Here's a blast from the past with a touch of reggae.
All in the best possible taste.
In reality Judge Dread was following in the old music hall traditions with a tinge of reggae.
Double Entendres set to a ska beat. Sure to raise a smile.
Big Six
I believe this is from a German TV show, certainly not the BBC who pretty much did not play anything that Judge Dread put out.
A Message to you Rudy
Big Punk
Big Punk by Judge Dread. On the album "Last of the Skinheads".
Up with the cock
Alexander Minto Hughes (2 May 1945 - 13 March 1998), better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and has the most banned songs of all time.
Hughes was introduced to Jamaican music when he lodged as a teenager in a West Indian household in Brixton, South West London. He met Jamaican artists Derrick Morgan and Prince Buster through his job as a bouncer at London nightclubs such as the Ram Jam in Brixton, and through another job as a bodyguard. After a brief spell as a professional wrestler (performing under the name "The Masked Executioner"), and as a debt collector for Trojan Records, he worked as a DJ on local radio and ran his own sound system.
When Prince Buster had a big underground hit in 1969 with "Big 5", Hughes capitalized on it with the recording of his own "Big Six", based on Verne & Son's "Little Boy Blue", which was picked up by Trojan boss Lee Gopthal, and released on Trojan's 'Big Shot' record label under the stage name Judge Dread, the name taken from another of Prince Buster's songs. "Big Six" reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart in 1972, selling over 300,000 copies and spending six months on the chart, despite getting no radio airplay due to its lyrics. Further hit singles followed with "Big Seven" (co-written by Rupie Edwards) and "Big Eight" — both following the pattern of rude versions of nursery rhymes over a reggae backing — as well as "Y Viva Suspenders" and "Up With The Cock".
Judge Dread was also a songwriter who came to the attention of Elvis Presley, who had planned to record "A Child's Prayer" as a Christmas gift to his daughter Lisa Marie in 1977, but died before making the recording.
Judge Dread died from a heart attack as he walked off stage after performing at The Penny Theatre in Canterbury on the 13 March 1998. [Wikipedia]
