Tom Browne - Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.) - (1980) • TopPop

“Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.)“ is a 1980 single by jazz trumpeter Tom Browne. The single—a memoir of the Jamaica neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens where Browne was born and raised—is from his second solo album, Love Approach. Browne got the idea for the song while he was at his parents’ home. The vocals for the single were performed by Toni Smith (Thomassina Carrollyne Smith), who also helped compose the song. The song hit number one on the US Billboard R&B chart for a month. “Funkin’ for Jamaica“ peaked at number nine on the dance chart and made the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. It later became one of the most interpolated melodies in R&B with the chorus’ chord sequence used by artists such as Johnny Kemp. Thomassina “Toni Smith” Carrollyn Smith (1959-2020) acted largely behind the scenes, there is no question of the impact that she had on the international music scene. Born in The Bronx, New York she first came to the attention of the world when she joined a latter day version of the 50’s vocal group The Crystals. This led her to meet popular trumpeter Tom Browne, and they began co-writing a song that would become a classic. “Funkin’ For Jamaica” became a smash around the world, topping the charts and elevating both Toni and Tom in the music world, as they both simply tore the song up. The two continued to work together on several songs over the next few years. With her beautiful Chaka-meets-Cheryl Lynn style voice, Toni Smith also became a sought-after background vocalist, working with a who’s who of R&B stars ranging from Stephanie Mills to James Ingram. She also provided guest vocals on several contemporary jazz hits in the 80s and 90s. This song reached #3 in the Dutch Top 40 on 7 February 1981 This original TopPop recording was recorded in Yew York and first broadcast on December 12, 1980. Watch our great music videos ❯ More TopPop? Subscribe here ❯ More info on Wikipedia ❯ Broadcast date: 12 December 1980 This is to let you know that the video recording of the video clip was originally recorded by AVROTROS Broadcasting. AVROTROS Broadcasting hereby warrants and represents that it is the sole and exclusive owner of the physical film and/or videotape footage in this video clip. The performance of the artist(s) in the clip was filmed and recorded with the written consent of the artist(s) and their representatives. AVROTROS is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster, founded in 2014 from a merger of AVRO and TROS. From January 1st, 2014 the name of the merged broadcaster was used in joint programmes. AVRO was founded in 1923 as the Netherlands first public broadcaster. TROS started broadcasting in 1964. Toppop was a weekly AVRO pop program that was aired between 1970 and 1988. AVROTROS Broadcasting PO Box 2 1200 JA Hilversum The Netherlands TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years. World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons with Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Queen, Golden Earring, Boney M, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chic, Donna Summer and many many more.