ABSTRACT
Jamaica's first general election as an independent nation was not a "critical" election in the sense that it involved major realignments of large groups or categories of voters, but the parties were clearly in transition, from the founding leadership to a younger leadership and perhaps from traditional class coalitions to new combinations of support. The period preceding the 1967 elections saw the ascent to powerful positions of several young politicians who would later become leaders in their parties. Most popular music in Jamaica before 1967 was imported rhythm and blues from the United States. In the early to mid-1960s, the sound system owners turned to local talent. They began to produce records in two-track recording rooms in record shops and electronic equipment stores. Rastafarians in 1967 were still subject to the derision and scorn of the Jamaican middle class and rural lower class, despite two events that heightened their visibility and corrected some myths about their subculture.
