Not only is today’s Song of the Day the first reggae tune to reach number one in the United States, it is the only Song of the Day ever to be used for a Windex commercial.
“I Can See Clearly Now” soared to number one on November 4, 1972 and stayed there for four weeks. Johnny Nash wrote and sang the song backed by the Fabulous Five.
Nash was known as an R&B singer until his voyage into reggae. In his early years, he was marketed as a competitor of Johnny Mathis. He first charted in 1958 with a cover of Doris Day’s “A Very Special Love.” In 1965, he had a top five R&B hit with "Let's Move and Groove Together.”
That song led to a concert tour in Jamaica where he discovered reggae. He then moved to Jamaica and created his own record label, signing Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh to recording contracts.
Jimmy Cliff covered our Song of the Day for the movie “Cool Runnings” in 1993. It reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A little bit of extra trivia. Eric Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff” was the second reggae-influenced song to hit the top spot in 1974. The third was “The Tide Is High,” by Blondie in 1981.
Song of the Day is the creation of Sheldon Zoldan, former editor of The News-Press in Fort Myers, and special to WGCU.
