Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston-later known as Bunny Wailer-began playing music together as teenagers in the West Kingston slum of Trench Town. By the late 1960s, the running ska beat slowed down to a more mellow stroll and reggae was born.īy the time reggae conquered Jamaica's dancehalls and radio waves, the Wailers were established veterans on the local musical scene. By the early 1960s, mento was mostly displaced by ska, a scorching uptempo style featuring prominent horns and a characteristic rhythm skank on the off-beat. Jamaican pop music came into its own in the 1950s and '60s as island musicians, combining local folk and gospel music traditions with the country and R&B influences being broadcast into the country via AM radio from Miami and New Orleans, created a distinct national sound.įirst came mento, which ruled Jamaican dancehalls in the 1950s and sounded a bit like Trinidadian calypso. The process by which Jamaica's beloved national music went "outernational" began to transform the music itself, making reggae-or at least Bob Marley's brand of reggae-perhaps a little bit less Jamaican even as it introduced Jamaican culture to much of the world. Like most such stories, it's one that contains more than a little irony. Therefore, the story of "Concrete Jungle" is a story of cultural globalization. So, this is arguably the song that launched the transformation of reggae music from a purely local Jamaican art form into a global pop phenomenon. And "Concrete Jungle," as the first track on the album, was the song that introduced listeners to Catch a Fire. Catch a Fire was the album that introduced the world to Bob Marley, the first international reggae superstar.