Al Capone – Emperor Rosko (1975)

Description

Additional information about this, Emperor Rosko vinyl art.

Emperor Rosko – The Artist

Michael Joseph Pasternak (born 1942), known by his stage name Emperor Rosko, is an American presenter of rock music programmes, most widely known for his shows on Radio Caroline and BBC Radio 1 in the UK in the 1960s and early 1970s. He also released some songs in the 1979s notably Al Capone.

Al Capone – The Song

‘Al Capone’ is a cover version of a single by American presenter Emperor Rosko.  The original was by Jamaican singer-songwriter Prince Buster. It was first released in 1964. At the time the song was written, many Jamaicans had a fascination with films from Hollywood, particularly gangster and Western films. Al Capone, the American gangster from the 1920s and 1930s, held a particular interest for Jamaican listeners. Primarily an instrumental, the song starts with the sound of a car crash, gun fire and squealing tyres. Buster’s backing group, the All Stars, provide jazzy horns while piano playing keeps the rhythm. The recording session included Dennis Campbell and Val Bennett on tenor saxophones, Raymond Harper and Baba Brooks on trumpets, Junior Nelson on trombone, Ernest Ranglin on guitar and bass, Jah Jerry Haynes on guitar, Gladstone Anderson on piano and Drumbago (Arkland “Drumbago” Parks) on drums. The few lyrics are provided by Buster in an MC style. It was not until 1967 that the song became a hit for Prince Buster, making number 18 in the UK, and staying on the singles chart for 13 weeks. It was a crossover success, as British youth saw the image of Jamaicans wearing sunglasses and dressed in a rude boy style as iconic. “Al Capone” was sampled by the Specials in their 1979 song “Gangsters”. The B side was “One Step Beyond”, also released on the 2 Tone label in 1979, by Madness. “Al Capone”, when heard by a 15-year-old Suggs, had provided him with the inspiration which later went towards the formation of the group Madness, of which he was lead singer.

The Chicago Gangster – The Shape

This record has been modelled into a silhouette a stereotypical machine gun totting Chicago gangster from the thirties. A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organised crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster. Gangs provide a level of organisation and resources that support much larger and more complex criminal transactions than an individual criminal could achieve. Gangsters have been active for many years in countries around the world. Gangsters are the subject of many novels, films, television series, and video games.

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