The Termites Searching So LongOlympic Singles 1967-1969

• 1. The Termites – Push It Up (Orig. Jamaican Mix)
• 2. The Termites – What Can I Do
• 3. The Termites – Miss Stella
• 4. The Termites – Show Me The Way
• 5. The Termites – Searching So Long
• 6. Karl Bryan & The Caribbeats – Night Curfew
• 7. The Termites – Shake it Up
• 8. The Termites – Dance With Me
• 9. The Termites – Drip Drop
• 10. The Termites – My Baby Is Gone
• 11. The Termites – Old King Cole
• 12. Dampys Group aka The Termites – Gal And Boy

In the world of record collecting there is the rare, there is the obscure and then there is the completely unknowable. The Termites were a vocal duo comprising Lloyd Parks and Wentworth Vernal, and the rocksteady tunes they recorded for Studio 1 in 1967 achieved great popularity. But the sides they recorded just afterwards remain shrouded in mystery. Some were issued in minute quantities on blank labels, some have never been seen by even the most ardent of collectors. Some were not attributed to The Termites at all. And the man who produced them, an entrepreneur known as “Dampy”, remains almost completely unknown, with even The Termites themselves having no real memory of who he was. What we do know is that Dampy, also known as “Dampa”, was a “big man”, operating a “lawn” or drinking hangout at 34½ Spanish Town Road, just opposite May Pen cemetery. No one is even sure of his real name, although the “CB” matrix on his records (sometimes “FCB”) may refer to a Carl Baugh, Carl Bradford or possibly Carl Bennett. Lloyd Parks had wanted out from Studio One after observing Coxsone dealing harshly with Joe Higgs in a dispute over money, and Vernal made the connection to bring The Termites over to Dampy. So sometime in 1967 Dampy took the leap into record production, releasing several productions on his Olympic label, and several on blank labels. What is indisputable is that there was some fine music recorded, with backing from Lynn Taitt and Bobby Aitken’s bands, sometimes credited as Dampy’s Group, and usually featuring some amalgamation of The Termites. Fifty years after their original extremely limited release, the mystery behind these sides remains intact. Listening today, Lloyd Parks can usually identify who was singing which parts, but remains unclear about the actual recording sessions. He is certain that “Push It Up” is not the lewd tune it might first appear; instead it refers to the sort of energized card game that would have been played long into the night at Dampy’s lawn. “Night Curfew” is an instrumental cut led by Karl “Canonball” Bryan, which was later voiced by Dennis Alcapone as “Shades Of Hudson”, and Dennis thinks it possible that Dampy was part of producer Keith Hudson’s extended entourage. Even the origins of the Olympic label name remain hazy: it might be that Dampy grew up on Olympic Way before moving his operations to Spanish Town Road. Yet whilst the finished records remain dauntingly obscure, the music is of a consistently high quality, and it is long overdue for these forgotten gems to be shared with the wider world.

6x7inch LIMITED EDITION (Approx 320 copies Worldwide) ONE PER CUSTOMER!