People Funny Boy

Jamaican musician Lee "Scratch" Perry's musical career began in the late 1950s as a record seller for Clement Coxsone Dodd's sound system. After he recorded nearly 30 songs for the label, the pair fell out and Perry found a new home at Joe Gibbs' Amalgamated Records. Perry continued his recording career but, once again, financial problems caused conflict. After splitting with Gibbs he formed his own label, Upsetter, in 1968 and released this song as his first single. The tune was a scathing attack directed at Gibbs and it heralded a new era in Jamaican music. Though not the first reggae song to be released (musicologists often cite Larry Marshall's "Nanny Goat," from a few months earlier, as the original), this song sounded like no other record made. Featuring a fast, chuggy beat, it had an intrinsic Jamaican feel that eschewed the American soul stylings of the prevalent rock steady sound.

The song is also notable for its innovative use of a sample, in this case a crying baby. Perry explained in Q Magazine's 100 Songs That Changed The World how the cries coming from a Pocomania church, (an African-based religion similar to voodoo) was the inspiration. He said: "One night me walking past a Pocomania church and hear the people inside a wail. And me catch the vibration and say boy! Let's make a sound fe catch the vibration of them people!"

The song proved a huge hit for Perry in Jamaica and laid the foundation for him becoming the most in-demand producer in Jamaica until he suffered a breakdown in 1978. The music that The Wailers made with Perry between 1969 and 1971 and his production for such notable musicians such as Junior Murvin, The Congos and Max Romeo had everyone from Paul McCartney to Robert Palmer beating a path to his door. Perry now lives in Switzerland and continues recording and performing to enthusiastic audiences in Europe and North America.