Αυτοί οι τέλειοι τζαμαικανοί παππούδες, οι The Jolly Boys, παίζουν εδώ και 60 χρόνια σε μια ακτή της Jamaica (Port Antonio) έχουν αλλάξει πάρα πολλές φορές σύσταση, και προφανώς κάποιος τους “τσίμπησε” και στα γεράματα κάνουν παγκόσμιο πλέον καριέρα. Η μουσική τους λέγεται mento, άγνωστο είδος εκτός Jamaica, και θεωρείται ο “παππούς” της reggae. Για ανθρώπους που ακούνε ska ή reggae, η mento θα τους είναι οικία, παρόλαυτα είναι πολύ παλιότερο είδος από reggae ή ska, όταν τέτοια ακούσματα ήταν ακόμα άγνωστα. Οι Jolly Boys διαδίδουν την mento παγκόσμια και με νέο αέρα, καθώς γοητεύουν και αναβιώνουν τη μουσική τους.

“Mento was the music of the Jamaican dancehalls before ska, rocksteady and reggae came along. A people’s music typically played in the countryside on acoustic–often homemade–instruments, it dates to the late 19th century. Its lyrics often dealt with rude or slack topics, or addressed the social issues of the day. Although often confused with calypso (largely because calling it “calypso” was a handy way of marketing it to tourists who didn’t know any better), it has a rawness and rhythmic feel that is uniquely Jamaican”.

Διασκευή του Rehab από Amy Winehouse, εννοείται ότι πλέον μ’αρέσει περισσότερο απ΄το κανονικό,αφού με την πλύση εγκεφάλου που έπεσε το είχα σιχαθεί. Το site τους.

·        Spring is here!

·        Story telling for Telly

·        Short Courses from SCRIPT ADVICE and other interesting stuff

WHAT THE SCRIPT FACTORY SAYS ABOUT SCRIPT ADVICE:

“We can heartily recommend Yvonne’s workshops – she unravels television like no one else! www.scriptfactory.co.uk

Find out if I can help you with your current project@ http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk offering writers mentoring, training and script editing services in order to develop their work and talent. Please pass on this link to your fellow writers.

Or you can join SCRIPT ADVICE WRITERS ROOM@ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237330119115&ref=mf

SAWR is all about writing and writers. Here you can share your thoughts about writing; the creative process, the highs and lows of it all. You can also access this group for information about writing workshops that I am currently running, also script editing and mentoring services that I offer. My expertise lies in Television drama but any writer is welcome to share their experiences and their aspirations here.

Or to see my newsletter online, access my Blog@http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk

SPRING IS HERE!

At long last I can see grass where formerly there was mud and the Magnolia is about to burst forth with such a gorgeousness of budding flowers that, typing this and looking out of the office window at the unfurling creaminess of each folded petal, I feel the urge to go all Robert Frost and wax lyrical about sap rising and the strangely lyrical sound of a wood pecker hammering the heck out of the oaks in the nearby wood.  It’s been a long winter but at long last the air smells like the soil is beginning to do it’s job and get stuff growing again, and in this vein of re-birth and new growth – on with SCRIPT ADVICE NEWSLETTER for SPRING!

STORY-TELLING FOR TELLY

If you have ever sat across the table in a restaurant, pub or bar, and listened to a long, boring, interminable, flat, dry, tale told in painstaking detail by a relative, friend or just someone whose chair leg is intertwined with yours, and found that you can not escape this hell because either a/ you are linked to this person by bloodline and gene pool or b/ you can not get past without taking their shin bone marrow with you, then you will no doubt agree with me, that telling a good story is a skill not everyone possesses.

And amazingly, the truth is, that this is even the case amongst writers.  The skill of telling an engaging, teasing, compelling narrative within the pages of a script and in scene form, with a beginning, middle and end which delivers a connective cohesion from the first scene to the last, is very much what the business of television story telling is all about and a particular craft that all writers wishing to get on in television, to pay their bills by writing and to ultimately get commissioned, should definitely get their heads around. Being creative and having a good idea is no longer enough. Being able to creative characters and write good dialogue is also a must, but having the confidence and skill to handle a layered narrative which rattles along and produces the pre-requisite peaks and troughs of an accurately timed television episode is where the real job lies.

Where can you learn this rigorous, exacting skill? Writing for series and soaps, that’s where. I firmly believe that once you have earned your stripes on programmes like EASTENDERS and HOLBY CITY you will be able to tackle absolutely any writing challenge you may meet in the future.

This is not to say (and I must stress this) that our series and soaps much loved by television audiences, are mere training grounds for writers, but they are, by nature of their format and disciplines, excellent arenas within which you can hone and develop your story-telling skills and where you will learn how to structure, pace and deliver a compelling episodic story which will be enjoyed by millions.

Soap-land is where great writers grow up.

Lisa Campbell from Industry Bible, Broadcast Magazine on the value of Soaps –  with which I heartily concur:

It may be going too far to suggest that without EastEnders there would be no King’s Speech, but director Tom Hooper is just one example of the scores of people who have worked on the BBC’s continuing dramas and honed their skills.

And it’s not just directors, writers, producers and commissioners; we can add Kate Winslet, Aaron Johnson and Orlando Bloom to the list.

So it is no doubt with some relief that the BBC greeted the largely positive findings in this week’s National Audit Office (NAO) report into the costs of producing continuing drama.

It showed that the cost per hour has tumbled by 20% over the past eight years at the same time as audience approval has increased – testament to the dedication of BBC in-house teams and the many freelancers who ensure that the continual squeeze in budgets hasn’t led to a continual decline in standards.

The Trust-commissioned report concluded that costs were tightly controlled, but – and it’s a big but – said it is impossible to tell whether the shows represent value for money. This was exactly our reaction when we saw the figures, which are published for the first time.

Without any context or comparisons, they are pretty meaningless. A 2010-11 budget of £29.8m for EastEnders – 3.5p per viewer – sounds like a bargain, but without any benchmark, without any figures from other broadcasters, how can we tell? I can’t see ITV rushing to provide the numbers for Corrie any time soon.

While the report made some sensible recommendations, the Trust has rightly rebutted one: that the series should have some ‘audience-related performance objectives’. This is exactly why bean-counters’ scrutiny of output sets creatives’ hackles rising.

While it is right to expect channels and genres to have key objectives, trying to apply them to individual programmes risks hampering creativity and reducing it to nothing more than a box-ticking exercise. Bafta award-winning series need creative freedom to flourish, and as we’re constantly hearing, there’s quite enough red tape at the BBC already.

The NAO acknowledges that purely financial and quantitative measures only tell part of the story. It fails to mention, for example, the series’ role in our national culture, in refl ecting contemporary issues or in fostering talent. Series such as Holby, Casualty and Doctors are as relentless as they are rewarding, but those who have served their apprenticeship always acknowledge that without it, they wouldn’t be where they are today.

It was a similar story with The Bill, hence the strength of reaction among the drama community after its demise. Its loss places even more responsibility on the BBC and, as continuing drama boss John Yorke asserts, without such series, there wouldn’t be enough jobs in the UK drama industry to sustain it, nor enough trained people to man it.

So to put a value on that? Priceless.

OTHER INTERESTING STUFF

SCRIPT ADVICE COURSES:

Announcing 2 new courses designed by yours truly and hosted by those lovely people at the NFTS.

National Film and Television School: www.nfts.co.uk

Storyline Plot & Development

31 May 2011 to 03 June 2011

This is a four day course exploring the business of creating, plotting, shaping and developing  storylines and ideas for long-running dramas.

SUMMER SOAPS HOW TO WRITE FOR SERIES TELEVISION

I am so looking forward to running this one, it will be intensive, collaborative and challenging and there will be great guest speakers to give you the chance to put your questions to professional writer/developers currently working in the industry.

The dates are July 4^th – 8^th and then a three week gap for writing. Followed by another two days for script editing.

Check out all the details of both courses on the NFTS website. And if you have any questions, email me at Yvonne.grace@scriptadvice.co.uk.

Hope to see you at one or both!

LONDON SCREEN WRITERS FESTIVAL: http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/blog/2011/04/send-in-the-clowns/

This is an informative and all round jolly nice blog from Hayley McKenzie, Script Editor and Script Consultant – what she says here about the need for writers to get their head’s around comedy writing is very true – read and take heed! (Also, if you can, I would check out the London Screen Writers Festival – an excellent place to network and get inspiration!)

