Bam Bam (version family)

Well supported

Bam Bam is not a riddim, though it is routinely listed as one. It is a title and hook that has travelled across several different rhythms since Toots and the Maytals took the 1966 Festival Song Competition with the original. The best-known cut, Sister Nancy's 1982 "Bam Bam", is voiced over the Stalag riddim (Ansell Collins, Techniques, 1973) — not over any rhythm called Bam Bam; Nancy has said she reached for the phrase after hearing Yellowman and Fathead cut their own version, which was on the Taxi rhythm, in a nearby studio. Chaka Demus and Pliers returned to the Maytals' words for their 1992 hit. Sister Nancy's record has since been sampled more than a hundred times, making it the most sampled Jamaican record ever cut. This entry exists to keep the distinction straight: follow each cut to the rhythm it actually sits on.