It was around 4 AM the other day when I woke up and realized my “Tropical Breezes” MP3 was missing an absolutely CRITICAL tune I had apparently forgotten about a long time ago. Remember Bobby Bloom’s “Montego Bay” from when it was released way back in 1970? I liked it then, I realized I just HAD to have it now on my MP3. It took a little wrangling to find it – after all, you can’t get it Amazon or Napster but I got it.

And now, my MP3, chock full of steel drum music, lots of mellow Jimmy Buffett, a few Herb Alpert tunes, and some other tunes that fit the mood of the Caribbean and the islands feels complete.

Here’s a YouTube video of Bloom singing “Montego Bay” – to me he sounds like an early Michael Bolton.

Interestingly, Bloom lived a tragically short life in which he battled depression and died violently. Before that, I found it interesting he wrote tunes with Jeff Barry, who penned a whole lot of ’60s AM radio hits, and co-wrote Tommy James and the Shondells‘ hit “Mony, Mony”. Who knew?

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Pool temp: 51