I chaired this forum a few years back for the Script Factory and would recommend a visit – they are generally great all round drama types and are always appreciative of the courses I have run for them check it out:

THE SCRIPT FACTORY: http://www.scriptfactory.co.uk/go/Training/Article_963.ht

The Script Factory TV Forum

…is a two-day training and networking event devoted to writing for the small screen (or even the plasma HD-ready widescreen…). While Film and Theatre traditionally require the audience to come to you, television reaches them right where they sit. If you are serious about a career writing drama – and want to actually make some money doing it – then spend two days with us finding out how to get your work into living rooms across the land.

Through a combination of training and guest speakers TV Forum aims to inspire participants to consider how their talents, ideas and aspirations may be suited to the wide range of TV drama opportunities, from soap writing to original single dramas or innovative sitcoms. Over two days, we aim to give screenwriters an essential overview of the current TV landscape coupled with the language, resources and industry knowledge required to further explore how to forge their own TV writing career.

BBC DRAMA WRITERS ACADEMY: Applications for the 2011 BBC Drama Writers Academy will be open on 11th April 2011.  Check out their website for more details http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writing/writers_academy.shtml

Script Advice meets IN DEVELOPMENT: I will be Guest Speaking at their first Development Meet in London April 12^th at the BFI Benugo Bar, where I will be most likely drinking a glass of something lovely while passing on some of my knowledge and experience of SCRIPT EDITING AND PRODUCING for Series Television. Details below in an email from Sarah:

Dear Development Friends!

Let’s celebrate Spring! April’s In Development drinks gathering is taking place on Tuesday 12th April, at The Benugo Bar, BFI Southbank, from 7.30 p.m.
Our featured guests this month are Yvonne Grace and Philip Shelley, coming along to chat with us about combining work as a script editor and producer in TV and moving between these roles. Both have an impressive list of TV credits on numerous hit shows which you can check out on their profiles.
If you’d like to come along and chat to them informally over a drink, gain some insight from their experience and share some of your own, then please RSVP to this email.
We’ll be in the bar until closing and look forward to seeing you soon!
Sarah and Hannah
In Development
www.indevelopmentuk.blogspot.com

BBC – About the BBC: The real value of Continuing Drama

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc

In the BBC official blog, John Yorke writes about the benefits of getting your head around series storytelling

Here’s useful source of info for all budding writers of any genre:

http://essentialwriters.com/

Here is a link to Laurence Timms SAWR member blog NOONE CARES ABOUT YOUR BLOG LAURENCE – I think this link is really useful – thanks L!

http://laurencetimms.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/where-to-find-tv-jobs/

WRITERS GUILD OF GREAT BRITAIN

And a last mention to the WGGB because they do such a lot of work behind the scenes for professional writers

http://www.writersguild.org.uk/

I hope I can help you with your writing; be it a television script, short (or full length) film or screen play, treatment or outline, novel or radio play, I read and script edit them all and can definitely help improve yours.  Drop me an email@ Yvonne.grace@scriptadvice.co.uk and let’s get working!

BYE FOR NOW AND HAPPY WRITING.

Copyright Yvonne Grace Script Advice March 2011

Oh that smile!

Calypso Date – MRS Lp LOML 503

For those Mento mad amongst you here are some details that I hope you will find of interest. Click on the images for larger versions of the files, and in the case of the rear cover, readable text, though I will include that text here for all to see. The sleeve notes are unusually well written and include descriptions of the songs and their background history in some cases.

Details:

LP    MRS    VARIOUS ARTISTES    CALYPSO DATE    LOML 503    SMOL 105 1B    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1950s

(anyone out there have a date of release, if so please contact me here at Musical Traces)

Sleeve Notes:

The most remarkable feature of this album is its variety. Here is represented the whole broad gamut of Jamaica’s music, the sly, ironic humour, the warm spontaneity, the carefree and gay attitude towards life that is so much part of Jamaica. This music is bred of the brilliant colour and contrasts that inspire the Jamaican troubadour; and out of it flows the endless, subdued excitement that life in one of the world’s most beautiful islands inspires.

In this album are Calypsos and Mentos. The Calypso is the generic ballad of the Caribbean, the song that is inspired by the life of the community – the young girl who lives gaily but not wisely; the house with the leaking roof. These are the creations of Calypsonians who vie with each other to create songs of humour, of double meaning, of perceptive wit. The Mento is the music of Jamaica, the solid, thumping rhythm of music that in its beat and texture is subtly Jamaican, as distinguishable to the tuned ear as is the difference between the Merengue of Haiti and the Samba of Brazil. And there are the other ageless songs, those that are chanted by workmen as they bend their muscles to rhythmic work saved from monotony by song, or the gay song of welcome when the pretty young girl comes to visit.

These are the songs and the sounds of Jamaica, ever exciting and interesting, that will become familiar and beloved as you listen to them. This is the music of a beautiful land, inspired by its ageless hills and white sand beaches, its gay, laughing people and the rhythm of its sun-bright days. This is the music for you on your Jamaican date.

The songs:

SIDE 1

Linstead Market – The ackee is an attractive fruit of red, yellow and black, and when combined with salted cod makes one of the most popular native dishes. This song tells the sad tale of a higgler in the famous market of Linstead, on the road to Ocho Rios, who fails to find customers to buy her ackees at Saturday market.

The Naughty Little Flea – The humble flea occurs in the songs of many countries. If you listen carefully to the lyrics you’ll chuckle at the rather unique situation in which the little insect found itself.

Hill and Gully Ride – A rousing shout song that is used by Jamaican workmen. It follows the pattern of many rhythmic work songs in its responsive form, and is a folk song of rather more antiquity than the calypso which has been popular recently.

Matilda (and) Gal-A-Gully – The first is a Jamaican adaptation of a Trinidad song, one in which a hardworking young man is deceived by a scheming young miss who lifts his money and takes off for Venezuela. The second is Jamaican, the plaintive comment of a granny who asks her grandaughter just why she is going to the gully…’A Whey you-a go a-gully fa’.

This Long Time Gal A Never See You – A happy song of welcome, the lyrics of which are self-explanatory.

The Little Fly – Anyone who has had to clean a mirror can appreciate some of the more irritating habits of the fly. This song is one man’s comment.

SIDE2

Take Her To Jamaica – This song has become a standard in Jamaica. It is sung by calypsonians on all occasions and gives very good advice indeed.

Kitch – Lord Kitchener is one of the finest of the Trinidad calypsonians, and this song recounts his experiences with a rather insistent young lady.

Dry Weather House – It seldom rains heavily in Jamaica, but when it does all the defects of a house that is suited to dry weather show up.

Healin’ In De Balm Yard – The balm yard in Jamaica is the gathering place of members of a primitive evangelical sect. To balm yard gatherings they bring their troubles and woes where these can be banished.

Limbo – One of the most exciting dances, the limbo is done to a repetitious song that is almost hypnotic in its appeal. Some of the excitement and verve of this African ritual is caught in this song.

Brown Skin Gal – A young lady is told to take life more seriously. Rather than spend so much time living the high life, she is told to ‘Stay home and mind baby’.

Click to see bigger...

“Home brewed ginger beer. This the drink that dominates alcohol. Whiskey can go to your feet when you got ginger beer inside you, but it can’t go to your head because it’s dominated.”

