Back in 2014 I blogged about the “pop-a-top” style after Derrick Morgan told me about his foray into this rhythm, and there was much debate about the validity of this music–whether or not it was a proper genre, if it was simply a rhythm, or if it was even something less than that. You can read the original post HERE. There was was decent discussion that took place in the comment section after the blog post, though the debate occurred mainly on the Pama Forum.
I had read David Katz’s interview with Lynford Anderson in Solid Foundation on this topic. Katz states, “The wacky ‘Pop A Top’ voiced by Anderson under the alias I did ‘Pop A Top,’ the first talking record in Jamaica, was another early quirky deejay disc. On this one Anderson attempted to mimic the bubbling sound featured on an advertisement for Canada Dry ginger ale over an adaptation of a popular New Orleans R&B number. As he explains: ‘I did Pop-A-Top, the first talking record in Jamaica–you can put that in any book. I heard the commercial–the guy said “Pop A Top.” Then I had this rhythm, “South Parkway Mambo,” a very old song by Dave Bartholomew. The instrumental version I was trying to re-create didn’t work, so we didn’t touch that tape for years. Once I got it out, Lloyd Charmers stated playing “pup pup pup pup pup pup” [on the organ], so I said: “Oh, Pop A Top!” That’s how the song came about. The tune became a big hit, so eventually we had about 13 different versions of it.'”
I had the opportunity to talk to Derrick Morgan again on March 17, 2017 via phone, I decided to inquire again about pop-a-top, and below is our conversation on this subject.
Heather: Could you talk to me about pop-a-top, what is it and how was it created?
Derrick: Pop-a-top was created by Lynford Anderson. I did the song Fat Man in that rhythm for him. Then he got Ansel Collins doing the organ shuffle style and they call it pop-a-top. That’s how the pop-a-top came in. They were trying to find a different style of reggae, or a different name for reggae music, and they call it pop-a-top. Bup bup BOOP, bup bup BOOP, bup bup BOOP. That’s pop-a-top.
Heather: You recorded a number of songs in that style, right?
Derrick: Not many. I do Fat Man and John Crow Skank, but the rest of them is mixed, they mix it different like pop-a-top.
Heather: Were there others who recorded in that style?
Derrick: There were quite a few rhythms with the same shuffle, that organ shuffle, that pop-a-top shuffle, but it wasn’t for long.
Heather: And when did this happen–was it after rocksteady, after reggae?
Derrick: It was after rocksteady. Then the reggae came in and Bunny Lee and Lynford Anderson wanted to change the name to pop-a-top, but it only hit in England with a few tunes, like Fat Man.
Enjoy these pop-a-top tunes!
Derrick Morgan’s “Fat Man” in pop-a-top style–Andy Capp “Pop A Top”
Fitzroy & Harry “Pop a Top Train”
Derrick Morgan and I talked about other topics, such as how he discovered Bob Marley, female vocalists, his 14 children and their involvement in the music industry, the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, and a day in the life at a recording studio, all of which I will bring to you in next week’s blog post! Please
Heather Augustyn 