Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Fab Five - Contributed

When Fab Five's Ringroad Jam hit Jamaica in 1986, the nation jammed along to the tale of a merry time on the campus of the country's then only university.

However, while the soca song introduced a relatively small celebration among a band of students from the across the Caribbean to a wider audience, it was not a new song.

But then, it was not a new celebration.

Alvin Campbell, who wrote Ringroad Jam, recalls that "From probably about 1968, 1969, me and a group of friends were in the habit of going to the UWI Carnival and jumping Carnival Day into night. In 1973 I went to the university as student, to study English. While there the first year it occurred to me I should write something about this, as it was unique."

Campbell pointed out that at the time "calypso music was not particularly big in Jamaica" there were some small celebrations. And, at UWI Carnival, "It was a small crowd. I don't think you had 2,000 to 3,000 people. If you counted people at the union for the after fete you might get 4,000."

Ringroad Jam was duly written and put down.

Then in 1976 Campbell started working with the Fabulous Five Incorporated. "I said Grub (Cooper) I wrote a song about Carnival. He said let me hear it," Campbell said. The tune was delivered and Cooper said "Hold on to it, we will need it."

That 'hold' proved longer than the number of beeps required to suffer through when calling a government office during lunch hours, as Campbell said "The next time I heard about it was in 1985."

"Grub came to me and said I ready for the song. I said which song, and he said Ringroad Jam. I said I hope I have it," Campbell recounted.

He did and there was a second listen. Cooper again passed the song, but said it needed another verse, with some humour. And the verse with the "policeman feeling sweet", which in turn spawned Glen Campbell's unforgettable role as the musically inebriated lawman.

Campbell points out that Ringroad Jam was actually released as a single and came out on the Yu Safe album in 1986. It did not reach the coveted number one spot, peaking at about three, but it made an impression that could not be measured in figures.

Good airplay

"Ringroad Jam was the first calypso song that was played regularly in the dancehall. It beat out Tiney Winey, which became the second soca song to get fairly good airplay in the dancehall," Campbell said, clarifying that "Before there were calypsos that got play in the older dancehall. We talking about dancehall as we know it now."

As for that verse about the policeman ("when Inspector come, him just han' him him gun, an say sir, I'll see you in the morning ..."), it may have been a late addition, but it was not about a new situation. "It was experiences. You used to have policemen up on campus during carnival, ostensibly keeping the peace," Campbell said, pointing out that there was no violence anyway, and the police officers were not even armed.

"People used to treat them as part of the whole jump-up. It was not unusual for someone to take off a policeman's hat. They understood. They played it very cool," he said.

In the video for Ringroad Jam Glen Campbell, playing the policeman, did not play it cool, heating up the screen with expression and dancing. Campbell said "I used to teach Glen Campbell drama," and that Louis Marriott was the person who "said we had to get Glen Campbell in this video".

Ringroad Jam and the Yu Safe album were popular in the wider Caribbean, Campbell saying that it also took off in Central America, in countries such as Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica. He said they also did well in Mexico. The ethnic markets in New York, Florida and Toronto also caught on to the beat.

And Campbell points out that "No Trinidadian ever fought Fab Five over playing soca. There were some people in Jamaica who were saying 'dem cyaan play soca'."