"Master Blaster (Jammin')" is a

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer-songwriter

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, released as the lead single from his nineteenth studio album, '' Hotter than July'' (1980). It was a major hit, spending seven weeks at number one on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B singles chart, reaching number five on ''Billboard's'' pop singles chart in the fall of 1980 and peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number one in New Zealand.

History

The song, built on a heavy reggae feel, is an ode to reggae legend Bob Marley; Wonder had been performing live with Marley (billing him as an opening act) on his US tour in the fall of that year. Lyrics mention "children of

Jah Jah or Yah ( he, , ''Yāh'') is a short form of (YHWH), the four letters that form the tetragrammaton, the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of ''Jah'' is , even th ...

", "Marley's Hot on the box" and the end of the civil war in Zimbabwe. The song has a similar feel to Marley's own song " Jamming," from his 1977 album ''

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.''

Personnel

* Stevie Wonder – vocals,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

* Nathan Watts – bass * Benjamin Bridges – guitar * Dennis Davis – drums * Earl DeRouen – percussion * Isaiah Sanders –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

* Hank Redd – saxophone * Larry Gittens – trumpet * Rick Zunigar – guitar * Background vocals – Angela Winbush, Alexandra Brown Evans, Shirley Brewer, Marva Holcolm

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

DJ Luck & MC Neat version

"Master Blaster (Jammin')" was covered by UK garage duo

DJ Luck & MC Neat DJ Luck & MC Neat are a British musical duo, composed of Joel Samuels (a.k.a. DJ Luck) and Michael Rose (a.k.a. MC Neat) mainly performing a combination of house music and UK garage. They had three consecutive top 10 hits in the United Kingd ...

featuring singer JJ, initially titled as "On da Street" which was released on the ''Red Rose EP'' in 1999. The following year, on 15 May 2000, the song was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and retitled as "Masterblaster 2000". This version was a top-five hit, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart. It samples the All-Star Remix of " No Diggity" by Blackstreet, which itself samples "As Long as I've Got You" by the Charmels. In November 2016, UK duo Gorgon City compiled a list of their top UK garage songs for ''

'', with "Masterblaster 2000" at number 29. In 2018, the House & Garage Orchestra together with MC Neat and Oggie recorded an orchestral version for the UK garage covers album '' Garage Classics''.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1980 songs 1980 singles 2000 singles American reggae songs Cashbox number-one singles Motown singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Number-one singles in Italy Stevie Wonder songs Songs about Bob Marley Songs written by Stevie Wonder Tamla Records singles Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder