Duff Review: Lighta Secret "Elinor All Night Long" b/w "Gaz Dangerous"

Gaz's Rockin' Records
2011
7" vinyl

(Review by Steve Shafer)

This single marks the first release on Gaz's beloved label since the early 2000s (with The Dreamlets' "My Boy Lollipop" in 2003), which is a pretty momentous occasion in my humble opinion. (If you're unfamiliar with Gaz's Rockin' Records, since the mid-1980s, the label has issued essential ska recordings from his stellar band The Trojans, Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Potato 5, The Ska Flames, and The Forest Hillbillies.) While Gaz has been focusing his energies of late in the UK on his terrific book (Gaz's Rockin' Blues: The First 30 Years--read our review here), his sound system at the Notting Hill Festival each year, and his epically long-running night club night--Gaz's Rockin' Blues, of course--it's fantastic to see him return to yet another of his great strengths as a producer and label head with the debut single from the formidable Jamaican singer/toaster Lighta Secret, whom Gaz encountered on a recent trip to JA (read a bit about Lighta Secret's background from Gaz himself here).

Over spare, loping riddims ("Unmetered Taxi" and "Answer") highly reminiscent of those employed by Lone Ranger and Yellowman in the early 80s, Lighta Secret sings and toasts the praises of Gaz, his night club night, DJ Baby Soul (AKA Elinor Fahrman, Gaz's girlfriend/partner), and Natty Bo (of Ska Cubano and another DJ at Gaz's Rockin' Blues) amongst other topics densely packed in to the lyrics on both sides. "Elinor All Night Long" also doubles as a slightly rude reggae record ("Elinor come all night" doesn't just refer to her DJ prowess, I assume). One of the best rhymes appears on "Gaz Dangerous," which is about his deadly supremacy on the decks: "We bring dem/from de dance to the morgue/Six foot six all in the graveyard/all selectors/All him dead like dog/no jump up and talk to Gaz all..."

I've never heard of Lighta Secret before--but here's hoping that Gaz continues to share more tasty musical biscuits like this. It reminds me how much the international ska scene has desperately missed him, his music, and his label.

Welcome back, Gaz--and keep the new releases coming!

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The Lighta Secret single is available from Gaz through eBay--and from Rough Trade, Dub Vendor and Ernie B's Reggae in the US.

The Return of Gaz's Rockin Records?!

Since I'm a massive fan of the late 80s UK and Euro ska scenes, I sometimes find myself searching eBay for releases that I kick myself for not picking up back in the day (well, it often boiled down to not having that much spare cash back then to mail-order all I wanted through Unicorn Records--during that time I was in my last years of college and then endeavoring to pay rent anyway I could).

While I have a fair number of the CDs, LPs, and singles released on Gaz Mayall's brilliant Gaz's Rockin Records (which featured his band, The Trojans; Laurel Aitken and the Potato 5; The Ska Flames; and The Forest Hillbillies)--I actually won an almost pristine 7" single of The Forest Hillbillies "The Munsters" a few weeks ago (and had no idea that it even existed in this format)--every now and then I'll plug the label's name into the eBay search field. Most of the time, whatever comes up I already have, but today was markedly different. In a very good way.

Gaz has pressed a new single on his label (!) featuring Lighta Secret--and he recently found about 100 mint copies of Prince Buster & The Trojans' "Stack-o-Lee" 12" (released in 1989) that had been forgotten in a storage locker (both can be ordered here). Needless to say, I've bought a copy of each.

Here's the scoop on the Lighta Secret single from Gaz himself:

Brand New on Gaz's Rockin' Records

7” GAZ 024 – Lighta Secret – "Elinor All Night Long" b/w "Gaz Dangerous"

Recorded on my recent trip to Jamaica with my partner and club DJ Elinor Fahrman, alias Baby Soul. We stayed in a small coastal village, Cousins Cove, situated between Montego Bay and Negril, where we met the illustrious singer Lighta Secret, somewhat of a local legend. A real character and top entertainer from nearby Green Island. He’d been performing at a local showcase supporting Richie Spice.

Lighta Secret’s name is due to the fact that every time he performs his music live at a dance the audience all take out their cigarette lighters and raise them in the air aflame. One of his many gimmicks is to make symbols with his one complete hand in the form of unusual handshakes. The fingers on the other were lost in a machete attack while climbing out of a bedroom window at a girlfriend’s house on the sudden return of her husband.

On both sides of this record Lighta Secret raves about and praises Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues – London’s number one blues dance – bigging up the DJs, myself Gaz, Baby Soul and Natty Bo.

Even though I've never heard of Lighta Secret, Gaz has impeccable taste in music--so I'm very much looking forward to putting the needle on this record. And I'm thrilled that Gaz's label is back in business after far too many years of being dormant.

Here's hoping that this is the first of many more records to come...