I owe so much of my music education to WRUV-FM, the student-run station at University of Vermont. I used to obsessively record shows when I was in high school, and later as a student at UVM I was lucky enough to become at long last a DJ. Brothers and sisters, believe me when I tell you that I could have died right there and been perfectly happy. In the pre-Internet days, if you wanted to learn about non-mainstream music, college radio was a precious resource without peer.

It was during that time that I came across Parisian zouk megastars Kassav’ and their 1985 hit, “Zouk la Sé Sél Médikaman Nou Ni”. There’s something riveting about its wonderfully spiky rhythms, especially its pedal point bass, a rock-solid anchor keeping all the jittering boats from bouncing out of the marina. That pedal point bass idea stuck with me, and when my song began to take shape, I worked with it, slathered on some soca drums and horns, et voilà, le “Bom-Bom”.

As for the lyrics…Heh. What can I say? I was going for something cheeky and satiric, but, y’know what?, these days, if I really wanted to maximize the shock value, I’d have to change it all around and make it not about Mom but about Grandma.

I hope the song inspires a smile.