Tom the Great Sebastian
Encyclopedia
Tom the Great Sebastian was an early Jamaica
n sound system started by Tom Wong in 1950, named for a trapeze performer in Barnum and Bailey
's circus. The group has been called "the all-time giant of sound systems" and helped launch several notable artists. Count Matchuki
is generally credited as Tom's first deejay
, before he joined Coxsone Dodd
, and Duke Vin was one of Tom's selectors
. The sound was also backed by Prince Buster
.
and half African Jamaican, owned a hardware store where he played music and got started in the music business by taking his equipment out to parties. He was "widely regarded as the leading sound system of his day," and helped popularize dancehall
music and sound system dance, aided in no small part by powerful amplifiers built by fellow DJ Hedley Jones. In addition to the equipment, his musical selections (many imported directly from the United States) and his originality as a DJ have been credited for his success.
Tom played rhythm and blues
loved by the "ghetto folk" and music intended to attract a more upper-class audience, such as merengue
and calypso
. There are rumors that Duke Reid
, a competing sound system operator who started four years after Tom and is credited with bringing gangland-style tactics to dancehall, drove Tom out of the downtown area of Kingston using ruffians from the Brick-O-Wall slum, but Duke Vin insists that Duke and Tom were friends and that Duke's followers never bothered Tom. The closest they came to a sound clash
was a set of competing parties in adjacent yards; they never went head-to-head. Tom did, however, move away from the violence of the downtown area to the Silver Slipper club in the more upscale Cross Roads area, a move which did not harm him financially.
Tom the Great Sebastian was the most popular of the first generation of sound systems until the mid 1950s when the "big three" of sound systems rose to popularity: Coxsone Dodd
's Downbeat, Duke Reid's The Trojans, and King Edward's Giant. Tom Wong committed suicide in 1971. After his death, the sound system was continued by Lou Gooden, who changed its name to Metromedia, after a record label.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n sound system started by Tom Wong in 1950, named for a trapeze performer in Barnum and Bailey
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...
's circus. The group has been called "the all-time giant of sound systems" and helped launch several notable artists. Count Matchuki
Count Matchuki
Winston Cooper , better known as Count Matchuki or Count Machuki, was the first Jamaican deejay.-Biography:Cooper was born c.1939 in Kingston, Jamaica, and began working on sound systems in the 1950s, when the music played was largely American R&B. His stage name of Count Matchuki derived from his...
is generally credited as Tom's first deejay
Deejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...
, before he joined Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
, and Duke Vin was one of Tom's selectors
Selector (disc jockey)
Selector is the term originally used for a reggae/dancehall disc jockey ....
. The sound was also backed by Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
.
History
Tom Wong, half Chinese JamaicanChinese Jamaican
Chinese Jamaicans are the descendants of migrants from China to Jamaica. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another wave of migration in the 1980s and 1990s...
and half African Jamaican, owned a hardware store where he played music and got started in the music business by taking his equipment out to parties. He was "widely regarded as the leading sound system of his day," and helped popularize dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
music and sound system dance, aided in no small part by powerful amplifiers built by fellow DJ Hedley Jones. In addition to the equipment, his musical selections (many imported directly from the United States) and his originality as a DJ have been credited for his success.
Tom played rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
loved by the "ghetto folk" and music intended to attract a more upper-class audience, such as merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
and calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
. There are rumors that Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
, a competing sound system operator who started four years after Tom and is credited with bringing gangland-style tactics to dancehall, drove Tom out of the downtown area of Kingston using ruffians from the Brick-O-Wall slum, but Duke Vin insists that Duke and Tom were friends and that Duke's followers never bothered Tom. The closest they came to a sound clash
Sound clash
A Sound clash is a musical competition where crew members from opposing reggae sound systems pit their skills against each other. Sound clashes take place in a variety of venues, both indoors and outdoors...
was a set of competing parties in adjacent yards; they never went head-to-head. Tom did, however, move away from the violence of the downtown area to the Silver Slipper club in the more upscale Cross Roads area, a move which did not harm him financially.
Tom the Great Sebastian was the most popular of the first generation of sound systems until the mid 1950s when the "big three" of sound systems rose to popularity: Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
's Downbeat, Duke Reid's The Trojans, and King Edward's Giant. Tom Wong committed suicide in 1971. After his death, the sound system was continued by Lou Gooden, who changed its name to Metromedia, after a record label.