Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Reggae singer Cocoa Tea - File

WITH ONE week to go before the historic election in the United States, music by Caribbean artistes is helping to push the vote for Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate.

Obama, an Hawaii-born, African-American senator from Illinois, is running against Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. Most polls show Obama leading by a comfortable margin.

Jamaican Winston Barnes, host of the 'Open Mic with Winston Barnes' show on WAVS.1170 AM radio station in Fort Lauderdale, says enthusiasm among Jamaican voters, especially in south Florida, is high.

Power play

He points out that songs by reggae acts Cocoa Tea, Screwdriver and calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow have been getting power play on the station, and has struck a chord with listeners.

"They've been quite popular and certainly have the potential to get people to vote," Barnes told The Gleaner.

Barack Obama is the title of the Cocoa Tea number, while Barack The Magnificent is the name of Sparrow's song. Screwdriver released his Jah Send Him Come in September.

"They're not only about the Obama campaign. If you listen to the songs, they really speak to the African experience," Barnes said.

Obama's father was from Kenya while his mother was a white American.

If he wins, he will be the first black president of the United States.

Pollsters

Florida, with its massive retirement community, is one of the so-called 'battleground states'. It voted for Republican President George Bush in the two previous elections, but leading pollsters in the United States show a tight race between Obama and McCain.

Florida census records show that over 350,000 Jamaicans live in South Florida. Several reggae acts, including Inner Circle and Screwdriver, have lived in the region for many years.

Barnes is one of five commissioners in the city of Miramar. He said the spirit among Jamaican voters in South Florida is unprecedented.

"There has been early voting at the City Hall in Miramar and the lines were long. Many of the voters are Jamaican," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

The 60-year-old Barnes has lived in South Florida since 1985 and started working with WAVS the following year. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he worked at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Jamaica.

Rocking in the Sunshine State

The Marley family have lived in South Florida for over 30 years. Bob Marley died there in 1981.

Noel 'King Sporty' Williams is one of South Florida's reggae pioneers. He co-wrote Buffalo Soldier with Marley.

Clint O'Neil was a pioneer disc jockey in South Florida, on WLRN 913 FM. He died in 2004.

Inner Circle's comeback album, 1993's Bad Boys, was recorded in Miami. They currently operate the Circle House studio there.

Producer Willie Lindo, the man behind Beres Hammond's What One Dance Can Do and Dennis Brown's Inseparable, operates the Heavy Beat record label in Fort Lauderdale.