THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

478-Symarip-Skinhead Moonstomp.

1969-It didn’t chart in the UK until it was reissued in 1980, when reaching Number 54.

Best Bit-At 1.58. Light years before the far more difficult to perform the ‘Moonwalk,’ came the ‘Moonstomp.

‘Symarip were formed in the late 1960’s by Frank Pitter (drums,) and Michael Thomas (bass guitar,) originally calling themselves ‘The Bees.’ Throughout their career they used other stage names including ‘Seven Letters,’ ‘Zubaba,’ and ‘The Pyramids,’ but eventually settled on ‘Symarip,’ which is an approximate reversal of the word pyramids. The other three band members were Josh Roberts (guitar) Roy Ellis (vocals, and trombone) and Monty Neysmith (keyboards,) the band were active between 1969-1985, with Thomas, and Neysmith, plus other new members reforming in 2008 to tour.The original line up of Symarip were of West Indian decent, and were heavily influenced by the ‘Ska,’ ‘Reggae,’ and ‘Rock Steady’ music coming out of Jamaica in the mid to late 1960’s.

In 1969 the Jamaican Reggae artist Derrick Morgan wrote, and recorded ‘Moon Hop,’ which reached Number 49 in the UK. The song was written to commemorate the July 20th, 1969 moon landings, Symarip’s very similar sounding ‘Skinhead Moonstomp’ soon followed. Symarip denied accusations of plagiarism, saying there was no relation between the two songs, but Derrick Morgan disagreed, calling them ‘Copy cats.’At the start of ‘Skinhead Moonstomp’ you hear the lyrics ‘I want all you skinheads to get up on your feet, put your braces together, and your boots on your feet, this introduction was heavily influenced by the ‘Sam & Dave’ song, ‘I Thank You,’ from 1968.

In 1980 in the wake of the ‘Second coming of Ska,’ and the forming of ‘2 Tone Records,’ Skinhead Moonstomp was reissued, and charted for the first time in the UK, when reaching Number 54. Other notable versions recorded include The Specials from their 1980 ‘The Special A.K.A. Live! EP, which also included their UK Number 1 song ‘Too Much Too Young,’ (see also best songs 924) and also a version by the late great Judge Dread.

‘Now I want all you fellas to gather around me, and we’re gonna start stomping. Ready? Here we go, one time.’