The Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular Archive - 2006-2014

 

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JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2006

1.     Scientist – Blood on his Lips

2.     Lord Kitchener – Love in the Cemetery

3.     The Crystalites – Blacula

4.     The Wailers – Mr. Brown

5.     King Horror – Loch Ness Monster

6.     Early B – Ghostbuster

7.     Soul Brothers – Voodoo Moon

8.     Lone Ranger – Annie Palmer

9.     The Revolutionaries – Escape From Hell

10.    The Flames – Scare Him

11.    Lone Ranger – Barnabas Collins

12.    Yellowman – Mi Kill Barnie

13.    Scientist – Night of the Living Dead

14.    The Vulcans – Dracula

15.    Peter Tosh – Dracula

16.    Bobby Aitken – Vampire

17.    Upsetters – 10 til 12

18.    Lone Ranger – Frankinstine

19.    The Aggrolites – Grave Digger

20.    Leo Graham – Voodooism

21.    The Wailers – Duppy Conqueror

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2007

1.     The Crystalites – Ghost Rider

2.     Dillinger – Duppy Boasty

3.     Joe Gibbs Allstars – Midnight Movie

4.     Lord Jellicoe – Zombie Jamboree

5.     Harry J Allstars – Jack the Ripper

6.     Johnny Organ – Bewitched

7.     Eastwood & Saint – Talk About Run

8.     Pablo Gad – Bloodsucker

9.     The Upsetters – Vampire

10.   Derrick Morgan – Father Killam

11.    Lone Ranger – Grave Yard Skank

12.    Lone Ranger – Barnabas Collins

13.    Skatalites – Reburial

14.    Dennis Alcapone – Mr. Brown’s Coffin

15.    Nitty Gritty – Duppy Come Again

16.    Black Art – Vampire (horns)

17.    Dave Barker – Dr. Jekyll

18.    Elroy Bailey – Moving Creatures

19.    Prince Buster – Ghost Dance

20.    Chin – Woman Ghost Fool Man

21.    Peter Tosh – Vampire

22.    The Chuckles – Darkest Night

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2008

1.     King Horror – Dracula Prince of Darkness

2.     Herman’s All Stars – Nightmare

3.     Flip Kay – Duppy Bawl

4.     The Graduates – Dark Shadows

5.     Dillinger – I Thirst

6.     GG Allstars – Vampire Rock

7.     Joe White – The Monster

8.     Jackie Paris – Run For Your Life

9.     The Crystalites – Alfred Hitchcock

10.    Count Lasher – Font Hill Duppy

11.    Eastwood & Saint – Two Bad DJ

12.    Johnny Ringo – Frankenstein

13.    Lone Ranger – Barnabas Collins

14.    Lone Ranger – U.F.O.

15.    Dennis Brown – Black Magic Woman

16.    Errol Brown – Black Cat Version

17.    Blue Rivers – Witchcraft Man

18.    Dynamites – Phantom

19.    Count Owen – Back to Back

20.    Sir Lord Comic – Lon Chaney

21.    Sound Dimension – The Thing

22.    Denzel Laing – Beware of the Vampire

23.    Scientist – Vampire Initiative

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2009

1.     Mikey Dread – Pre Dawn Dub

2.     Jackie Mittoo – Hot Blood

3.     Murphy Romeo – Ghost Affair

4.     Lloyd Charmers – Bone Yard Skank

5.     Windew Hayes – Haunted House

6.     The Upsetters – Touch of Fire

7.     Dennis Alcapone – Duppy Serenade

8.     Bag-O-Wire – Creeper

9.     Busters All Stars – Seven Duppy

10.    Carlton Livingston – Are You Afraid

11.    Pampidoo – Ghost Buster

12.    Aston Barrett – Duppy Conqueror

13.    Ernie Smith – Duppy Gunman

14.    Boris Gardiner – Darkness

15.    The Revolutionaries – Rigor Mortis

16.    King Horror – Frankenstein

17.    Levi Williams – Duppy Jamboree

18.    Dub Connection – Jamaican Hammer Horror

19.    Massive Dread – Vamps on the Corner

20.    Roland Alphonso – Devil’s Disciple

21.    Sancho – Chase Vampire

22.    Captain Barkey – Vampire

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2010

1.     James Eastwood – Darkest Night

2.     Santic All Stars – Hell Boat

3.     Carl Dawkins – Witchcraft

4.     Byron Lee – Duppy Jamboree

5.     Vin Gordon – Red Blood

6.     Caly Gibbs – Ghost Walk

7.     Tommy McCook – Dracula

8.     Tender Tones – Devil Woman

9.     Hippy Boys – Death Rides A Horse

10.    Derrick Morgan – A No Duppy

11.    James Bond – Duppyman Skank

12.    Jackie Mittoo – The Executioner

13.    Danny Hill – Annie Palmer

14.    Karl Bryan – Run For Your Life

15.    Skin Flesh & Bones – Bad Beast

16.    Positive – Vampire

17.    Keith Hudson – Satan Side

18.    Del Owen & Newts – Barnabas Collins

