Numba 1 (Tide Is High)

"The Tide Is High"
Single by The Paragons
from the album On the Beach
A-side	"Only a Smile"
Released	1966
Genre	Rocksteady
Length	2:40
Label	Treasure Isle
Songwriter(s)	John Holt

"The Tide Is High"
Single by Blondie
from the album Autoamerican
B-side	"Suzy & Jeffrey"
Released	October 1980
Format	7" single
Recorded	1980
Genre	Reggae
Length	4:39
Label	Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)	John Holt
Producer(s)	Mike Chapman
Blondie singles chronology
"Atomic" (1980) "The Tide Is High" (1980) "Rapture" (1981)
"Atomic" (1980) "The Tide Is High" (1980) "Rapture" (1981)
Audio sample
file help

"The Tide Is High"
Single by Papa Dee
from the album The Journey
Released	23 June 1996
Format	CD
Genre	Dancehall
Length	3:55
Label	WEA
Songwriter(s)	John Holt
Papa Dee singles chronology
"The First Cut Is the Deepest" (1995) "The Tide Is High" (1996)
"The First Cut Is the Deepest" (1995) "The Tide Is High" (1996)

"The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)"
Single by Atomic Kitten
from the album Feels So Good
Released	26 August 2002
Format	CD single cassette
Recorded	2002
Genre	Dance-pop
Length	3:26
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	John Holt
Producer(s)	Bill Padley Jem Godfrey
Atomic Kitten singles chronology
"It's OK!" (2001) "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)" (2002) "Be with You" (2002)
"It's OK!" (2001) "The Tide Is High" (2002) "Be with You" (2002)

"Numba 1 (Tide Is High)"
Single by Kardinal Offishall featuring Keri Hilson or Rihanna
from the album Not 4 Sale
B-side	"Nina"
Released	September 2008 (Radio) 14 October 2008 (iTunes)
Format	Digital download CD single 12" single 7" single
Recorded	2008
Genre	Canadian hip hop dancehall
Length	3:42
Label	Kon Live/Geffen/Black Jays
Songwriter(s)	Jason Harrow Dwayne Chin-Quee Robyn Fenty John Holt
Producer(s)	Supa Dups
Kardinal Offishall singles chronology
"Set It Off" (2008) "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" (2008) "Beautiful" (2009)
"Set It Off" (2008) "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" (2008) "Beautiful" (2009)
Keri Hilson singles chronology
"Return the Favor" (2008) Return the Favor2008 "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" (2008) Numba 1 (Tide Is High)2008 "Turnin' Me On" (2008) Turnin' Me On2008

"The Tide Is High" is a 1966 song written by John Holt, originally produced by Duke Reid and performed by the Jamaican group The Paragons, with John Holt as lead singer. The song gained international attention in 1980, when a version by the American band Blondie became a US/UK number one hit. The British girl group Atomic Kitten also had a number one hit with their version of the song in 2002, and a version of the song was a minor hit for Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall in 2008.

The song was written by John Holt and originally recorded by the Paragons, the rocksteady vocal trio of which he was a member, and accompanied by Tommy McCook and the Suspersonic Band. It was produced by Duke Reid and released as a 7-inch single on Reid's Treasure Isle and Trojan labels and as the B-side of the "Only a Smile" single.

The song features the violin of "White Rum" Raymond, and was popular in Jamaica and became popular amongst West Indians and skinheads in the UK when a deejay version by U-Roy was released in 1971. Both tracks from the single were included on the 1970 collection On the Beach.

The song was released as a single in 1978 by Gregory Isaacs; this version was produced by "Prince" Tony Robinson. It was released on the State Line label in the US, on Isaacs' own African Museum label in Jamaica, and on the Front Line label in Jamaica as a 12-inch discomix featuring a new deejay version by U-Roy.

"The Tide Is High" was covered by the American new wave band Blondie in 1980, in a reggae style that included horns and strings. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, Autoamerican (1980). It was Blondie's third number one smash on the Billboard Hot 100 and their fifth in the UK. It also went on to reach the top three of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, and was popular throughout the world, reaching no. 4 in Australia, and no. 15 in Germany. It was the last UK number one single for the band until "Maria" in 1999. The B-side of "The Tide Is High" was "Suzie and Jeffrey", which appeared as a bonus track on the original 1980 cassette edition of the album Autoamerican and was also included on EMI-Capitol's re-issue of Autoamerican in 2001.

...
Wikipedia