As we remember Jamaica’s National Heroes on October 17 (the day is celebrated every 3rd Monday in October), we look back at Reggae Artist Horace Andy’s “Our Jamaican National Heroes” track. This single was produced by Bunny Lee for the Striker Lee Label in 1978 and features Andy paying tribute to our National Heroes. Here he name drops George William Gordon, Paul Bogle, Marcus Garvey, Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley as he learned about them during his younger days in School. For those paying attention, you may have noticed the omission of Heroine Nanny of the Maroons as she wasn’t conferred the Order of National Hero until March 1982, and Sam Sharpe the same date. In between the name drops, Horace would speak on the roles each Hero played with mention that George William Gordon and Marcus Garvey were betrayed, Bustamante was the only living National Hero at the time, and Marcus Garvey is the greatest Hero of them all.
Continue reading “OLDIES SUNDAY: Horace Andy – Our Jamaican National Heroes (1978)”