19.    Daddy Meeky – Duppy Story

20.    Lovindeer – Duppy Bye Bye

21.    Delroy Wilson – Things In the Dark

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2011

1.     The Upsetters – Night Doctor

2.     Max Romeo – Copie Duppy

3.     Bob Skeng – Jack the Ripper

4.     Moses – When The Vampire…

5.     Boy Wonder – Cold Blood

6.     Three Tops – Bone Yard

7.     Joy Makers – Zombie Jamboree

8.     Ken Quatty – To Hell & Back

9.     Jackie Taylor – Midnight Organ

10.    King Horror – Ghost Hour

11.    Steve Stanley – Sudden Death

12.    Hot Rod All-Stars – 10 Commandments of the Devil

13.    Geoffery Chang – UFO

14.    Fish Clarke – Black Magic Woman

15.  The Dynamites – House of Darkness

16.  Trinity – Vampire

17.  Cannonball King – Thunderstorm

18.  Dr. Alimantado – I Shall Fear No Evil

19.  Barrington Levy – Deep in the Dark

20.  Delroy Wilson – Voodoo Man

21.  Larry Marshall – Duppyman Skank

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2012

1.     Tommy McCook – Midnight Time

2.     Lloyd Robinson – Death A Come

3.     Byron Lee – Frankenstein

4.     Bionic Steve – Bermuda Triangle

5.     Laurel Aitken – Jamboree

6.     Bunny Lee’s All Stars – Annie Pama

7.     The Ethiopians – Obeah Book

8.     The Upsetters – Haunted House

9.     Peter Metro – Obeah In America

10.    Trinity – Scare Crow Style

11.    Augustus Pablo – Crucial Burial

12.    Pat Kelly – Barnabas

13.    Dandy Livingstone – Suzanne Beware Of The Devil

14.    Val Bennett – Midnight Spin

15.    Eric “Monty” Morris – Sammy Dead

16.    Lloyd Clarke – Living Among The Dead

17.    The Music Doctors – Ghost Rider

18.    George McLean – Ballad Of Annie Palmer

19.    Oliver Samuels – Duppy

20.    Admiral Bailey – Holy Water

21.    Scientist – Your Teeth In My Neck

      JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2013

1.     Prince Jammy – Slaughterhouse Five

2.     Lee & The Clarendonians – Night Owl

3.     Lloyd & Devon – Wolf Out Deh

4.     Basque Dub Foundation – Midnight Organ

5.     Inner Circle – Duppy Gunman

6.     Raheem DeVaughn – Mr. Brown

7.     The Upsetters – Creeping Version

8.     Prince Buster – Hard Man Fe Dead

9.     Prince Buster All Stars – The Haunted Room

10.   Scientist & The Roots Radics – Grave Yard Shift

11.   Nigger Kojak & Liza – Two Bad Duppy

12.   Militant Barry – Nightmares

13.    Errol Dunkley – Black Magic Spell

14.    Carl Bryan – Walking the Dead

15.   King Horror – Loch Ness Monsters (Take 2)

16.    Allan Swymmer – Hear Duppy Laugh

17.    Skin, Flesh & Bones – Dub in Blood

18.    Vivian Jackson & The Prophets – Anti-Christ

19.     Barry Brown – Dark Shadows

20.     Frankie Jones – Ghostbuster

21.     Uglyman – See Duppy Deh

22.     Little General – Zombie

23.     Horace Ferguson – Midnight Hour

       24.     Clint Eastwood – Mask in the Dark

JAMAICAN HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR 2014

1.  Sly & Robbie – None Shall Escape The House of Dub

2.  Ioby Joseph – Sgt. Vampire

3.  Dennis Brown – Blood Son

4.  Dennis Bovell – Zombie Zones

5.  Skin, Flesh & Bones – Bones Dub

6.  Hopeton Lewis – Run If You Are Afraid

7.  Prince Buster – Bull Buck (And Duppy Conqueror)

8.  Baba Brooks – Twilight Zone

9.  JJ All Stars – The Addams Family Theme

10.  Aston & Yen – Skillamy

11.  Jah Marcus – Terror

12.  Junior Dan – Look Out For The Devil

13.  Michael Prophet – Evil Doers

14.  Peter Tosh – Mark Of The Beast

15.  The Upsetters – Black Bat

16.  Richard Ace – Supernatural Thing

17.  Trevor Brown – Mr. Brown

18.  Advocates Aggregation – Satan Pickney

19.  Jah Skerta – Darkness

20.  Hot Rod All Stars – Return Of The Bad Man

21.  Viceroys – Take Your Hand From My Neck

22.  Sharpknife – Diana The Farmer
23.  Gyptian & Barrington Levy – Day Vampire

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Twenty-Three - Day Vampire

Happy Halloween!! I am amazed at how quick this month went and even more amazed that it is Halloween!  We have reached the end-of-the-road for the 2014 Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular and I hope it doesn't disappoint.  Yes, the final track in this years mix is courtesy of Gyptian and Barrington Levy, a smooth track on the Hot Milk riddim called "Day Vampire."  And though this tune is not specifically discussing vampires of the Transylvanian variety, and is more of a plea for ghetto criminals to lay down their guns and I think the analogy works well!  If I remember correctly, this tune dates from 2010 or 2011 and was pressed on 7" vinyl on the Jah Life label... funky purple flecked vinyl at that! 

