Montego Bay (song)


"Montego Bay" is a song co-written and performed by Bobby Bloom about the city in Jamaica of the same name. The song was a Top 10 hit for Bloom in the Fall of 1970 on both sides of the Atlantic. It reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart, #5 on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart, #7 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart and #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was co-written and produced by Jeff Barry. In the master tape of the song, Bloom breaks into a chorus of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" at the end of the recording, but the single version fades out before that. Apparently, that was done to avoid paying royalties for use of the Rodgers & Hammerstein song, though the full version does appear on the Bobby Bloom Album and has received frequent airplay. The song features a whistler, as well as Jamaican instruments to illustrate the section called "Montego Bay," in a Calypso genre.
Bloom's recording of the song appeared in the 1997 film The Ice Storm.

Chart history

Weekly charts

;Freddie Notes & the Rudies cover
Chart Peak
position
UK45

;Sugar Cane cover
Chart Peak
position
UK54

;Jon Stevens cover
Chart Peak
position
New Zealand 1

;Quarrington/Worthy cover
Chart Peak
position
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary15

;Allniters cover
Chart Peak
position
Australia 19

;Amazulu cover
Chart Peak
position
Canada6
-
South Africa 16
UK16
U.S. Billboard Hot 10090

Year-end charts

Jon Stevens version

In January 1980, New Zealand recording artist Jon Stevens released a version as a single. It peaked at number 1 in New Zealand, knocking himself from the top of the charts. "Montego Bay" remained number 1 for seven weeks in 1980.

Track listing

; Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
  1. "Montego Bay"
  2. "Sha La La"

    Charts

Other recordings