When sound systems came into being in Jamaica, nobody imagined that the world would be our sound system world. Herbie Miller was once Peter Tash's manager and today he directs and curates the Jamaica Music Museum. He gets a big old smile when he talks about seeing his country's music go global. It still blows his mind that so much of it came from this little party scene in the middle of the Caribbean.
Jamaica is famous around the world for its music, including genres like ska, dub, and reggae. It’s tempting to think that the powerful amplifiers and giant speakers at the dance parties were designed to perfectly capture Jamaica’s indigenous sounds. But it’s actually the other way around. Those speakers and amps came first. And the electricians, mechanics and engineers who built and adapted that technology would then play a decisive role in the creation of Jamaica’s modern music. They helped pioneer approaches to making and performing music that would spawn whole other scenes from the Bronx to the UK.
Wickedest Sound