A-side "Montego Bay" Released January 1980 Genre Pop rock | B-side "Sha La La" Format single Label CBS Records | |
"Montego Bay" is a song co-written and performed by Bobby Bloom about the city in Jamaica. The song was a Top 10 hit for Bloom in September 1970 on both sides of the Atlantic. It reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart, #5 on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart, #7 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart and #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was co-written and produced by Jeff Barry. In the master tape of the song, Bloom breaks into a chorus of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" at the end of the recording, but the single version fades out before that. Apparently, that was done to avoid paying royalties for use of the Rodgers & Hammerstein song, though the full version does appear on the Bobby Bloom Album and has received frequent airplay. The song features a whistler, as well as Jamaican instruments to illustrate the section called "Montego Bay," in a Calypso genre.
Contents
Bloom's recording of the song appeared in the film The Ice Storm.
Jon Stevens version
In January 1980, New Zealand recording artist Jon Stevens released a version as a single. It peaked at number 1 in New Zealand, knocking himself from the top of the charts. "Montego Bay" remained number 1 for seven weeks in 1980.
Track listing
- "Montego Bay"
- "Sha La La"