Tom The Great Sebastian was a 50's Jamaican Sound System. The sound got its name from a circus act. The founder was Tom Wong. His father was a Chinese Jamaican and his mother African. Tom was also the owner of an iron store in Kingston and modified his equipment himself with the help of a technician known as Headley Jones (a former RAF-soldier in WWII). They used to hang their speakers from nearby trees in order to get the sonic upper hand on their antagonists.

The first sound clash was between Tom The Great Sebastian and Count Nick in 1952. Tom was the winner.

Working at Tom were two youths that would come to play major parts in Jamaicas musical history - Duke Vin and Count Machuki. The former worked as a selector for Tom and the latter was considered to be the first deejay. Duke Vin emigrated to England in 1954 to start on of the first Brittish sounds, The Tickler.

In 1971 Tom commited suicide (1).

Sources

(1) Beth Lesser, Dancehall - The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, p. 17.