“Houdini’s Picnic,” by Joseph Mitchell,
THE NEW YORKER may 6th, 1939*

i’ve been eating scads of ginger lately (b/c i’ve been sick), but running across this bit i was reminded that i actually -love- ginger, and consequently, a good ginger beer. neither of which (ginger beer, nor ginger, in a loving as opposed to self-medicating capacity) i have been hitting up enough in recent months. in the fledgling days of Still Crapulent, ginger beer was one of my primary preoccupations, and i had in fact made a minor quest of undertaking to ferret out and taste every ginger beer available in Montréal. as is the case for most post-Classical quests it remains unfulfilled, mostly neglected, like a Real Doll discarded because even its meager simulated humanity required more of you than you were able to give.

okay, so not really like that at all. the riff came to me in the bathroom though, and i thought best to use it before i forgot entirely, even if the hyperbolic sadness and sheer spiritual noxiousness** was somewhat out of proportion to “losing interest in drinking too much ginger beer.”

notwithstanding the abandoned quest, ginger beer remains important in my victual topography; i have a keen memory of walking down rue Notre Dame (in Saint-Henri, not Paris), bottle of Grace in hand (the ginger beer, not the Lord’s gift), thinking to myself “i wonder if this will become a keen memory for me? so often do i do this, grabbing a ginger beer from Gold Star Laundry (once famed for its perhaps apocryphal “special” [ie: emboozled] coffee) in the course of whatever neighbourhood errands i am running, it certainly feels like it has the makings of a keen memory.” and thusly do i hope that the streets of Saint Henri live on in my memory, traced in part by the taste of sugar and ginger and carbonated burn. upon further reflection, i am curious whether that same stretch will be overlaid with the memory of half-ashamed, half-defiantly walking in the heavy july heat as one of two people each with our personal 12-packs of Bud Lite Lime.

since the displacement of the Noonday Reviver (see also) by the Black Mischief, and the (admittedly distressing) absence of rye from my booze stores, ginger beer has become that much less prominent in my life.

all of which to say, however, that i intend to remedy this, and am inspired specifically to test Houdini’s claims. not in the interest of dis/proving them, of course. i like to think that had one been like “Are you sure about that, Wilmoth? I don’t think it works that way,” his response would be to adopt such a shoulder hunched, palms-up pose, as to communicate “(hey, don’t ask me. can i help that) It’s the Dominator?“

adjunct to this, and owing i guess to the dovetailing of this article with the upsurge in early-mid-20thc mento and calypso i’ve been listening to, i realize i haven’t gone for a good roti in a while. in fact, Trinidadian food, which once made up a not inconsiderable portion of my diet, has subsided pretty much into non-significance. the prevalence of food-focused songs in this/these genres (i admit i have a hard time distinguishing calypso from mento. although i had it in my head that the former was Trinidadian and the latter Jamaican, Laurel Aitken contests this.), a theme that i’ve touched on before, seems all the more pronounced for the ambiguity of many of the double-entendres (or are they?). “Don’t Touch Me Tomato” seems pretty obviously slack when Phyllis Dillon sings it, but coming from The Wrigglers a decade earlier, it really does just sound like a fruit-vendor’s plea for customers to stop bruisin’ up his delicate wares, and i am fully willing to believe that Lord Flea’s “Barjie Composer” really is about how to make goddamn good barjie (caribbean equivalent of indian bhaji, fyi).

although he does later just start talking about butts.

* * *

* also via Mitchell: Cockeye Johnny King, of the Gypsies’ signature drink of his gin & pepsi-cola, christened “Old Popskull.” prozit.

** you would not believe how much time i spent plumbing the internet and dictionary trying to justify my desire to use (invent) the word noxiety here. consider yourselves spared by the better part of valour.

The Jolly Boys have one of the most intriguing backgrounds in music history. Back in the 1940s Hollywood actor Errol Flynn staged a series of infamous parties on his self-owned Navy Island, just a few hundred yards from the coast of Port Antonio in Jamaica. A group of local musicians provided the musical entertainment, playing a style known as ‘mento’, considered to be the prerequisite of reggae and ska. Legend has it that Flynn coined the name “The Jolly Boys.”

They were ignored for decades, until British producer Jon Baker stepped in and introduced them to a new audience with Great Expectation (2010), a covers album which provides a contemporary mento flavour to classic songs from New Order, Blondie and The Stranglers, to name but a few.

Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ has also been given the Jolly Boys treatment,and overall it is successful. By giving the sombre original a jauntier Jamaican feel, you feel like you’ve been transported from the gritty streets of New York to the sunny coast of Port Antonio. It could be construed as a bit gimmicky, but you’ve got to hand it to the Jolly Boys, who, after sixty years, sound like they’re still having fun with music.

Find out more at http://www.jollyboysmusic.com/index.php

Albert Minott, the singer by now in his seventies, is really charismatic and succeeds to make Rehab his own song. Which is probably not that easy, given the many cover versions out there. And by singing this song at his age, he probably gives hope to all the young folks not really into rehab, showing that it is possible to make it longer than 27 whatsoever…

———

Die Jolly Boys sind eine Mento-Band von Jamaica, die bereits in den 50er Jahren gegründet wurde. 2010 veröffentlichte sie ein Album mit modernen Mento-Versionen bekannter zeitgenössischer Lieder und Klassiker. Das Album heißt Great Expectation und vor Allem die Version von Rehab von Amy Winehouse ist beeindruckend.

Besonders die charismatische Ausstrahlung des mittlerweile über 70-jährigen Sängers Albert Minott ist beeindruckend. Ihm gelingt es, das Lied zu seinem eigenen zu machen, was bei der Vielzahl an Cover-Versionen nicht zu einfach sein dürfte. Und die Tatsache, dass er mit über 70 davon singt, nicht zu einer Entziehungskur zu gehen oder gegangen zu sein, dürfte all denen Hoffnung geben, die es vielleicht sollten. Der Rockstartod mit 27 ist also nicht zwingend das Ende vom Lied!

Recently I’ve beaten new musical paths and find myself away from the Reggae (for that read Jamaican) road that I was on, buying Mento which is on the outskirts of town and US R&B, which is a short flight away.

Normally what happens as I follow the ‘Reggae’ route, is that one ‘thing’ leads to another, one producer, one Studio, one label artwork, one whatever…. but I’ve ended up on a back road as far as Jamaican music goes and really need a new jumping off point…

One of my problems is that I have a very varied taste for Jamaican music and listen (and therefore collect some originals) from the early 50s through to the Mid 80s, with even a few tunes from right up to the last few years thrown in for seasoning. This has meant that I havn’t concentrated on any one label/producer/genre/ or era and somehow, this in turn, has conspired to mire my listening and collectdom in the potholes of said back routes to a musical nowhere’sville ….

So for a while I buy a few (expensive) Pama singles, then (expensive) Mento 78s (which I am still), some original (expensive) Rocksteady, I’m not picking up on anything that’s leading me elsewhere and I’m feeling a little bereft, losing my religion, it’s like I’m spurning the affections of my best friend, one I’ve had for a decade or more.

What should I do, is it a problem, do you have a suggested new turning to take me back to the interstate, the airport and thence to the tropical paradise once again? Or should I leave Jamaica somewhat in the wake of the R&B speedboat and indulge my desire to purchase only Atlantic 78s, mainly those with Joe Turner, Thurston Harris, Clyde McPhatter and Ray Charles on?

Se la sentissi discorrere, capace
e intanto traversassi lo specchio
e la vetrina,
fino alle chicchere gialle
tra i bicchieri.
Se solo immaginassi la voce, tolti gli anni
e le distanze un tot fatte a campi
e ferrovie.
Diresti che è la stessa bambina color pane,
seconda o terza andata per sposa
la carina.
E le sue trecce farebbero la giostra,
ancora, come bisce nell’aria
e odori
e neve
sarebbero gli stessi dei tempi di Romeo.
Se solo la vedessi con gli occhi dell’amore
sorrideresti al sonno venuto
là in poltrona
dieci minuti prima di sempre
là, vestita
una ciabatta in fronte a quell’altra
il mento in mano.

Massimo Botturi

The highlight of my Autumn Sunday in 2010 however, was being asked to leave the dance floor by an old lady! She said that we shouldn’t be doing that (Charleston) in the middle of the dancefloor and that we might accidentally kick her. So me and my fellow Charleston dancing flappers and sheiks moved away. In our defence, we had been dancing in the middle of the floor, thinking that would be the best way to avoid the strict anticlockwise rotation of quickstepping people around us, because Charleston isn’t danced well in circles like that.

As we left the dancefloor an old man who’d just a half hour before been on the microphone singing and leading sequence dancing beckoned me over and said, “What did that dolly bird just say to you?” Was it some kind of fantastic 50s Reading slang? When I explained he said that she had no right to tell us to leave the floor and was rather unexpectedly frank in his opinions about her sending us off – I won’t repeat the words he used here, it wouldn’t be decent! It did make me laugh. But what really surprised and pleased me (from a social history re-creation point of view!) was that there could still be this kind of politics on the dance floor at an afternoon tea dance in 2010 in Reading, and so many opinions on the right and wrong way to do things. The organiser told me that one person had complained about the sequence dancing being on too late even when there was only ten minutes to go until it started, and some others about the tea and cakes not being served in quite the right way or at the right time.

