THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

734-Prince Buster-Al Capone.

1964-It didn’t chart in the UK until 1967, when it reached Number 18.

Best Bit-At 0.14. ‘Buster he sold the heat, with a Rocksteady beat.’

Prince Buster (see also best songs 139) was born Cecil Bustamente Campbell, on May 24th, 1938, in Orange Street, Kingston, British Jamaica, he died on September 8th, 2016, having been in poor health for some time after a series of strokes, including one in 2009 that left him unable to walk. His death came after suffering heart problems, at the age of 78. His middle name ‘Bustamente,’ was given to him by his family in honour of the Labour activist and first post-Independence Prime Minister of Jamaica in 1944, William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (1884-1977.) Prince Buster is best remembered as being the main figure in the development of the musical genre ‘Ska,’ which would later develop into ‘Rocksteady,’ and then ‘Reggae.’ Ska music combines elements of ‘Caribbean Folk’ music, ‘Calypso,’ ‘American Jazz,’ and ‘R&B,’ with Prince Buster utilising all of these genres in to his music.

As a child in the early 1940’s, Prince Buster was sent to live with his grandmother in rural Jamaica, where he was brought up in the Christian faith, gaining his first musical experience singing at the local church. On his return to Orange Street, as a teenager, and still at school, he would perform a ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ themed show with others at the ‘Glass Bucket Club,’ in Kingston. After leaving school he became interested in the ‘Sound System’ culture, where organisers would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers, and set up street parties. Prince Buster became actively involved in the operational side of running a sound system, eventually leading to him setting up his own ‘sound system,’ called ‘Voice of the People.’ It was when he was finding it difficult to import the latest American ‘R&B’ record releases, that he decided to start to record his own music, with other local musicians.

There is probably no complete discography available of all of the recordings made by Prince Buster, but he was prolific between 1963-1972, both as a recording artist, and as a producer for himself and others. His music transitioned from ‘Ska,’ to ‘Rocksteady,’ and when musical tastes inevitably changed his output slowed down, and he eventually retired from making new music in 1973. Even with the renewed interest in his music following the ‘2-Tone’ led Ska revival in the UK in 1979, he remained out of the limelight, but in 1984 after being asked to perform at ‘Reggae Sunsplash,’ in London, he resumed performing, and then in 1992, he also began to record new music again. In 2001, he was was awarded the ‘Order of Distinction’ (OD) by the Jamaican Government, for his contribution to music.

‘Al Capone’ is one of only two singles released by Prince Buster to reach the UK top 40, the other was ‘Whine and Grine,’ which made Number 21 in 1998, after being used in a nationwide television advertising campaign for Levi jeans. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, his only entry was ‘Ten Commandments,’ which peaked at Number 81 in 1967. ‘Al Capone’ failed to chart on it’s initial release in the UK in 1964, but by the mid 1960’s, interest in the Jamaican ‘Rude Boy’ culture was growing among the UK ‘Mods,’ and ‘The Rockers,’ and the ‘Skinheads, which led to ‘Ska’ music becoming popular, and seeing ‘Al Capone’ reach Number 18 on the UK top 40 in 1967.

‘Al Capone’ was written and produced by Prince Buster, and featured some of the best known Jamaican musicians of the day, including Gladstone Anderson, (1934-2015) on piano, Jerome ‘Jah Jerry’ Haynes, (1921-2007) on guitar, and Baba Brooke on trumpet. During the ‘second coming of Ska’ in 1979 in the UK, the British band the ‘Specials’ (see also best songs 924 and 372) borrowed elements of ‘Al Capone’ for their 1979 UK Number 6 hit ‘Gangsters,’ and prior to that in 1975, the German Pop/Disco group ‘Boney M,’ had sampled ‘Al Capone’ for their debut single ‘Baby Do You Wanna Bump,’ which reached Number 8 in Belgium, and Number 12 in the Netherlands. At the time it was written, ‘gangster’ and ‘Western films’ from Hollywood were very popular in Jamaica, which probably explains the songs subject.

‘Al Capone guns don’t argue. Don’t call me scarface, my name is Capone. C-A-P-O-N-E, Capone. Al Capone, my name is Capone, Al Capone.