The new production was inspired by the Toots and the Maytals’ 1966 song “Bam Bam.” Sly and Robbie, who were previously known for their more laid-back reggae and dub stylings, were introducing a new digitized sound to dancehall at the time. Originally recorded for Jamaican label Harry J Records in 1987, the duo spent five years perfecting the track’s sound: after recording the original song for various local producers (including Jack Scorpio and Specialist), they tried again with Sly and Robbie in 1992.
“Murder She Wrote” – Chaka Demus & Pliers’ signature song – was a testament to perseverance. Listen to Chaka Demus & Pliers on Apple Music and Spotify. Solely produced by iconic Jamaican duo Sly & Robbie, the album spawned six Top 40 UK hits: the flirty “Tease Me,” “She Don’t Let Nobody” (a soulful cover of Curtis Mayfield’s 1981 hit), “Gal Wine,” “Twist and Shout” (a cover of the Isley Brothers’ 1962 classic), the R&B-inspired “I Wanna Be Your Man,” and “Murder She Wrote.” The following year, the pair released Tease Me (known as All She Wrote in the United States). After releasing a few albums on local Jamaican labels in 1992, Chaka Demus & Pliers signed to Mango Records (a subsidiary distributed by Island Records). Hibbert, who won the 2005 Grammy for Best Reggae album for True Love, died a few weeks after releasing Got To Be Tough, his latest album in a decade.The duo’s prior music business experiences, along with a pop-minded reggae-dancehall fusion sound, helped them gain overseas attention. “We would be standing in a Number 9 matatu going to Eastleigh, it was uncomfortable but some of the discomforts of standing and pushing against each other were taken away by the music. When they were doing that song, they were simply expressing themselves,” she said. “They did justice to the song and it became a massive hit. “You will know the song, maybe several versions of it, even if you cannot tell who recorded it.”Ĭatherine Ndonye, the presenter of the Sundowner show on KBC radio had praise for the latter versions of the song, but still had adulation for the original version. “ Bam Bam is one of those songs,” he says.
Njoroge, who ran the hugely popular DS Club at the Nairobi Showground, says there is music that transcends the artiste. The theme of Bam Bam is about a righteous man, who, if provoked, will not hesitate to defend himself. The Maytals won Jamaica’s National Popular Song Contest in 1966 with Bam Bam. In Africa, Tiwa Savage sampled the hook in her Girlie O remix and even lesser-known Nigerian artistes such as Ketchup who made a splash in the music industry with Pam Pam which included samples of the song. “The owner of the bar would be angry because people are not drinking, everybody would be on their feet,” Njoroge said.
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