In reality it was a successful event attended by 350 older people from all over Reading plus young people who’d been learning jive and other dances alongside them in preparation. We joined in with the jive and the sequence dancing too and enjoyed it. There were plenty of really positive comments, and a lot of enjoyment was evident. Age Concern must have been very pleased to have served the community so well. It was interesting to experience some fifties influenced British social dance rules and mores first hand, and the dances of those who were young in the ballrooms back then. Ballroom and sequence dancing seemed to dominate in Reading over jive in the classier ballrooms. The Charleston was actually banned in some dance halls in the twenties, due to being seen by some as too scandalous and exuberant. And according to BBC 4 documentary, The Social History of Dance in Britain, ballroom was actually invented in reaction to the lavish hip movements, high leg kicks and wild abandon of Charleston and other American twenties dances. People actually believed that this radically freeform new dance might cause widespread moral downfall. Though plenty of enjoyment is gained from ballroom dancing today, it was a very English phenomenon and initially an attempt to tame, to set up rules and regulation around dancing and to define a right and wrong way of doing it that could be scored and judged. It was an attempt at social control. Nowadays the introduction of Charleston to the Strictly Come Dancing TV competition shows how attitudes have changed and how something becomes kooky and safe in retrospect, but it’s still a highly choreographed version that owes homage to an improvisational dance that was African American in origin and pretty radical and rebellious for the young British who took it up.

So with this in mind I feel a sense of flapper kudos for having been asked to leave the dancefloor in 2010 by a lady who probably danced in the ballrooms in Reading in the 50s! I’m sure that in the day, Charleston dancers were probably told off by uppity old ladies rather a lot. You’d have to be doing a lot lot worse these days to be thrown off a dance floor, like starting a fight or taking your clothes off or having full sex in public. In fact it’s probably virtuallly impossible to be thrown off a nightclub dancefloor these days just for dancing in the wrong way. If I’d been at an intergenerational tea dance for the elderly in the 1970s or 80s, maybe there’d have been a good quantity of old people once young in the twenties who’d have approved, and who might even have applauded us, who knows. 

Well done to Age Concern for a fantastic event though. Long may the people of Reading keep dancing into their old age. I hope my knees hold out for that long. One other thing to note was an elderly British Indian lady who came to join in with us Charlestonites, and said that she really wished there could be some Bhangra music to dance too. It’d be great if Age Concern could consult the elderly Caribbean and Indian communities of Reading on preferred dance styles before their next tea dance. It’d be great to know what dances they liked in the fifties and what they’d like now at their tea dances – whether they foxtrotted and quickstepped along with the rest or encountered welcome or hostility in the dance halls. Whether there was an unwritten social segregation and whether had other places that they danced. Would Caribbean or Indian influenced dancing have been frowned upon by some, like the Charleston? How might this next year’s elderly tea dance, if at all? A Caribbean calypso or mento interlude at next year’s tea dance between the quickstep and sequence dancing (mento was the music that preceded Calypso) to music by The Jolly Boys? A bhangra section before the foxtrot? The arrival of the Caribbean community in the fifties must have had its own influence on the English dance floors, even if it was only on the way the jive was danced, or on the difference in footwork or style between individual dancers. America held the biggest sway of course, but subtle influences are often so much more interesting to delve into. There must be some more great dance related stories out there amongst the elderly residents of Reading, or some existing social dance historical research to draw on. Whether or not anything other than ballroom and jive had an impact on the dance floors of Reading in the fifties, you’re never too old to learn something new, that’s what I say.

For more on the history of Charleston dance see:

http://www.charlestondance.co.uk/history-links.php

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    MEDLEY OF JAMAICAN MENTO -  MRS    SSS.2033X / 01A

Much dispute arises from the question ‘who was the first producer of Jamaican music on the Island’ but it is now fairly certain that the first commercially available recording to be created by Jamaicans in Jamaica and then to be made available for purchase on the Island was DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    MEDLEY OF JAMAICAN MENTO – FAN ME SOLJA MAN FAN ME, ONE SOLJA MAN, YUH NO YEARY    MRS    SSS.2033X / 01A, this disc was originally released in December of 1950, though discographies record a later date of 1952. (source – ‘Calling all Singers, Musicians and Speechmakers’ 2010 – copyright Daniel T Neely).

Stanley Motta the producer had recorded the songs and then had the records pressed in the UK, possibly by Decca or a Decca subsidiary, records of exactly who manufactured them are unfortunately not forthcoming. Lord Fly the vocalist was known as an upmarket band leader and the songs and the sophisticated arrangements are those favoured by tourists visiting the Island and staying at any one of many luxury hotels there. Motta’s productions are generally recognised as sounding more upmarket, sophisticated and aimed at the visiting tourist than the rougher edged Mento productions of Ivan Chin, or in some cases Kalypso’s Ken Khouri. Khouri, who may have been the first to record on the Island, but not the first to release a commercial recording later developed Federal Records which went on to become the ‘One Stop Shop’ for the Jamaican music industry, offering as it did both as Federal and Dynamic, mastering and pressing facilities as well as recording studios and it’s own productions.

Motta also holds the honour of being the first to licence a recording produced in Jamaica for release in the UK on a UK label, namely Melodisc’s release of The Ticklers ‘Glamour Gal’.

(Thanks to Dan Neely for his help getting the details right!)

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Mento Discography.

Mento, Calypso, R&B and other vintage Jamaican and Caribbean Recordings.

You will find herein mainly 78rpm releases of Jamaican produced music. The Jamaican music industry’s ability to record and press records was first realised in early 1952. Unfortunately because so many of these are rare to find information on them is scarce and often inaccurate. There is to my knowledge currently no stand alone Caribbean / Jamaican 78rpm Discography online.

The details you will find here are 100% accurate as only information taken from records I own is included. There is no second hand hearsay to muddy the waters and you can trust the details given therefore.

I hope that this small selection will aid those interested in this fabulous area of music. I intend it at this time to include mainly but not exclusively Jamaican recorded and or released Mento and Calypso records. I may also include some other Caribbean recordings, such as those of Blind Blake on Miami’s ART Records for example, plus 45rpm single releases and finally Lps that I think are of particular note or worth having for your collection. You may also find details of some records which have been pressed by Jamaicans in Jamaica of American Pop and R&B.

Listed Thus:

LABEL / ARTIST / TITLE / CATALOGUE NUMBER / MATRIX NUMBER / PRODUCER / COUNTRY OF ORIGIN / RELEASE DATE / NOTES

DISCOGRAPHY

ART RECORDS (Miami)

78rpm

BLIND BLAKE AND HIS ROYAL VICTORIA CALYPSOS    NEVER INTERFERE WITH MAN AND WIFE        Art Al 3 2A    A Song Of The Islands Production    U.S.A.    ? / Real name Blake Alphonso Higgs, not to be confused with Blues guitarist of same name

BLIND BLAKE AND HIS ROYAL VICTORIA CALYPSOS    WATERMELON SPOILIN’ ON THE VINE        Art Al 3 2b    A Song Of The Islands Production     U.S.A.    ?

12″ Lps

BLIND BLAKE AND THE ROYAL VICTORIA HOTEL ‘CALYPSOS’    A GROUP OF BAHAMIAN SONGS    ALP – 3    Art Alp 3 Side 1    1952    U.S.A.    Songs of the Islands Ltd.

BLIND BLAKE AND HIS ROYAL VICTORIA CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    BLIND BLAKE AUTHENTIC BAHAMIAN CALYPSO – A THIRD ALBUM OF BAHAMIAN SONGS    ALP – 6A    Art Alp-6A Side 1    1952    U.S.A.    Songs of the Islands Ltd.

BLIND BLAKE AND HIS VICTORIA CALYPSOS    A SECOND ALBUM OF AUTHENTIC BAHMIAN SONGS / AUTHENTIC BAHAMIAN CALYPSO        Alp – 4 A        U.S.A.    Art Records

BLIND BLAKE    A FIFTH ALBUM OF SONGS BY …        Art Alp 20        U.S.A.    Art Records

VARIOUS ARTISTES, INC. ANDRE TOUISSAINT, PEANUTS TAYLOR, BLIND BLAKE    JUNKANOO CLUB PRESENTS NASSAU’S STAR ENTERTAINERS    ALP – 25    ART ALP 25 SIDE 1    1960s?    U.S.A.  ART RECORDS INC

CARIBOU

78rpm

COUNT LASHER (AS) COUNT LASHA and his CALYPSONIANS    CALABASH    100A    100A 9888    DADA TEWARI CARIBBEAN RECORDING CO LTD.    JAMAICA    1959?

