Videos

Lord Flea & His Calypsonians - Calypso Be Bop - From the Movie Bop Girl with Judy Tyler. Bobby Troup. Lord Flea and more! Band lineup: Lord Flea - leader, singer and guitarist Porkchops - banjo Count Spoon - drums and spoons Prince Charles and Lord Largie - timbali and tumba percussion Fish Ray - washtub base In the 1950's, music from the Caribbean was gaining popularity as it continued a process of cross-pollination with other musical styles while its influence spread. The essence of Jamaican Mento music began to blur while running the risk of disappearing under the umbrella of the Trinidadian Calypso craze, but one of its prime ambassadors in the U.S. was Norman Thomas, a.k.a. Lord Flea. Lord Flea gained increasing popularity performing with his band at nightclubs in his native Kingston, Jamaica in the early '50's, and the success continued after a move to Miami, Florida. He was at his peak by 1957, appearing on national TV programs and in films, and releasing this album. (Likely Capitol viewed Lord Flea as their answer to RCA's Harry Belafonte.) Tragically, Lord Flea was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease a couple of years later. He died far too young in 1959, at the age of 25