Tom the Great Sebastian was an early Jamaican sound system started by Tom Wong in 1950,[1] named for a trapeze performer[2] in Barnum and Bailey's circus.[3] The group has been called "the all-time giant of sound systems"[1] and helped launch several notable artists. Count Matchuki is generally credited as Tom's first deejay,[3] before he joined Coxsone Dodd, and Duke Vin was one of Tom's selectors.[3] The sound was also backed by Prince Buster.[4]
History [link]
Tom Wong, half Chinese Jamaican and half African Jamaican,[5] owned a hardware store where he played music and got started in the music business by taking his equipment out to parties. He was "widely regarded as the leading sound system of his day," and helped popularize dancehall music and sound system dance, aided in no small part by powerful amplifiers built by fellow DJ Hedley Jones.[6] In addition to the equipment, his musical selections (many imported directly from the United States) and his originality as a DJ have been credited for his success.[1]
Tom played rhythm and blues loved by the "ghetto folk" and music intended to attract a more upper-class audience, such as merengue and calypso.[7] There are rumors that Duke Reid, a competing sound system operator who started four years after Tom and is credited with bringing gangland-style tactics to dancehall,[8] drove Tom out of the downtown area of Kingston using ruffians from the Brick-O-Wall slum, but Duke Vin insists that Duke and Tom were friends and that Duke's followers never bothered Tom. The closest they came to a sound clash was a set of competing parties in adjacent yards; they never went head-to-head.[7] Tom did, however, move away from the violence of the downtown area[8] to the Silver Slipper club in the more upscale Cross Roads area,[7] a move which did not harm him financially.[9]
Tom the Great Sebastian was the most popular of the first generation of sound systems until the mid 1950s when the "big three" of sound systems rose to popularity: Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat, Duke Reid's The Trojans, and King Edward's Giant.[2] Tom Wong committed suicide in 1971.[5] After his death, the sound system was continued by Lou Gooden, who changed its name to Metromedia, after a record label.[10]
References [link]
- ^ a b c Salewicz, Chris (2010). Bob Marley: The Untold Story. Macmillan. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-0-86547-999-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=KOtXnXkFS2QC&pg=PA54.
- ^ a b Brewster, Bill; Frank Broughton (2000). Last night a dj saved my life: the history of the disc jockey. Grove Press. pp. 112. ISBN 978-0-8021-3688-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=Np3dpRhTsxQC&pg=PA112. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- ^ a b c Locilento, Micah (2002). Shaggy: Doggamuffin Style. ECW Press. pp. 49. ISBN 978-1-55022-523-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=QOwjjNycsWkC&pg=PA49.
- ^ Katz, David (2003). Solid foundation: an oral history of reggae. Bloomsbury. pp. 12. ISBN 978-1-58234-143-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=LcTgyjJ3OXoC&pg=PA12.
- ^ a b Augustyn, Heather (2010). Ska: An Oral History. McFarland. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7864-6040-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=bUba45txcJ8C&pg=PA24.
- ^ Stolzoff, Norman C. (Duke UP). Wake the town & tell the people: dancehall culture in Jamaica. Duke UP. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-0-8223-2514-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph8TBR6LErQC&pg=PA43.
- ^ a b c Katz, David (2003). Solid foundation: an oral history of reggae. Bloomsbury. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-1-58234-143-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=LcTgyjJ3OXoC&pg=PA7.
- ^ a b Salewicz, Chris; Adrian Boot (2001). Reggae explosion: the story of Jamaican music. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-3789-5.
- ^ Bradley, Lloyd (2001). This is reggae music: the story of Jamaica's music. Grove Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-8021-3828-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=mJBFgimdBhYC&pg=PA36.
- ^ Henry, Krista (11 November 2007). "'Metro' plays year to year". Jamaica Gleaner. https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20071111/ent/ent2.html. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
https://wn.com/Tom_the_Great_Sebastian
Podcasts:
The Great
by: DMXWooh
Come on
Wooh
Uh, uh, wooh
Come on
Wooh
Uh, uh uh
Man, I hear you niggas talkin
But'choo walkin the wrong way to really mean it
I done heard it, I done seen it, don't get caught up in between it
Its a dark road you walkin on, same street that I be stalkin on
Suppose to be quiet, but you keep talkin on
Now ya mouth got you in some shit
So we gon' let everybody see your gangsta ass get smaked like a bitch
Guess I'll remind y'all niggas, I can find y'all niggas
Click click, whats up, walk up right behind y'all niggas
Once the four four hit'cha
You ain't going no where but out the door on a stretcha
Boy, I'ma get'cha
Wet y'all niggas up like a pool
'Cuz I done told you, Y'ALL GON' MAKE ME LOSE MY COOL
Yo Knock get the glock, these bitch niggas is actin
Making movies, we'll make a movie about this shit after is happened
All that yappin, that them niggas is gettin away with
Take it easy my friend, let 'em know, dog ain't to be played with
A nigga gotta take a girl with the back
I'm fuckin with the hood and I'm back
I wish you understood why I'm back
It would take a lotta pressure off my back
A nigga gotta take a girl with the back
I'm fuckin with the hood and I'm back
I wish you understood why I'm back
It would take a lotta pressure off my back
Uh, uh, uh
Most of these hard rocks turn out to be soft as wet dog shit
Talkin shit, but when the fog spits, dog they all split
Then all hit the ground around the same time
In the same frame of mind, ?thangs up in the nine?
left them bitches blind, hit 'em up from behind
Yeah, thats how you do that
And he had such a good head up on his shoulders, but I blew that
Fuck you black, you new cats don't know somethin important
You die quick fuckin with my shit, and my shits extortin
House rules, when I speak, y'all niggas listen
I drop jewels that y'all cats can't afford to keep missin
Drinkin ??? fueled by drugs
Shits about to get real outta hand dog, betta get ya man dog
Rap shit comes second, I'ma show you what a robber do
Mention ice one more time and I'm robbin you
Tie you up for a week starvin you
Beatin the shit outta you everday, cuz yo, these niggas gotta pay
Uh, uh, uh
Dog it ain't no secret 'bout how its going down once I put on the pressure
It ain't nothing but another nigga put on a stretcher
With a blanket over his face, take him to the morgue with the waste
'Cuz he was in the wrong place at the wrong time
So I gave it to him in his chest
In his throat, in his head, in his back, through his vest, YES
Ain't a whole lot to braking a nigga down fast
They call me black 'cuz thats how I'm gon' be on that ass
Y'all pussy niggas think y'all sweet
But ain't a fuckin thing going down til I eat
So can I beef? You betta while you still got teeth
'Cuz they about to get knocked out, hopped out
On that ass with a blast that'll make ya shit drop out
Popped out, through a you know what
Cuz you know why, and you know my
Motherfuckin name up in this game
And bitch, you know I
Will never be crossed flippin, but on some east coast terms