Toots and the Maytals strike gold in New Zealand with 54-46
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Three years after it earned a gold certification in the United Kingdom, 54-46 (That’s My Number) by Toots and the Maytals, has earned a similar certification in New Zealand.
The song was certified gold accumulating 15,000 copies in combined sales and streams nationwide. The song was released digitally in 2004, however, it was first released in vinyl 45 rpm in 1968 and bore the Beverly’s label. It was produced by Leslie Kong.
54-46 was a signature song for Toots and the Maytals, becoming a #1 hit on local charts.
The song appears in the sci-fi film Repo Men and in the series Narcos: Mexico. It was also used as the soundtrack to the opening titles of the 2006 British coming of age drama This is England.
Lead vocalist Toots Hibbert died in 2020 at the age of 77. He won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2005 for True Love, and posthumously in 2021 for Got to Be Tough.
