festival suppose to be a happy time an’ when yuh listen to Freddie McKay yuh get dat feeling. Jacob song had dat to, but Dance dis ya Festival have more bounce because of how Channel One set up,” he explained.

Dance dis ya Festival remains one of the most popular Festival Song winners. The Linstead-born McKay died in November 1986 at age 39.

All Night Till Daylight is also a hit that transcends ‘Festival’. Miller became a reggae superstar with Inner Circle, but his meteoric rise tragically ended in March 1980 when he was killed in an auto accident in Kingston at age 27.