My Jamaican Guy
by Grace Jones (1982)
Songs category pick for the week of 7/14/08
You might recognize the hook in Grace Jones' hit My Jamaican Guy from LL Cool J's Doin It. I grew up knowing about Grace Jones from A View to a Kill (with a white haired, hammy Christopher Walken), Conan the Destroyer, and later, as Strange Boomerang (which I might add I was totally in love with when it came out... I wonder how it holds up?)
But her musical career is still fairly unknown to me. Mike introduced me to this song at The Phoenix to appease my demands for some Stevie Nicks (which was no longer on their juke box). He assumed I would like it and he was right.
Jones was a cultural phenomenon. A former fashion model turned performance artist, who began her career outlandishly costumed in gay clubs until her NYC presence could no longer be ignored.
This song was released towards the end of the first round of her music career on the album Living My Life, after which she took a hiatus from music and focused on acting for three years.
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