COUNT LASHER (AS) COUNT LASHA (VOCALS) COUNT LASHER’S CALYPSO QUINTET    DALVEY GAL-PARSON    100B    100 B 9889    DADA TEWARI CARIBBEAN RECORDING CO LTD.    JAMAICA    1959?

COUNT LASHER (VOCALS) & CHARLIE BINGER’S SIX    CALABASH    106A    CALABASH #1 10516    DADA TEWARI CARIBBEAN RECORDING CO LTD.    JAMAICA    1959

COUNT LASHER (VOCALS) COUNT LASHER’S CALYPSO QUINTET    DALVEY GAL-PARSON    106B    #2 10517    DADA TEWARI CARIBBEAN RECORDING CO LTD.    JAMAICA    1959

7″ Single

COUNT LASHER / CHARLIE BINGER’S SIX    MISS CONSTANCE    CARIBOU    105A    SE105A    DADA TEWARI
COUNT LASHER / COUNT LASHER’S CALYPSO QUINTET    SLIDE MONGOOSE    CARIBOU    105B    SE105B    DADA TEWARI

COUNT LASHER AND CHARLIE BINGER’S SIX    CALABASH    106A    SE 106 A    50s    U.K.

COUNT LASHER AND COUNT LASHER’S CALYPSO QUINTET    DALVEY GAL-PARSON    106B    SE 106 B    50s    U.K.

CHIN’S

78rpm

LOCAL CALYPSO QUINTET – VOCALS BY BEDDASSE    ROUGH RIDER    CHIN’S    C1001    NONE  IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s
LOCAL CALYPSO QUINTET – VOCALS BY BEDDASSE    NO MONEY NO MUSIC    CHIN’S    C1001    NONE  IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s

LOCAL CALYPSO QUINTET   (VOCALS – A. BEDASSE) HONEYMOON    C1002    NONE    IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s
LOCAL CALYPSO QUINTET   (VOCALS – A. BEDASSE) MONEY IS KING    C1002    NONE    IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s

CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET /VOCALS BY ALERTH BEDASSE BIG BOY AND TEACHER    CHIN’S C1008 NONE  IVAN CHIN JAMAICA    1950s
CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET /VOCALS BY ALERTH BEDASSE    RED TOMATO    CHIN’S  C1008 NONE IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s

CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS – A. BEDASSE)    NOT GUILTY    C1012    NONE    IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s     note from Dan Neely – This record was the last pair of sides Khouri pressed for Chin before Chin went to Decca for the service. This copy is the only one known to survive and play fully.
CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS – A. BEDASSE)    GIVE HER LOVE    C1012    NONE    IVAN CHIN    JAMAICA    1950s

DECCA (U.S.A.)

TRIPLE 78RPM SET – WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    CALYPSOS SUNG BY WILMOUTH HOUDINI    18005A – DISC 1    66526A (A SIDE DISC 1)    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939

WHICH CONSISTS OF:

WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    MONKEY SWING    18005A    66526A    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939
WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    HE HAD IT COMING (STONE COLD DEAD IN THE MARKET)    18005B    66528A    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939
WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    WELCOME OF THEIR MAJESTIES, THE    18006A    66523A    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939
WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    HOT DOGS MADE THEIR NAME    18006B    66527A    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939
WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    ROOSEVELT OPENS WORLD’S FAIR    18007A    66525A    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939
WILMOTH HOUDINI AND HIS ROYAL CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    JOHNNY TAKE MY WIFE    18007B    66524A    DECCA    U.S.A.    1939

DOWN BEAT (Jamaica)

TAB SMITH & ORCHESTRA    MY MOTHER’S EYES 101A    U 1121 RE 1    UNITED RECORDS (USA)
TAB SMITH & ORCHESTRA    YOU BELONG TO ME 101B    URC 1138    UNITED RECORDS (USA)

SHIRLEY AND LEE    LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL    104A    AL-3325-X 10048    ALLADIN    JAMAICA    1956    ORIGINALLY ON ALLADIN IN 1956
SHIRLEY AND LEE    DO YOU MEAN TO HURT ME    104B    AL-3325-Q 10046    ALLADIN    JAMAICA    1956    ORIGINALLY ON ALLADIN IN 1956

GENE AND EUNICE    VOW, THE    DOWN BEAT    212G    AL3374-Q    ALADDIN
GENE AND EUNICE    STRANGE WORLD    DOWN BEAT    212G    AL3374-X    ALADDIN

DOWNBEAT (UK Re-issue)

7″ Singles

MONTY REYNOLDS    LONG TIME GIRL        db 001a        2002    U.K.
LORD FLY    BLU – LU – UP        db 001b        2002    U.K.
LORD POWER    PENNY REEL        db 002a        2002    U.K.
LORD POWER    MISS GOOSEY        db 002b        2002    U.K.
LORD COMPOSER    HILL AND GULLY        db 003a        2002    U.K.
LORD MESSAM    LINSTEAD MARKET        db 003b        2002    U.K.

FEDERAL

7″ Singles

LORD LARO    TRIBUTE TO N. W. MANLEY    FEDERAL (BLANK)    NONE    FRM 7192    RICHARD KHOURI
LORD LARO    INTEGRATION    FEDERAL (BLANK)    NONE    FRM 7193    RICHARD KHOURI

FIESTA

12″ Lps

TOWER ISLANDERS, THE    CALYPSO (AS PLAYED AT TOWER ISLE), JAMAICA B.W.I.        lp 1206 a        1956    Jamaica

TOWER ISLANDERS, THE    CALYPSO BY THE TOWER ISLANDERS    FLP1212    FLP1212-A        JAMAICA    1960s

HERALD / JAMAICA

7″ Singles

HERALD / JAMAICA    JOHNNY ADAMS    I WON’T CRY    NONE    E3447    ?    JAMAICA    1950s
HERALD / JAMAICA    JOHNNY ADAMS    WHO ARE YOU?    NONE    E3448    ?    JAMAICA    1950s – This is an issue of North American Vocal R&B released only ever on 78rpm in the states but here on a 45rpm two sider, obviously officially licenced to a Jamaican distributer and manufacturer, as of yet I’m unsure who, but surely Khouri at Federal stands a good chance of being the ‘culprit’?

ISLAND ARTISTS LTD.

12″ Lps

GOOMBAY TROUBADORS feat VINCENT MARTIN, PEANUTS TAYLOR, GOOMBAY DRUMS    BAHAMA LULLABY    XTV 25855    XTV 25855 – 1A    1957    1957    BAHAMAS    ISLAND ARTISTS LTD.

JUMP UP

7″ Singles

LORD KITCHENER    DR. KITCH        ju511 a/2        1963    U.K.   Production – Telco / Jump Up was a division of Island Records.
LORD KITCHENER    COME BACK HOME MEH BOY        ju511 b        1963    U.K.   Production – Telco

KALYPSO (Jamaica)

78rpm

CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS – A. BEDASSE)    SAMSON AND DELILAH    C1003 – 04818    04818    IVAN CHIN / KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1955

CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS – A. BEDASSE)    INDUSTRIAL FAIR    C1003 – 04819    04819    IVAN CHIN / KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1955

SIR HORACE AND HIS MERRY KNIGHTS    MORGAN’S MENTO    DOUBLE SIX 66    NONE VISIBLE    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1958

SIR HORACE AND HIS MERRY KNIGHTS    MAMBO JAMAICA    DOUBLE SIX 66    NONE VISIBLE    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1958

SIR HORACE AND HIS MERRY KNIGHTS    MORGAN’S MENTO    KALYPSO (JAMAICA)    XX03    O4823    KEN KHOURI     JAMAICA  1958 (THIS IS A LABEL VARIANT OF ABOVE ITEM)
SIR HORACE AND HIS MERRY KNIGHTS    MAMBO JAMAICA    KALYPSO (JAMAICA)    XX03    O4822    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA  1958

THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS (VOCALS – LORD LEBBY)    DR. KINSEY REPORT    RL 101    0 4816    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1958

THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS (VOCALS – LORD LEBBY)    ETHEOPIA    RL 101    0 4817    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1958

MIGHTY PANTHER, THE & THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    TALKING PARROT, THE    RL114    RL114    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1959?    INTERESTING ALTERNATIVE TAKES TO THE LASHER SONGS OF THE SAME NAME, ARRANGEMENTS ARE THE SAME OR VERY SIMILAR, BUT BY A TRINIDADIAN CALYPSONIAN

MIGHTY PANTHER, THE & THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    CINEMASCOPE    RL116    RL116    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1959?