Of course what Halloween would be complete without a little Peter Cushing?  The lengthy intro at the beginning of the track is from the 1960 Hammer Films classic Brides of Dracula and I absolutely love this scene!  I have said before that the scenes in Hammer's vampire films, where the secrets, means of defense and destruction of the evil bloodsuckers are revealed, always work best in a Spooktacular!

I want to wish everyone out there a Happy Halloween!  Whatever you've got planned for the big night be sure to have fun and stay safe!  This year I will again be roaming the streets of our hometown with the kids as they do the rounds trick or treating tonight and like always, I couldn't be happier!  I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Spooktacular Track Twenty-Three - Gyptian & Barrington Levy - Day Vampire 

The complete unedited 2014 Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular will be available for download later this morning!  So if you haven't been following along individually, you'll be able to get all the songs in this year's mix without having to put them back together again!

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Twenty-Two - Diana The Farmer

What Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular would be complete without some kind of reference to Annie Palmer?  For those who have been around this blog in years past, the legend of "The White Witch of Rose Hall" is common knowledge, but to those who are making their first foray into uncharted Jamaican Halloween waters it's probably a tale you have never heard...

As I wrote in October of 2010...

"Annie Mae Patterson was born to an English mother and Irish father in Haiti in 1802. Annie's parents both died mysteriously when she was 10 and from that point on was raised by her Haitian nanny who supposedly trained her in voodoo. She came to Jamaica in 1820 in search of a wealthy husband and came across John Palmer who fit the bill nicely. They were soon married and Annie Palmer quickly became the mistress of the Rose Hall Plantation right outside of Montego Bay.

Allegedly, Annie grew bored with her husband and began seeking out lovers. She would select slaves, who she was attracted to and would invite them to come to her chambers at night where she would have their way with them and would have them killed or kill them herself when suspicion or boredom reared its ugly head.

Six years later Annie poisoned her husband John Palmer so that she would become the soul owner and benefactor of the plantation. Supposedly, over the course of the years Annie married and killed two other husbands, acquiring their wealth and continued her illicit affairs with slave men whenever she desired. Oddly, Annie Palmer sealed off the three bedrooms in which her three husbands had died and word began to spread around the plantation that the Great House was haunted.

Her cruelty was legendary... the story says that she would have slaves flogged and beaten for her own amusement and even took them back to the mansion for continued torture when night fell. In 1831, Annie hired a man from England to become her bookkeeper - she was immediately taken by the new man but he had eyes for one of Annie's housekeeper Millicent. The bookkeeper decided to play both sides of the fence, so to speak, and it infuriated Annie. The White Witch cast a spell on Millicent and within 9 days she was dead. Millicent's grandfather, Takoo, who was a powerful voodoo priest and one of Annie's occasional lovers, was incensed by his granddaughter's death and proceeded to storm into her bedroom and strangled her to death.

Well, as you can imagine... the legend of her spirit still haunting the Great House at Rose Hall continues to this day. Countless sightings of ghostly apparitions and odd occurrences throughout the years have fueled the legendary status of Annie Palmer and firmly planted The White Witch Of Rose Hall in the ghostly folklore of Jamaica."

