"Master Blaster (Jammin')" is a

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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, p ...

singer-songwriter

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, released as the lead single from his nineteenth studio album, ''

Hotter than July ''Hotter than July'' is the nineteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on September 29, 1980, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. Wonder primarily recorded the album in Los Angeles, Cali ...

'' (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 advertis ...

'' 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 Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

feel, is an ode to reggae legend

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

; 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 (, ''Yāh'') is a short form of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of ''Jah'' is , even though the letter J here transliter ...

", "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 ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

.'' ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that it combines "topical urban street themes with reggae-pop rhythms."

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, t ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

Nathan Watts Nathan Lamar Watts (born March 25, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan.) is an American session bassist, best known for his work with Stevie Wonder from the 1970s to the present. He has served as Stevie Wonder's musical director since 1994. Biography ...

– bass * Benjamin Bridges – guitar *

Dennis Davis Dennis Davis (August 28, 1951 – April 6, 2016) was an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie, playing on ten albums—including seven successive studio albums—during the singer's classic mid- and late ...

– drums * Earl DeRouen – percussion * Isaiah Sanders –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

* Hank Redd – saxophone * Larry Gittens – trumpet * Rick Zunigar – guitar * Background vocals –

Angela Winbush Angela Lisa Winbush (born January 18, 1955) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to fame first in the 1980s R&B duo René & Angela, also scoring hits as a solo artist. To date, Winbush has sold over ...

, 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 UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

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 Kingdo ...

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 "No Diggity" is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet featuring American rappers Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, serving as the first single from their second studio album, '' Another Level'' (1996). The song was released on July 29, 1996, by Inter ...

" by Blackstreet, which itself samples "As Long as I've Got You" by the Charmels. In November 2016, UK duo

Gorgon City Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2014 singles " Ready for Your Love" and " Here for You" reached the top 10 in the UK. ...

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