The Race Fans - What's Wrong With You / Bookie Man - on 7inch vinyl - HSRSS-0011

LISTEN TO BOTH SONGS HERE:  

The stunning “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU” +  "BOOKIE MAN" (original)

By THE RACE FANS

 FIRST RELEASE ON 7INCH VINYL!

7' VINYL 45 RPM - OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE: MARCH 03, 2022

Catalogue number: HSRSS-0011

ABOUT THE RACE FANS

Following our last release by the Bleechers, we are proud to announce the release of “What’s Wrong With You” / “Bookie Man” by the Race Fans. We are also glad to shed some light on yet another Reggay mystery!

The Bleechers got a couple of tracks they did not record but got credited for. The brilliant “What’s Wrong With You”, their very first track on an Upsetter blank in 1968, is actually not performed by them… but by the Race Fans.

The Race Fans only recorded two songs: “Time Marches On” and a great song called “Bookie Man” for the Upset label in Jamaica and on Trojan in UK in 1968.

Unknown to many, they recorded another track, the stunning (“What’s Wrong With You”). To add confusion, it was also named “Bookie Man” but was completely different from the aforementioned track. Somehow this “Bookie Man - What’s Wrong With You” track was released as a B side for The Upsetters’ “Man From MI5” under the name “What’s Wrong With You” by The Bleechers…

It was released on a white label only in 1968 which is now an extremely rare and expensive record to acquire.

Since then “What’s Wrong With You” got released on one compilation LP only by the Pressure Sounds label in 2018 where it was credited to The Bleechers.

This is therefore the first official release - under the correct song name and the correct artist name of “What’s Wrong With You”.

Very little is known about The Race Fans except that the well-known Jamaican singer David Isaacs was in it. In the late 60s and early 70s Isaacs recorded for Lee Scratch Perry and Trojan before joining the Itals with whom he performed for over 20 years.

Beside the 3 songs with the Race Fans, Isaacs also recorded about 50 singles and 6 albums under his own name throughout his long career.

Although officially produced by Lee Scratch Perry, both songs are credited to “Anderson”, probably Lynford Anderson aka Andy Capp, a gifted sound engineer, producer and vocalist who founded the Upset label with Lee Scratch Perry in 1967.

ABOUT THIS RELEASE

This killer double sider is the first release of the stunning “Bookie Man - What’s Wrong With You”.

It was previously released as a blank label only in 1968 and was wrongly credited to The Bleechers.

On the B side, “Bookie Man” is a completely different track and it is a rare and brilliant song in its own right.  It is also the first time the two “Bookie Man” songs are featured together on a 7inch.

 A SIDE:

Title: "WHATS WRONG WITH YOU" Artist: THE RACE FANS - 1968

Genre: Early Reggae/Boss Sound

Produced by Lee Scratch Perry.

“Bookie Man aka What’s Wrong With You” was initially released as a B side for The Upsetters’ “Man From MI5” under the name “What’s Wrong With You” by… The Bleechers. It was released on a white label only in 1968 which is now impossibly expensive at USD1000 a pop and not for sale…

This is therefore the first and only official release of “What’s Wrong With You” by the Race Fans.  

This stunning yet aggressive track is a real scorcher for early Reggae fans, another instant hit on par with the likes of “John Jones” or “Hold Down” previously released on Harlem Shuffle Records.

A release on 7inch vinyl was indeed much needed for this extremely popular song.  A must!  

Watch the trailer with both songs here: https://youtu.be/4mgkZm_FqYk

B SIDE:

Title: "BOOKIE MAN" - Artist: THE RACE FANS - 1968

Genre: Early Reggae

Produced by Lee Scratch Perry and Lynford Anderson

This great track was initially released on the Upset label in Jamaica 1968 with “Noisey Village” by the Engineers (aka The Upsetters) on the flip. It was also released the same year by Trojan in UK.

“Ooooh wakahoo labaloo yeah, ooooh wakahoo labaloo”

This exotic, cheerful, gorgeous song is mostly sung in Jamacain patois on a fast riddim complimented by a great choir of singers. Marvelous track.

It has never been repressed on 7” vinyl and obviously the perfect B side for this killer double sider…