Aside from being Jamaica's most famous ghost story it has also been the subject of a handful of records over the years... ranging from Danny Hill's "Annie Palmer" from the early 1960s (featured in the 2010 Spooktacular), to the early reggae tune by the Lee's All Stars from 1970 entitled "Annie Pama" (featured in 2012), to the early dancehall tune "Annie Palmer" by the legendary Lone Ranger on his classic Barnabas in Collins Wood LP (featured in 2006) and even by the most unlikely source of all Johnny Cash, who wrote and released the song "The Ballad Of Annie Palmer" in 1973 and who was covered by Jamaican artist George McLean (and also featured in the 2012 mix) - I feel like I'm missing another one there but I think you probably get the point.  Today's track may not go with the obvious title but regardless, it is still touching on the White Witch.

The twenty second track, and second to last I might add, in the 2014 mix is by an artist who went by the name Sharpknife and it's called "Diana The Farmer,"  and it's taken from a 7" on the Joe Gibbs Ultra Sound label.  Sharpknife, or Mr. Knife if you prefer, tells the tale of a beautiful woman named Diana Black who claims that she is an innocent farmer but when nighttime comes she takes on the persona of Annie Palmer, complete with claims that she killed two of her husbands.  

Spooktacular Track Twenty-Two - Sharpknife - Diana The Farmer

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Twenty-One - Take Your Hand From My Neck

And yet another great early reggae track to keep you shivering... or at least loosening your collar.  This record, "Take Your Hand From My Neck," originally pressed on the Crab label in 1969, was incorrectly credited to the Paragons when in actuality it was the Viceroys. A perfect tune for the mix and a cover that again illustrates the title perfectly!

Spooktacular Track Twenty One - Viceroys - Take Your Hand From My Neck

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Twenty - Return Of The Bad Man

Ah, this is a good one!  We're up to the final four in the mix and we keep the creepy compilation rolling with a rockin' early/skinhead/boss reggae (whichever term you prefer) tune from the Hot Rod All Stars!  Originally released in 1970 as a 7 inch on the U.K. based Duke label, it luckily popped up for me on a sweet 2003 various artists CD set called Dancehall '69 on the Trojan label!  The original vinyl has been on my "wants list" for years but I am satisfied with the CD version... I can't be too picky.

Anyway, this tune is ripe for embellishments and I did just that... be prepared for living flesh and blood terror, blood spilling, bone chilling, towering terrors in one twin thrills show!  Or something along those lines...

Spooktacular Track Twenty - Hot Rod All Stars - Return Of The Bad Man

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Nineteen - Darkness

Welcome back to the final week of the 2014 Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular!  I can't find any background information about Jah Skerta so I'm keeping it short and simple today... this tune "Darkness" comes from a 7" on Skerta's own Jah Skerts label and it fits our spooky theme nicely.  Skerta recorded this song originally in 1979 for Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes' Wackies label but judging by its slightly "higher polished" delivery, I would assume this version is from a later date.

Track Nineteen - Jah Skerta - Darkness

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Eighteen - Satan Pickney

We've reached the second to last Friday in October and that means one thing... if you haven't gotten your costume ready for Halloween by now you're seriously behind schedule!  It also means that we're up to the eighteenth track in the 2014 Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular!

This little baby, if you'll pardon the pun, is a smooth slice of late 70s dub, mixed by Sylvan Morris and from a repressed 7" on the Uprising label... I can't find any background info on the Advocates Aggregation but no matter who they were, they made some damn fine music!

I went a little sinister with the audio clip from Roman Polanski's 1969 classic film "Rosemary's Baby," based on the 1967 novel by Ira Levin, but this scene popped in my head immediately when I saw this record available for sale a month ago.  Pickney, if you are unaware, is Jamaican patois for a baby or child and there is no other satan pickney that pops immediately in my mind but Adrian from Rosemary's Baby!

As for the cover, I couldn't be more pleased with Roger Wilkerson's work on this one!  Before I actually begin mixing the Spooktacular I send Roger a playlist of the songs I'm going to use and I basically let him have free reign over what he wants to do with these titles.  I look around online for pre-code horror comics with great covers that are ripe for the customizing and try as hard as possible to match the images with the songs but I was drawing a blank on this one.  Without hesitation, Roger immediately wrote back and suggested that instead of going with a comic book cover on this one why not do a parody of the Rosemary's Baby movie poster or better yet, the paperback.  He sent me a couple images of various paperback versions of the novel but this version was perfect!  If you ever see this actual edition, you would be hard pressed to tell it apart from Roger's version... it's a dead-ringer!  And my favorite cover this year!  Thanks again Roger!!

Spooktacular Track Eighteen - Advocates Aggregation - Satan Pickney

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Seventeen - Mr. Brown

The story of Mr. Brown is one that I've addressed a couple times in years past.  So instead of spending a lot of time rewriting I'll get to what I wrote in 2005...

