It’s a Ba Ba Boom Time
For the first time since 1966, there will be no Festival or Popular Song Contest. Instead, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, producers of the event, have launched a campaign where fans can vote online for their favourite song. Today, the Jamaica Observer starts a six-part series on past competitions.
THERE was great anticipation going into the 1967 Festival Song Contest, the second year the Independence competition was being held.
The Jamaicans, comprising Tommy Cowan, Norris Weir and Martin Williams, were eventual winners with Ba Ba Boom.
Cowan, who sang lead on the song, shared the inspiration behind its lyrics with the Sunday Observer.
“It was during a time when you sey something is ‘boom’ then you mean it’s enjoyable,” he said. “It was all about fun; festival was a lot of fun in those days.”
The inaugural contest held in 1966 was won by Toots and The Maytals with Bam Bam, a mento-themed song.
Writing Ba Ba Boom, Cowan recalled, took some effort. He said it was composed at his home at Delacree Road in St Andrew.
“We wanted to come up with something that people could enjoy, that would generate a lot of interest,” he said.
The Jamaicans were not one of the prolific rocksteady groups. They broke through in 1967 with the song, Things You Say You Love, produced by Duke Reid.
According to Cowan, it was a tough call as the final approached.
“Any of the top three songs could have won that year,” he said.
The Jamaicans prevailed, beating Unity by Desmond Dekker and the Aces and Al and the Vibrators with Move Up.
“It was like a big election as we had to campaign all over the country seeking votes for our song,” Cowan reflected.
The Jamaicans split up in the early 1970s. Cowan went into music production and artiste management, achieving success with artistes such as Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus and Israel Vibration.
Recently, The Jamaicans performed in San Francisco.
Cowan believes the energy has gone out of ‘Festival’ or as it is known today, the Popular Song Contest.
“At one point, the organisers had strict rules on the arrangement, then there was another time when Jamaica had to be in it… seems like the Festival has become in people’s mind like an amateur competition and has lost its significance,” he said.
