The Allniters - Montego Bay (1983)

(Jeff Barry - Bobby Bloom)
Australia
#3 Sydney #15 Melbourne #8 Brisbane #19 Adelaide #24 Perth

Single on Powderworks by popular live ska band from Sydney featuring guitarist Martin Fabok and various line-ups. Montego Bay was the biggest of a handful of charting singles in Sydney 1982-1984.

Further reading: 1. The Allniters entry in Ian McFarlane’s Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop is the basis of the Allniters page at NostalgiaCentral.
2. The Wikipedia entry on The Allniters has a comprehensive line-up list and a discography.
Suggestion from Terry Stacey.

Jon Stevens - Montego Bay (1980)

(Jeff Barry - Bobby Bloom)
New Zealand
#1 NZ

Single on CBS, also on album Jezebel, by New Zealand singer who, after a successful solo career at home, moved to Australia and became lead singer of popular rock band Noiseworks, formed 1986. He also sang with INXS 2000-2003.

Essential reading: For the full Jon Stevens story, before and after Noiseworks, see Bruce Sergent’s NZ Music Site.

Freddie Notes & The Rudies - Montego Bay (1970)

(Jeff Barry - Bobby Bloom)
UK
#45 UK

The Rudies were a West Indian band who went on to form Greyhound (Black And White, 1971, #6 UK) with a new lead singer after Freddie Notes went solo.

Montego Bay was a single on Jamaican music label Trojan, formed in the UK 1968 around the rocksteady and reggae styles. First appearing briefly in 1967 as an Island label imprint featuring the productions of Duke Reid (“The Trojan King Of Sounds”), Trojan was relaunched in 1968 by Lee Gopthal in partnership with Island.

References: 1. Greyhound page at Trojanrecords.com. 2. Greyhound bio at All Music. 3. Label history at Trojan official site. 4. Wikipedia entry on Trojan.

The Bar-Kays - Montego Bay (1970)

(Jeff Barry - Bobby Bloom)
USA

Single on Volt by Stax-Volt backing band The Bar-Kays. They had a hit with Soul Finger (1967, #17 USA) and became soul star Otis Redding’s regular band.

Four of the original Bar-Kays died in the air accident that claimed Otis Redding, but the band was re-formed by the two remaining members. The Bar-Kays worked on as the house band at Stax and moved into a funkier style in the 70s.

References: All Music and Wikipedia entries on The Bar-Kays.

Bobby Bloom - Montego Bay (1970)

(Jeff Barry - Bobby Bloom)
USA
Original version
#8 USA #3 UK #12 Sydney #26 Melbourne #4 Brisbane #2 Adelaide #8 Perth #12 NZ

Single on Polydor, also on album Montego Bay, by Bobby Bloom (1946-1974), American singer, songwriter and recording engineer.

Montego Bay was written with Brill Building songwriting legend Jeff Barry with whom Bobby Bloom wrote a number of songs during this period. Both contributed songs to the final Monkees album, the Jeff Barry-produced Changes (1970), including two Barry-Bloom collaborations.

References: All Music and Wikipedia entries on Bobby Bloom.

Amazulu - Montego Bay (1986)

(Jeff Barry - Bobby Bloom)
UK
Later version
#16 UK

Single on Island by British ska band. Also a hit in Canada.

♫ Listen at YouTube

Further reading: Amazulu entry at Wikipedia.

Meeting Point - Montego Bay (1977)

(Robert Puschmann - Friedrich Dorff - Howard Barnes - [Grant?] Lohrey)
Germany
Red herring
#39 NZ

SAME TITLE BUT NOT THE SAME SONG AS ‘MONTEGO BAY’ BY THE ALLNITERS. .

Single on Hansa International October 1977, produced by co-writer Robert Puschmann (Peter Wischmann 1939-2000).

Released on RCA Victor in Australia and New Zealand 1978.

Reference: Full writers’ names from Discogs.com. W. Lohrey on the label is identified there as Grant Lohrey. Howard Barnes (1909-1991) was British.

Pepe Jaramillo - Montego Bay (1967)

(Malcolm Addey)
UK
Red herring

SAME TITLE BUT NOT THE SAME SONG AS ‘MONTEGO BAY’ BY THE ALLNIGHTERS. .

On Columbia album This is Pepe Jaramillo by the Mexican pianist, produced by Norman Newell.

Let's leave it at that for the Red herrings: BMI lists over 30 songs entitled Montego Bay.