"In 1969 or ’70 the Wailers who were working with Lee Perry at the time, caught wind of a strange story involving a John Crow, which is the Jamaican term for a buzzard. This "crow" was somehow given the name “Mr. Brown” and the story went that he had been observed traveling around Kingston on a coffin on its way to the cemetery. Days later the same buzzard, wearing a shirt and tie, was seen in a courtroom. The general populace was scared stiff thinking that the evil powers of obeah (or black magic) had been unleashed and had even gotten to the point that many were afraid to leave their houses at night. The story was even reported in the Jamaican newspaper the Daily Gleaner and added more fuel to the fire." 

This tale of the supernatural didn't only inspire Bob, Peter and Bunny but also Dennis Alcapone on his tune, "Duppy Serenade" attributed to the Inn Keepers (and which I featured in 2009), and as far as I can tell, it also was the catalyst behind Trevor Brown's "Mr. Brown."  The tune which first appeared on GG's 7" vinyl in 1971, was obviously recorded around the time that the Mr. Brown hype was going around in Kingston.  Whatever the connection, or potential lack thereof, I can't say for certain but I do think it works great with our mix!


Spooktacular Track Seventeen - Trevor Brown - Mr. Brown

Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2014 - Track Sixteen - Supernatural Thing

Up next is the sixteenth track in our mix and it's called "Supernatural Thing" by Richard Ace and as you can clearly see on the cover, it's from a 1975 Clocktower Records 7 inch!  I added a little spice to this one by starting off with an intro from the Official Witch of  Los Angeles, Louise Heubner, and taken from a 1969 LP she released called Seduction Through Witchcraft.  To be honest with you, I grew so enamored with the psychedelic/trippy sounding music that accompanied Ms. Heubner's musings that I decided to take "Supernatural Thing" on a spacy ride... hope you like the end result!

Spooktacular Track Sixteen - Richard Ace - Supernatural Thing

RIP John Holt (1947-2014) - A Tribute

Here you will find my tribute mix to the legendary John Holt... it took me a while to compile the playlist because I kept finding more songs that I wanted to feature but hopefully this 20 song sampling of John Holt's music with serve as a fitting tribute to a man with a great voice and someone who has provided me with countless hours of enjoyment and joy.

I've got to tell you, I was happy that John Holt received enough recognition that his passing was actually mentioned in the mainstream media but, the fact that he is singularly known for being the man that wrote Blondie's "The Tide Is High" saddens me more than you can imagine.  My heart breaks every time a Jamaican music legend dies... here is someone who devoted their life to making music and making countless people happy and they pass away with little mention,concern or regard from those "outside the know" of this music.  When a true talent in Jamaican music dies, it seems like their talent has gone to waste due to the fact that they rarely receive the recognition they deserve... in my opinion, John Holt's mastery of love songs sets him on the same level, if not higher, than most of the singers that have come along in every other genre of music in the last 50 years!  But, will anyone take notice?  Will anyone outside of the "reggae family" pay him tribute?  It is an absolute travesty and whenever I get the news about another important musician or founding-father (or mother) of reggae music passing away, it just hurts me even more.  It is so sad to think of the history we are losing at such an alarming rate.

So today... if you're in an office or around a group of people, bring John Holt's passing up to a co-worker or friend... and instead of saying, "oh, he's the guy that wrote Blondie's 'The Tide is High.'  Tell them that John Holt is a reggae legend, a great singer, a talented songwriter who had been active in music for 50 years, a versatile singer that could address any topic and one of the greatest singers to every wrap his vocal chords around a sweet love song.  Or better yet, point them in this direction and tell them to give this mix a listen.  

As far as I'm concerned, John Holt's name recognition doesn't need to ride the coattails of Blondie!  Because whenever I'm somewhere and "The Tide is High" pops up on the radio or even recently in a television commercial for some product that I don't remember,  I know that the true lyrics are "I'm not the kind of MAN who gives up just like that."

RIP John Holt - you will never be forgotten!

What you're gonna hear...

1.  I've Got To Go Back Home
2.  Police In Helicopter
3.  I'm Your Man
4.  Up Park Camp
5.  There Is No Love
6.  Ali Baba
7.  Fat Girl, Sexy Girl
8.  Stick By Me
9.  A Love I Can Feel
10.  Tribal War
11.  Fat She Fat
12.  Sweetie Come Brush Me
13.  Look What You Have Done
14.  My Desire
15.  Nobody Else
16.  Sugar And Spice
17.  Don't Give Up
18.  I See Your Face
19.  Darling I Need Your Loving w/The Paragons
20.  The Tide Is High (Solo Reggae Version)

JOHN HOLT TRIBUTE