WRIGGLERS, THE / VOCALS DENZIL LAING    LIMBO    X2001    17X1    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1950s

WRIGGLERS, THE / VOCALS DENZIL LAING    WHO TO CALL YOUR FRIEND    X2001    17X2    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1950s

7″ Single

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS (VOCALS – LORD TICKLER aka HAROLD RICHARDSON)    LIMBO    RL108    15 X 1    1958    JAMAICA    KEN KHOURI
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS (VOCALS – LORD TICKLER aka HAROLD RICHARDSON)    MEDLEY (SWEETIE CHARLIE, MR. PARNEY, MANGO WALK)    RL108    15 X 2    1958    JAMAICA    KEN KHOURI

LORD LARO    BANANA BOY    NONE    FRK 105    1961?    JAMAICA    KEN KHOURI
LORD LARO    RASTAFARIAN LOVE, THE    NONE    FRK 106    1961?    JAMAICA    KEN KHOURI / Early references to Rastafari in Jamaican recording. Does this predate Harry Mudie’s recordings of Count Ossie of circa 1961? Also, this may well feature Ossie’s drummers, as Laro later recorded ‘A Tribute To Count Ossie’ it seems possible that they were closely linked, perhaps through this record?

12″ Lps

WRIGGLERS, THE    THE WRIGGLERS SING CALYPSO AT THE ARAWAK HOTEL JAMAICA W.I.    KLP 200    LP 41058 A    ?    Jamaica    FEDERAL

LORD LEBBY    SINGS FAVOURITE CALYPSOS    KALYPSO – 1000    FEDERAL 6905    1965    JAMAICA    KEN KHOURI / includes a sublime rendering of ‘Oh Danny Boy’!

KALYPSO (UK)

7″ Single

BEDASSE    NIGHT FOOD RECIPE    45/C 1005    45 C 1005 A    1954    U.K.
BEDASSE    WOMAN STYLE    45/C 1005    45 C 1005 B    1954    U.K.

BEDASSE    HONEY BEE    45/C 1006    45 C 1006 A    1955    U.K.
BEDASSE    COME BACK TO ME    45/C 1006    45 C 1006 B    1955    U.K.

CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS E. BEDASSE [ALERTH BEDASSE])    ADAM AND EVE    45/C 1010-A    45-C-1010-A    1956    U.K. KEN KHOURI
CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS E. BEDASSE [ALERTH BEDASSE])    NOT ME AGAIN    45/C 1010-B    45-C-1010-B    1956    U.K. KEN KHOURI

CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS E. BEDASSE [ALERTH BEDASSE])    BIG BOY AND TEACHER    KALYPSO    45/C 1008-A    45-04820    IVAN CHIN    1956
CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET (VOCALS E. BEDASSE [ALERTH BEDASSE])    RED TOMATO    KALYPSO    45/C 1008-B    45-04821    IVAN CHIN   1956

COUNT LASHER & THE PORTER CALYPSO STAR BAND    TALKING PARROT    45/XX 12    DA-45-2857    1959?    U.K. KEN KHOURI
COUNT LASHER & THE PORTER CALYPSO STAR BAND    DOCTOR    45/XX 12    DA-45-2858    1959?    U.K. KEN KHOURI

LAUREL AITKEN & THE BOOGIE CATS    BABA KILL ME GOAT    XX 19 A    45 XX 19-A    1960?    U.K.    LAUREL AITKEN?
LAUREL AITKEN & THE BOOGIE CATS    TRIBUTE TO COLLIE SMITH    XX 19 B    45 XX 19-B    1960?    U.K.    LAUREL AITKEN?

LORD LARO    JAMAICAN REFERENDUM CALYPSO    45/XX 21    XX 21-A    1961    U.K. KEN KHOURI
LORD LARO    WONG IMPRESSIONS OF A SOLDIER    45/XX 21    XX 21-B    1961    U.K. KEN KHOURI

COUNT ZEBRA & THE SEASIDERS    CAT-O-NINE    45/XX 23    Go 5    1962    U.K. KEN KHOURI
COUNT ZEBRA & THE SEASIDERS    BEDBUG    45/XX 23    Go 5    1962    U.K. KEN KHOURI

LORD ROSE AND THE BEACHCOMBERS    INDEPENDANT JAMAICA    45/XX25-A    XX25-A    1962    U.K. KEN KHOURI
LORD ROSE AND THE BEACHCOMBERS    TWISTIN’ UNCLE    45/XX25-B    XX25-B    1962    U.K. KEN KHOURI

LONDON INTERNATIONAL & LONDON CALYPSO

78rpm

MARIE BRYANT AND JACKIE BROWN’S CALYPSO KINGS    DON’T TOUCH ME NYLON        dr. 18460        U.K.    ?
MARIE BRYANT AND JACKIE BROWN’S CALYPSO KINGS    WATER MELON        dr. 18461        U.K.    ?

10″ Lps

VARIOUS    AUTHENTIC JAMAICAN CALYPSOS        mscl6651a/2b    1954    U.K.    Stanley Motta

MARACAS RECORDINGS

78rpm

LORD POWER AND HIS CALYPSONIANS    MAMBO LA-LA    M 20001    13 X A        JAMAICA    1950s
LORD POWER AND HIS CALYPSONIANS    SPECIAL AMBER CALYPSO    M 20001    13 X B        JAMAICA    1950s

MELODISC

78rpm

KING SPARROW & CARIBBEAN ALL STARS    CLARA HONEY BUNCH    MELODISC    1475    APR-56    MELODISC    50S
KING SPARROW & CARIBBEAN ALL STARS    FAMILYSIZE COKES    MELODISC    1475    APR-59    MELODISC  50S

TICKLERS, THE (VOCALS – HAROLD RICHARDSON)    GLAMOUR GAL – CALYPSO    1214 / MOT 01-8    MOT 01 8    STANLEY MOTTA    U.K.    1952?    1952? There is an advert in a 1952 copy of the Gleaner for this tune in it’s original MRS labelled state.  Source – Mentomusic.com / First Jamaican recording entirely recorded and produced in Jamaica to see a UK and not just Jamaican release. On original Stamper for both UK and Jamaican releases. – Source – general knowledge, confirmed through Dan Neely’s research.

TICKLERS, THE (VOCALS – HAROLD RICHARDSON)    DON’T FENCE HER IN – CALYPSO    1214 / MOT 01-9    MOT 01 9    STANLEY MOTTA    U.K.    1952?

MERCURY (JAMAICA)

78rpm

DIAMONDS, THE    FAITHFUL AND TRUE    R2216 71060 YB15047    GBU 15047    MERCURY    JAMAICA    50s
DIAMONDS, THE    LITTLE DARLIN’    R2216 71060 YB15048    GBU 15048    MERCURY    JAMAICA    50s – Probably pressed by Federal, generic looking label bears close resemblance to Kalypso.

MARTERIE, RALPH (AND HIS ORCHESTRA)    UNTIL SIX    R2021    YBU 10354    JEROME MUSIC CORP    JAMAICA    50s
MARTERIE, RALPH (AND HIS ORCHESTRA)    DRY MARTERIE    R2021    YBU 10222    JUDY MUSIC    JAMAICA    50s

MONOGRAM

12″ Lps

VARIOUS ARTISTES – MEET ME IN JAMAICA (B.W.I.)    12-852    LP 852 1    1950s    1950s    U.S.A.    Various Producers

MONTEGO BEACH HOTEL GIFT SHOP

12″ Lps

MONTEGO BEACH HOTEL CALYPSO BAND    SOUVENIR ALBUM / MONTEGO BEACH HOTEL CALYPSONIANS    LOML 502    SMOL 103 1E    1958    1958    Jamaica    Date Unknown (Stanley Motta?) – Note this features Lord Lebby on Vocals througout, though he is not credited on the Lp’s sleeve. Assumed to be a Motta production as he did produce 78s for and from this Hotel.

