Some things you never forget, like your first kiss, first car and first seven inch single! Mine was a stone cold killer literally, by Dr. Alimantado on Ital Sounds reissued in April 2000.
This tune was minted in 1977, mixed by Phillip Smart and produced by J. W. Thompson. It’s on the “Man Next Door” riddim and features on the ital surgeon’s debut album, The Best Dressed Chicken In Town out on Keyman Records. The cover is wild.
The tune poses a stark warning: if the violence in the ghetto doesn’t claim you, something else more sinister and very unexpected will. The tune is a true story about contaminated flour that was imported to Jamaica from West Germany in January 1976, killing 17 people and acutely poisoning a further 78. It contained parathion, a deadly insecticide.
What sets “Poison Flour” on the A-side and “I Shall Fear No Evil” on the flip apart, is the mesmerising, heaving sub bass. It has been my signature tune for 20 years. And it plays better and better with age. The tempo is guaranteed to get the crowd moving in step.
Al Rankin
Whakatū / Waimea based dub reggae dancehall selector. Original badman, blat blat.
