World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

The Jamaicans

Band. Ska, rocksteady

Active
1960s

The Jamaicans were a rocksteady vocal group made up of Tommy Cowan, Norris Weir, and Martin Williams. They recorded for Duke Reid at Treasure Isle and broke through in 1967 with "Things You Say You Love."

That same year they won the Festival Song Competition with "Ba Ba Boom," beating Desmond Dekker and the Aces with "Unity" and Al and the Vibrators with "Move Up." Bradley singles out the "imposing bottom-end dexterity" of the bass on the record. This was the second contest rather than the first: the inaugural competition in 1966 had been won by the Maytals with "Bam Bam." Cowan sang lead and wrote the song at his home on Delacree Road, and later described the run-up as a national campaign for votes.

The group broke up in the early 1970s. Cowan went into production and artist management, working with Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus and with Israel Vibration, and became a promoter and master of ceremonies.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Cecelia Campbell-Livingston, "It's a Ba Ba Boom Time," Jamaica Observer, August 3, 2013, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/its-a-ba-ba-boom-time/. The Gleaner adds a fourth member, Owen Hylton. Yasmine Peru, "Tommy Cowan Cheers On Festival Song Finalists: Won in 1967 with 'Baba Boom Time,'" Jamaica Gleaner, June 25, 2020, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20200625/tommy-cowan-cheers-festival-song-finalists-won-1967-baba-boom-time.
  2. Bradley lists "Ba Ba Boom" and "Things You Say You Love" among Duke Reid's rocksteady hits. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 172. The Rough Guide calls the latter "the Jamaicans' rocksteady hit." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 110. The Observer says it broke them in 1967. Campbell-Livingston, "Ba Ba Boom Time."
  3. Campbell-Livingston, "Ba Ba Boom Time." The Gleaner, which gives the title as "Baba Boom Time," says Dekker and the Aces placed second and Al and the Vibrators third, and that Cowan and Weir wrote the song. Peru, "Tommy Cowan Cheers On Festival Song Finalists." Bradley singles out the record's "imposing bottom-end dexterity" on bass. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 165.
  4. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 165.
  5. The Rough Guide confirms "Bam Bam" as the 1966 winner. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 58. See also Campbell-Livingston, "Ba Ba Boom Time."
  6. Cowan told the Observer, "It was like a big election as we had to campaign all over the country seeking votes for our song." Campbell-Livingston, "Ba Ba Boom Time." Norris Weir gives a different account: "I wrote Ba Ba Boom at the request of Duke Reid through Tommy Cowan." Howard Campbell, "Boom Times for the Jamaicans," Jamaica Observer, July 30, 2016, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2016/07/30/boom-times-for-the-jamaicans.
  7. Campbell-Livingston, "Ba Ba Boom Time."
  8. The Rough Guide says Cowan became "a proficient and popular producer in the mid-1970s (the Sweet City, Talent, Arab and Top Ranking labels) and then a very successful Sunsplash MC," and credits him with Ras Michael's "None A Jah Jah Children No Cry" and Israel Vibration's "The Same Song." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 65, 173, 204. The Gleaner adds that he founded Talent Corporation in 1975 and was MC at the One Love Peace Concert. "ICON: Tommy Cowan," Jamaica Gleaner, July 29, 2008, http://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080729/ent/ent3.html.

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