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It was 1987 Lt.Stitchie's Wear yuh size was dominating the air waves, La Bamba was on the big screen in movie theatres, a loaf of bread in Kingston was $3.25 and my sister Annette was desperate to try to leave Big 9.

It was 1987 Sis Nancy's Bam Bam was making it's rounds on sound systems in Jamaica. A beef patty was a $1 .50 and two men were jostling for Annette's baby.

It was 1987 Steely and Cleve's Duck rhythm was resonating through the dancehall, Dirty Dancing was the number one movie, all the kids were playing street Fighter at the arcade and Big 9 welcomed Annette's baby.

It was 1987 the Sleng teng rhythm had Jamaican DJs in a chokehold. Gregory Isaac's song "rumors"was playing everywhere , Oliver at large was the number one show on Jamaican TV and I learned the true meaning of rukumbine.

It was 1987 Red Dragon's ,"Hol a fresh" was playing everywhere, Roy Rayon won the festival song contest with "love Fever" and a baby was born in Big 9.

It was 1987, Mannequin was at the Carib Theatre, Tiger's song "Mi name Tiger" was playing on every Sound system in Kingston and my sister was labelled an 'informa' in Big 9.

It was 1987, Bob Marley's drummer Carlton Barrett was shot outside his home, Jody Watley's song "Looking for a New Love" was everywhere, Eddie Murphy dominated the box office with Beverly Hills Cop 2, and there was an attempted murder in Big 9.

It was 1987 the first Starbucks outside the US opened in Vancouver, Lady saw began her rise in the Jamaican dancehall, Inner circle released the song Bad Boys and Big 9 exploded with news of Baby drama.

It was 1987 , Whitney Houston's "I wanna dance with somebody" was playing everywhere.The first installment of Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover was in theaters, The JLP retained another term in power , Peter Tosh was murdered in his home and my sister caused a big scandal in Big 9.

It was 1987 ,"Under mi sleng teng " rhythm dominates Kingston and Mr.Hopeton's mother moves into Big 9.

It was 1986, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister in England, the Chernobyl nuclear accident decimated three mile island, sci fi flick The Fly was in movie theaters in Jamaica , Boris Gardner had a hit with "I wanna wake up with you" and there was big trouble in Big nine.

It was 1986 'stand by me' was at the Carib Theatre, Barry G was playing Whitney Houston's 'How will I know' on RJR almost every day , torrential rains caused flooding in Kingston and another tragedy struck in Big 9.

It was 1986, Police Academy 3 was at the Carib Theatre, Janet Jackson's "what have you done for me lately" was everywhere, In Kingston Brigadier Jerry's "Jamaica, Jamaica" was playing on every dancehall sound system, and our cousin Rosie had turned Big 9 upside down.

It was 1986 Calabar had just won Boys Champs, Beres Hammond's 'Groovy little thing' was playing on every sound system, 'we are the world'won a Grammy , the Haley's comet made an appearance and my family changed forever.

It was 1986 , Sophia George's hit song Girlie, girlie was playing on all radio stations, Ray Charles was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame and I witnessed The Challenger disaster.