Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Day 129 of 365 Day Jamaican Music Challenge - Admiral Bailey - Jump Up

Admiral Bailey, born Glendon Bailey, was a regular on U-Roy's King Sturgav Hi-Fi and was taken to King Jammy by Josie Wales.  From that moment, the Admiral cut one hit after another and his jovial on-stage persona, complete with full Naval uniform, quickly made him a fan favorite in late 80s dancehall.  Plain and simple... I love the hell outta Admiral Bailey!  Back in the late 80s when my pal Nick and I first started exploring dancehall with weekly trips to West Indian Record Mart in Takoma Park Maryland to buy the newest tunes fresh from Jamaica, I immediately knew that anything by the Admiral was gonna be something I liked... and 9 times out of 10 he never steered me wrong.  Better yet, if I saw something with Admiral Bailey on a Jammys label I was guaranteed of a instant classic!  Case in point, today's tune "Jump Up" from 1988 on the top-flight Kuff riddim was one such record.  Though not exactly the most poignant of lyrics or brimming with any real content, it's a helluva lot of fun and even today, 28 years later, it still puts a smile on my face.

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