| "My Jamaican Guy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Grace Jones | ||||
| from the album Living My Life | ||||
| B-side | "Cry Now, Laugh Later" | |||
| Released | 1983 | |||
| Format | 7" single and 12" single | |||
| Genre | Dub, Reggae | |||
| Length | 4:05 (US), 3:36 (UK) | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Writer(s) | Grace Jones | |||
| Producer | Alex Sadkin, Chris Blackwell | |||
| Grace Jones singles chronology | ||||
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"My Jamaican Guy" was the lead single to Grace Jones' 1982 album Living My Life, her third and last album recorded in the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. The single was released in January 1983.
The song was released in various remixed forms and was a sizeable hit. It was also featured in her music documentary A One Man Show, in which Grace kisses her own image.
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Jones revealed in 2010 that "My Jamaican Guy" was written about Tyrone Downie, "who was with somebody else. He was a beautiful guy. He doesn't even know I wrote it about him." [1] Jones' mother Marjorie provided backing vocals but, as a pastor's wife, wasn't credited for fear of upsetting church elders.[2]
The US and the UK 12" versions of the track differed substantially; the US version (7:01) was in fact the unedited and unremixed album master and was later included on the 1998 compilation Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions. The UK 12" credits separately 'My Jamaican Guy', 4.05 and J.A. Guys (Dub), 3.11 but the tracks run together as one; the mix opens with the first four minutes of the Living My Life album version, then cuts to the three last minutes of the dub version "J.A. Guys" - the full length version of which in turn was released as the B-side of the US 12" "Nipple to the Bottle". Both the UK 12" mix of "My Jamaican Guy" and the "J.A. Guys" dub remain unreleased on CD.
The iconic image on the single cover was created by Jean-Paul Goude. A version of it was later used as a cover of her final "best of" compilation to date; see The Ultimate Collection.
The song was a UK #56 hit in 1983.
LL Cool J sampled the song for his 1995 single, "Doin It", and subsequently Keri Hilson sampled it for her song, "Do It". Kid 'n Play's "Undercover" (featuring The Real Roxanne) from their 1988 debut album 2 Hype also sampled the song.