MRS (Motta’s Recording Studio)

78rpm

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    MEDLY OF JAMAICAN MENTO – FAN ME SOLJA MAN FAN ME, ONE SOLJA MAN, YUH NO YEARY WHAT THE OLE MAN SAY, SLIDE MONGOOSE    SSS.2033X / 01A    NONE    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952   This is thought to be the first song to be recorded and released in Jamaica, although there is some confusion over the possibility that it may have been recorded in Miami.

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    CALYPSO – WHAI, WHAI, WHAI    SSS.2034X / 01B    NONE    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    JAMAICAN CALYPSOS – SWINE LANE GAL / IRON BAR    04A    SSS 2082 X    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    JAMAICAN CALYPSOS – WHEN MI LOOK UPON JANIE SO / ADA / TIME SO HARD    04B    SSS 2083 X    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952

REYNOLDS CALYPSO CLIPPERS – VOCAL – BOYSIE GRANT    SWEETIE CHARLIE / MATTY RAG / NOBODY’S BUSINESS    O6A    MOT 2134 – 06A MEL    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952

REYNOLDS CALYPSO CLIPPERS – VOCAL – BOYSIE GRANT    COME WE A GO DOWN A UNITY / OLD LADY O / LINSTEAD MARKET    06B    MOT 2135 – 06B MEL    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    TRANSPORTATION KINGSTON STYLE – JAMAICAN CALYPSO    MOT.2138 / 11A    MOT2138    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952?

DAN WILLIAMS AND HIS ORCHESTRA – VOCAL LORD FLY    BLU-LU-LUP – JAMAICAN CALYPSO    MOT.2139 / 11B    MOT2139    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1952?

TICKLERS, THE (HAROLD RICHARDSON – VOCAL)    PARISH GAL    15A MOT 2150    MOT 2150    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s
TICKLERS, THE (HAROLD RICHARDSON – VOCAL)    HARD HEARTED LOVER    15B MOT 2151    MOT 2151    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s

CECIL KNOTT AND HIS JOYBELL ORCHESTRA    WHEN YOU COME AMERICA COWHEAD    D/SM.20A    DSM20A    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1950s
CECIL KNOTT AND HIS JOYBELL ORCHESTRA    BELLYLICK BARGIE    D/SM.20B    DSM20A    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1950s

REYNOLDS CALYPSO CLIPPERS (VOCALS BOYSIE GRANT TENOR BANJO EDDIE BROWN)    NOISY SPRING    MRS 23 F.23A    DMRS23A    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s
REYNOLDS CALYPSO CLIPPERS (VOCALS BOYSIE GRANT TENOR BANJO EDDIE BROWN)    HARD HEARTED LOVER    MRS 23 F.23B    DMRS23B    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s

JOSEPH CLEMENDORE WITH GEORGE MOXEY AND HIS CALYPSO QUINTET    MY BROTHER CALAMITY    SM.109 DSM.27A    DSM109 STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s
JOSEPH CLEMENDORE WITH GANNY GABBISON AND HIS CALYPSO BAND    MAINTENANCE    SM.110 DSM.27B    DSM110 STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s

COUNT LASHER’S CALYPSO QUINTET – VOCAL BY COUNT LASHER    TREK TO ENGLAND    SM.146 – DSM. 41    SM-146-1    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s
COUNT LASHER’S CALYPSO QUINTET – VOCAL BY COUNT LASHER    WATER THE GARDEN    SM.145 – DSM. 41    SM-145-1    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    50s

10″ Lps

VARIOUS    AUTHENTIC JAMAICAN CALYPSOS SERIES 3        motl 103a-1a    1955    1955    Jamaica    Stanley Motta

12″ Lps

VARIOUS ARTISTES    CALYPSO DATE    LOML 503    SMOL 105 1B    STANLEY MOTTA    JAMAICA    1950s

7″ Singles

HAROLD RICHARDSON & CHARLIE BINGER AND HIS QUINTET    JAMAICA IS THE PLACE TO GO    45-DSM 53    45-SM-173-1C    1950s    1950s    U.K.    STANLEY MOTTA
HAROLD RICHARDSON & CHARLIE BINGER AND HIS QUINTET    COUNTRY GAL    45-DSM 53    45-SM-174-1C    1950s    1950s    U.K.    STANLEY MOTTA

7″ E.P.

BRUTE FORCE STEEL BAND ,THE    JUMBIE JAMBOREE        smep – 12-1c       1950′s  Jamaica. / U.K.    Stanley Motta
BRUTE FORCE STEEL BAND ,THE    WHEEL AND TURN ME        smep – 12-1c        1950′s    Jamaica. / U.K.   Stanley Motta

COUNT LASHER    WATER THE GARDEN        smep – 11-1c        1950′s    Jamaica. / U.K..    Stanley Motta
COUNT LASHER SEVEN    BREADFRUIT SEASON        smep – 11-1c        1950′s    Jamaica. / U.K.  Stanley Motta

NATIONAL CALYPSO

7″ Singles

LORD RIGBY    CARNIVAL JAMAICA    NC2000    R&B NCD 2010 A    1964    1964    U.K.    C.S. Dodd / Rare Studio One production, with writing credit to C.S. Dodd on the record, pressed up and labelled in the UK by R&B Discs.
LORD RIGBY    MUSIC TEACHER    NC2000    R&B NCD 2010 B    1964    1964    U.K.    C.S. Dodd

NIXA

10″ Lps

FRANK HOLDER    CALYPSO TIME WITH FRANK HOLDER    NPT 19007    ZZ 1007 A1    1950s    1950s    U.K.    Nixa Produced / Frank Holder was vocalist with Johnny Dankworth (Jazz Band Leader) at one time and apparently resident in the UK at the time this record was recorded. Also known for his Bongo playing.

PENTHOUSE

7″ Singles

CHAKKA DEMUS \ ROD DENNIS MENTO BAND    NOBODYS BUSINESS        side A title        Jamaica    D. Germain 2002
ROD DENNIS MENTO BAND    NOBODYS BUSINESS VERSION        side b version        Jamaica    D. Germain 2002

12″ Lps

ROD DENNIS MENTO BAND    ORIGINAL JAMAICAN MUSIC        a mento band        U.S.A.    D. Germain 2001

PORT O JAM

7″ Singles

SUGAR BELLY & THE CANEFIELDS    SHAKE UP ADINA    P.J. OO1    FCD7890?    1972    1972    JAMAICA    C.S. DODD
SUGAR BELLY & THE CANEFIELDS    DANNY BOY    P.J. OO1        1972    1972    JAMAICA    C.S. DODD

RITMO

12″ Lps

VARIOUS ARTISTES, LORD FLEA, HUBER PORTER, LORD LEBBY    CALYPSOS FROM JAMAICA    12-503    LP 12 503 A1    LATE 50s    LATE 50s    U.S.A.    VARIOUS?    Note – One of the most wonderful covers in Jamaican Lp history. The Lp is exactly the same as the Sounds of the Caribbean Calypsos from Jamaica Lp.

SOUNDS OF THE CARIBBEAN

12″ Lps

VARIOUS ARTISTS   CALYPSOS FROM JAMAICA        slp 734 a 1-14-71            U.S.A.    Various producers / Re-release of the Ritmo Lp also titled CALYPSOS FROM JAMAICA.

STUDIO ONE  

12″ Lps

HILTONAIRES    MEET ME IN JAMAICA    STUDIO ONE 100    WIRL CS LP 1241 A2/B1    C.S. DODD    JAMAICA    1965

TIMES RECORD

78rpm

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    CALYPSOS FROM JAMAICA    NONE    JAM 103 / D JAM 104/D JAM101/102/D JAM 105/106    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    VERY RARE (ONLY THREE KNOWN) ALBUM COLLECTION OF x3no 78RPM LORD FLEA SIDES, details on the three sides in this set appear below. This is one of only three currently known to eist, Jeremy Collingwood and Dan Neely own the other two. SEE BELOW FOR SINGLES THAT MAKE UP THIS SET

……………………. Singles that make up above x3no 78rpm single album set.

