The Story Of ‘Bam Bam’: Dancehall Singer Pliers Almost Didn’t Record The Hit Song
Out of many classics born in Dancehall’s heyday, Chaka Demus & Pliers’ lovers rock anthem Bam Bam is one for the ages. With its banging beat and mass appeal, the song has been sampled more than 50 times over the years by the likes of Beyoncé & Jay Z, Junior Mafia on the 90’s hip hop bop Young Casanova, and on Flavour’s 2011 Afrobeats breakout track Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix).
The singer’s special rendition of Toots and the Maytals’ 1966 festival song has easily found favour the world over. It was shocking then, to hear Pliers reveal that the song was almost never recorded because, as he claims, he ‘didn’t know the lyrics’
It’s no idle boast that music is in Pliers’ blood. He’s one of the famous Bonner brothers — Richie Spice, Spanner Banner and Snatcha Lion — whose soulful vocal abilities have brought considerable success in Reggae. He’s also half of the Reggae/Dancehall duo Chaka Demus & Pliers, famous for mainstream hits like Murder She Wrote and Tease Me.
Speaking on Toronto’s Entertainment Report Podcast with host Muscle, the veteran was very frank as he recalled the studio session with Sly & Robbie’s Taxi Gang that gave the world two mega-hits in one day. He and Chakademus were invited to record after a slew of artists he wouldn’t name turned down the pulsating masterpiece, calling it an “eediat riddim”.
He was initially unsure of voicing for the legendary beatmakers, as Murder She Wrote, a song he’d done nearly a dozen times as a solo cut for other producers had earned him some cash but had gotten no traction.
Pliers added that part of his apprehension was because he was certain he had a major hit on his hands. “How yuh think Murder She Wrote buss an dem ting deh? Is because me is a man weh coz me know is a hit song mi did write, mi continue sing it till it buss.”
He was encouraged however by the prolific producers whose timeless work includes the Baltimore and Taxi Riddims, and the rest, as they say, is history. The session went well and they had actually wrapped after recording Murder She Wrote, but something about the version of Bam Bam he was already envisioning made Pliers turn back.
“We ah leave out, dem give we a likkle change inna we hand and ting but this riddim kept ringing a bell with Toots Bam Bam festival song back in di days and mi turn back!” he said.
“Why I didn’t put it to Sly earlier as I done record Murder She Wrote is because I didn’t know all of the lyrics. I know a few of the lyrics. So I said to dem, bwoy, I woulda love put Bam Bam on di riddim and dem seh ‘sing it man’, so mi say I don’t know di lyrics.”
But Sly and Robbie had incredible confidence in the budding singjay and again nudged him towards greatness. “Di man dem say, ‘How yuh mean? Sing weh yuh know!’” The melodic vocalist seems surprised to this day that he improvised one of the genre’s greatest hits. “To me it coulda even better but mi jus sing weh mi know as him seh.”
Needless to say, the spontaneous 1992 remake was a staggering success; Bam Bam has been canonized from pop culture to virtual reality. The song appears on the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and was heard during Philadelphia street parades after Joe Biden was announced as the 46th president of the United States.
When asked how he felt about the viral clips making the rounds in November, Pliers said he felt the song’s steadfast first line, “I want you to know that I am the man who will fight for the right, not the wrong”, was what resonated most in the moment.
“When mi wake up and look pon mi Facebook, the amount a people a repost it and a comment was in the thousands…It gone viral,” Pliers told the Jamaica Gleaner.
“I feel great because I take it international. Is I take it all over the world — from Italy, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Spain. Is I take it around the world and mek it be known global.”
Check out the full interview below.