Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2008 Track 12 - Frankinstine

Keeping it inna DJ fashion for this Thursday we've got one from the man Johnny Ringo. This one is called "Frankinstine" and comes from a 1979 7" on the Please Be True riddim and released on the Greedy Puppy label.

Ringo, who's real name was Bradley Miller, was born in 1961 in Kingston Jamaica and died July 2, 2005. The story goes that Johnny Ringo was working in a record shop in the late 70's where he met Welton Irie, another DJ breaking into the scene around the same time, and the two formed an association that carried them throughout the heyday of the rub-a-dub era. Both Ringo and Irie were heavily influenced by the style of the often under appreciated Ranking Trevor and they modeled some of their styles of phrasing and delivery after him.

Ringo was the operator for two sound systems Soul Express and Rippa-Tone, and eventually made the leap to vinyl in 1979 with the song "Trouble Never Set Like Rain" backed by the Revolutionaries and released on the Reggae Vibes label. The record which you are about to hear is from that same era, when dancehall was just beginning to distinguish itself from the foundation style of DJing made popular by U-Roy, Big Youth, etc., and though the spelling is a little off, it does talk about that madman created monster that has become synonymous with Halloween.

I have added some slight embellishment with Frankenstein groans, rattling chains and electrical laboratory equipment noise but have kinda kept it to a minimal.

Track 12 - NEW LINK