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    TIME SO HARD / OLD LADY    (JAM 101) UD. 1003    D JAM 101    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    PART OF THREE 78RPM ALBUM SET
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    SOLAS MARKET / WATER COME FROM ME EYE    (JAM 102) UD. 1003    D JAM 102    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    PART OF THREE 78RPM ALBUM SET
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    WHEEL AND TURN ME    (JAM 103) UD. 1002    D JAM 103    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    PART OF THREE 78RPM ALBUM SET
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    MATTIE RAG / BROWN SKIN GAL    (JAM 104) UD. 1002    D JAM 104    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    PART OF THREE 78RPM ALBUM SET
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    DONKEY CITY    (JAM 105) UD. 1003    D JAM 105    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    PART OF THREE 78RPM ALBUM SET
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE -  WITH VOCAL LORD FLEA    RUN MONGOOSE / LINSTEAD MARKET    (JAM 106) UD. 1003    D JAM 106    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    JAMAICA    1950s    PART OF THREE 78RPM ALBUM SET

HUBERT PORTER WITH THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    MISS GOOSIE    JAM 113 UD 1007    DJAM113-1    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1950s
HUBERT PORTER WITH THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    UGLY WOMAN    JAM 114 UD 1007    DJAM114-1B    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1950s

HUBERT PORTER WITH THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    TEN PENNY NAIL    JAM.120 UD.1011    JAM 120    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1950s
HUBERT PORTER WITH THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    MARY’S LAMB / THE MORE WE ARE TOGETHER    JAM.121 UD.1009    JAM 121    KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    1950s

………………………………………….

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS – VOCALS – LORD FLEA    DONKEY CITY    (JAM 105) UD. 1003    D JAM 105    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    U.K.    ?    PRESSED IN UK FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON JAMAICA – For claity’s sake this is the same side, catalogue and matrix numbers as the single that came in the 3 78rpm set.

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS – VOCALS – LORD FLEA    RUN MONGOOSE / LINSTEAD MARKET    (JAM 106) UD. 1003    D JAM 106    KEN KHOURI (FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON)    U.K.    ?    PRESSED IN UK FOR TIMES STORE KINGSTON JAMAICA

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE VOCAL BY HUBERT PORTER    NOT ME    JAM 109 UD.1005    DJAM 109-1    TIMES RECORD / KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    50s
JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE VOCAL BY HUBERT PORTER    RUM AND COCONUT WATER    JAM 110 UD.1005    DJAM 110-1    TIMES RECORD / KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA    50s

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE VOCAL BY HUBERT PORTER    MISS DAISY AND BROWN SKIN GIRL    JAM 111 UD.1006    DJAM 111-1 TIMES RECORD / KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA  50s

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS, THE VOCAL BY HUBERT PORTER    OLD LADY    JAM 112 UD.1006    DJAM 112-1    TIMES RECORD / KEN KHOURI    JAMAICA 50s

10″ Lps

TIMES RECORD    HUBERT PORTER WITH THE JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS    JAL 1002 10″ TIMES RECORD LP    JAL 1002    JAL 1 1C    TIMES STORE – KEN KHOURI?    JAMAICA    1950s    RARE 10″ LP SOLD AT THE TIMES STORE KINGSTON, COLLECTION OF 78RPM SIDES

JAMAICAN CALYPSONIANS / VOCAL HUBER PORTER    CALYPSOS FROM JAMAIACA    JAL 1001 C.T.1786    CP1786-IC    TIMES STORE / KEN KNOURI    JAMAICA    1950s

TICO EL REY DEL MAMBO

78rpm

JAMAICA BOY (AKA DENZIL LAING?) AND HIS KINGSTON CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    MAN IS SMART, WOMAN’S SMARTER    10-391    X 20 A    KEN KHOURI    U.K.    1950s    FROM MATRIX LOOKS LIKE IT WAS ORIGINALLY OFF A KHOURI / FEDERAL STAMPER / Released in South America via this New York label, uncertain if released in USA though the label states it was based there .

JAMAICA BOY (AKA DENZIL LAING?) AND HIS KINGSTON CALYPSO ORCHESTRA    MARY ANN, BROWN SKIN GAL    10-391    X 20 B    KEN KHOURI    U.K.    1950s

WIRL

12″ Lps

COUNT FRANK    COUNT FRANK SINGS CALYPSO        wirlfm1802 / wirl 1058        1960s   Jamaica    Lynford Anderson

LORD JELLICOE AND HIS CALYPSO MONARCHS    LORD JELLICOE AT THE SHERATON        lord a1        1960s    Jamaica    Clifford Rae

Z.W. (Studio One)

12″ Lps

LORD ANTICS AND THE MERRY BOYS    CALYPSOES TOO HOT TO HOLD    None    FOD 7924 A    ?    ?    Jamaica    C.S Dodd

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Doom Patrol (Volume 5) #14
Written by Keith Giffen
Art by Matthew Clark and Ron Randall

This was a great issue as Niles Caulder somehow manages to gain Kryptonian Powers by extracting them from a Kryptonian he must have taken from New Krypton and now feels he no longer needs the Doom Patrol. Basically he is a big dickface and the Doom Patrol should not forgive him this time. I loved the Ambush Bug musical opening to the issue and his fourth wall breaking – and the use of Bumblebee who isn’t used enough in this book. I wonder what the Robot meant when it said Kryptonians have different types of Reproductive Organs than humans? Weird.

Stanley Motta was a businessman living in Kingston Jamaica who originally traded in electrical goods and began his recording ‘studio’ in the early 1950s, before there were any other studios or mastering and pressing facilities on the Island. He would have artists record their songs in one shot and the acetates would then be sent for duplication in the United Kingdom. These records were then sent back to Jamaica to be bought mainly by early tourist visitors to the Island. Motta recorded Mento; a style of music that is sometimes inaccurately described as Jamaican Calypso. To this day Stanley Motta Cellular Repair is a Jamaican company, specialising in electrical repair.

First ever Jamaican production to get UK release.

In 1952 Melodisc the UK label reknowned for it’s ‘Ethnic’ output produced MELODISC Cat no – 1214 / MOT 01-8. This is the first Jamaican produced single to see a release in the UK. Having been written and recorded  and ‘produced’ in Jamaica the acetates were sent to the UK and pressed both for release in the UK and Jamaica, both issues of the single share exactly the same Matrices. This intimates that they were pressed by the same company, but labelled with two different record company labels. MRS (Motta’s Recording Studios) and Melodisc.

The Ticklers (VOCALS - HAROLD RICHARDSON) GLAMOUR GAL - CALYPSO MELODISC 1214 / MOT 01-8

The Home Market

Initially local interest was limited, the up-market Kingstonians were not interested in what they saw as the ‘Rural’ music of Jamaica and it wasn’t until the western white tourist audience grew that Jamaicans themselves, at least the wealthier ones, began to take an interest. Poorer Jamaican families could rarely afford the equipment to play the 78rpm records on and so it was left to them to write and perform the songs that Stanley Motta recorded.

Mento is now a sought after collectors commodity, rare and VERY difficult to find. Once it was just something that captured a little of the flavour of a visit to the Caribbean and something to put away in the attic with the Hawaiian shirt, holiday snaps and Bermudan shorts.

Later in his career Motta had a few now rare 45rpm singles and E.P.s pressed and also released his music on a well known series of 10″ Lps, amongst them the ‘Authentic Jamaican Calypsos’ Series with vols 1 to 4. Some of the material released on these 10″ Lps was also released by the London label as ‘Authentic Jamaican Calypsos’ this time without a series number and a as a compilation of tunes that appear on the Jamaican produced series of the same name. In England at least this London Lp is easier to find.

Country Gal, the follow up to the Ticklers hit Glamour Gal

Rare MRS E.P. of Count Lasher and the less desirable Brute Force Steel Band

Mento continues to be more easily found in the United States where the short hop from Miami had meant that tourists from North America were more likely to visit than other nationals. Of course the Brisith colonialists only left Jamaica in 1962, however it remains hard to find Mento in Britain for some reason.

You can find out more at the excellent – http://www.mentomusic.com/

Doom Patrol (Volume 5) #13
Written by Keith Giffen
Art by Matthew Clark and Ron Randall

Elasti-Woman reveals to her teammates the truth about her ressurection and how she is really a protoplasm form (Kind= of like The Matrix Supergirl!) and has to remember what she really looks like every morning to reform herself. It adds a whole new dimension to her character and I liked it. I am not sure why she went all crazy on Mento at the end but I am sure she has her reasons besides revenge for him stalking her in her mind. The dating on her journal bothered me – there is no way she adopted Beast Boy in 2006! I wish writers at DC would just use the Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe already! It happened in early 1993 according to that heavily researched and great timeline that DC should make official! Anyways this was a good issue as I continue to enjoy this book more and more.