Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2011 - Track Three - Jack The Ripper

We have all heard about the sinister escapades of the mysterious Jack the Ripper and the string of brutal murders he committed in the Whitechapel district of London in 1888 but, have you heard of Bob Skeng?

Bob Skeng sang and played keyboards for a string of UK based reggae bands in the 70s and 80s. He eventually recorded under his given name Desmond Craig but was encouraged by an early producer to go with Bob Skeng because he felt the name Desmond was too bland.

Eventually Desmond Craig/Bob Skeng went on to form his own band in 1983 called Camajia, which Craig explained was an anagram for Jamaica...

Jack the Ripper reached number 9 on the British reggae charts in 1977 when the 12" was originally released on the Jah Lion label out of England. Mr. Craig... or Mr. Skeng plays the hell out of the melodica on this record which makes for some rather spooky/foreboding sounding reggae!

I had been vaguely aware of this record for a couple years now and thankfully added it to my collection when the tune had been re-pressed as a 7" on the Archive Recordings label.