MR SYMARIP is ROY ELLIS - the legendary voice behind the original skinhead reggae band SYMARIP…and he is back from the moon! Fourteen tracks of classic Jamaican ska and reggae backed by an all star European band! Nothing watered down here – pure skinhead delight! Tight riddims, ruffneck energy, and catchy lyrics that could have been penned during the late 60’s when the skinhead movement was in full swing. That was when the driving beat of reggae was taking Britian by storm, and a little known group by the name of SYMARIP recorded a song that was to become a skinhead anthem: ”SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP”. Within weeks of release the record was selling in vast quantities all across Britian, but due to distribution limitations the single was unable to become a true national hit at that time….but a decade later the *

2-Tone ska revival gave the skinhead movement a whole new lease on life, and The Specials resurrected the song on their live “Too Much Too Young” EP, eventually leading to a TROJAN RECORDS re-release of the original, this time reaching #54 in the British charts - finally achieving the national recognition that had eluded the song the first time around. SYMARIP’s “SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP” full length has also achieved legendary status over the past 35+ years, selling a staggering 7 million copies for Trojan Records, and generating countless more classics like “Skinhead Girl”, “Must Catch A Train”, “Stay With Him” and their famous Nancy Sinatra cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walking.” Other incarnations of the band (The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters) did not generate as much success as SYMARIP, yet the troop continued to \perform until the mid 80’s, until the departure of Roy Ellis, who moved to Switzerland to pursue a career in Soul / Gospel music. It was there that a group of long time fans and ska musicians re-connected with Roy and convinced him to record again in the early Jamaican skinhead style. MR SYMARIP IS BACK! GET YOUR BOOTS and BRACES TOGETHER AND STOMP YOUR FEET!!!!

For Fans OF: The Skatalites, Symarip, The Aggrolites,
Trojan Records, Deal’s Gone Bad, Toots & The Maytals