I was at the reggae superstar’s side before and after he escaped assassination. The new film took me back to this time, of love triangles, London punks and cold war conflict
Harry J’s studio, Kingston, Jamaica, winter 1976. Wearing a Spartan Health Club T-shirt and busted sandals, Bob Marley finishes singing a take of a weirdly cheery song called Smile Jamaica. I had been reporting from the island for the British rock press and was popping by to give my farewells – only to be surprised by this ditty that sounded like a tourism commercial. Why so upbeat? Marley took a swig of green juice and, frowning, crisply replied: “People in Jamaica too vex.”
Vex means angry, and the truth of his analysis would soon become all too clear over the coming days. Within a week, a reported four gunmen broke into Marley’s Hope Road home and shot him.
It was already a turbulent time on an island rocked by faraway cold war conflicts that trickled down to dominate the island’s two parties, each with their own gang affiliations and colourful leaders. The JLP (Jamaica Labour party) was headed by Edward Seaga, dubbed “CIAga” in downtown graffiti, and the PNP (People’s National party), led by the LSE graduate Michael Manley, relieved to get help from the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro’s Cuba. To read more: