Screaming Lord Sutch

[BillyE]

There are a lot of songs out there with the title "Jack the Ripper" by artists like Nick Cave, Morrissey, Seikima, and the Horrors, but only one I've heard seems to actually be about our 1888 cobblestone stalking murderer and that's the one by Screaming Lord Sutch. Even one of the victims gets a mention in the chorus: of course it's Mary Kelly. Here's the lyrics to the song, and I'll post a youtube URL to one of Sutch's performances of the song. Tell me what you all think.



Ah-ha-ha, aaah!
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
There's a man who walks the streets of London late at night
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
With a little black bag that's oh-so tight
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
He's got a big black cloak hangin' down his back
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
That's one big cat I just hate to fight
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
When he walks down the streets
Every girl he meets he says; is you name Mary Kelly?
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper

When she walks down the streets, he's never far behind
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
With his little black bag and his one track mind
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
Well, he really catches up when the lights go down
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
'Cause that's the time he starts his dirty chop-around
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
When he walks down the streets
Every girl he meets he says; is you name Mary Kelly?
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper

Scotland Yard will never catch him, he's too clever
He's much too clever
But if they do, man they'll catch: The Ripper!
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
Well, the streets of London kinda never safe
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
Whenever Jack The Ripper shows his face
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
So, you pretty little girlies, take a-my advice
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
And don't walk the streets of London late at night
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
When he walks down the streets
Every girl he meets he says; is you name Mary Kelly?
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper

Oh yes, Mary! Where are you Mary?
I'm after you Mary, ha-ha-ha
With my knife Mary!
Ah-ah, sure, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha
Where are you?
Ha-ha-ha
Aaaah!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PY1NDujmxqA

[ChrisGeorge]

Thanks, Billy. There's a tribute site to Screaming Lord Sutch here:

Confessions of a Sixties Drummer: Tribute to Screaming Lord Sutch

Chris

[Observer]

Hi Billy

Sutch used to play Jack the Ripper on stage in the 60's, the keyboard player(chosen for his long blonde hair) would dress up as one of the prostitutes, and Such would chase him around the stage brandishing a big knife. The name of the keyboard player? Paul Nicholas, now an actor.

all the best

Observer

[Sergt Bill Tawyer]

Jack The Ripper. David Sutch.

Hi Billy E,Interesting post,funnily enough It was this song way back In the sixties that first made me aware of "Jack The Ripper"and started a virtual "on off" life Interest In the subject ! It would apear that I'm not the only one, as I can remember on the pre-crash boards somebody else posting the exact same reason ! I believe that David Sutch based his lyric lines on a semi factual paper back book which somewhere In my attic I still have ! Obviously entitled "Jack Ther Ripper",the author now after forty years escapes me ! I always thought the lyric said he was looking for "Mary Clarke" however I may be confusing this with the book ! Ian Hunter Paterson Is on record as saying " In the fifties and sixties,In Britain there were only two bands worth watchig live,one was Johnny Kidd And The Pirates and the other was Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages" ! I did get to see him once,but that was In the seventies,a bit past his "sell by date" by then! Regards Bill .PS "Link Ray And The Raymen" did a good cover of this song.

[Sergt Bill Tawyer]

Hi Observer, I think Paul Nicholas was the replacement piano player, the original / come roadie was a guy called "Fred Cheeseman",better known as "Freddie Finger's Lee" ! His reason for leaving the band was alledgedly,as told by Ian Hunter was " I left before that crazy B....ard got me killed"! He was apparently alluding to Sutch's crazy stage act ! Bill.

[Observer]

Hi Bill

Nice to meet you. You're correct, Freddie Fingers Lee was the original keyboard player, Nicholas being a replacement. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing Sutch, and his band play live, a friend of mine saw them on several occasions, he playing the double bass for a number of resident bands. He reckons the Bonzo's were as bizarre as Such.

all the best

Observer

[Sergt Bill Tawyer]

Observer,yeh another great band,unfortunately I never got to see them,got a few albums though ! Bill.

[Graham]

Hi Bill

Nice to meet you. You're correct, Freddie Fingers Lee was the original keyboard player, Nicholas being a replacement. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing Sutch, and his band play live, a friend of mine saw them on several occasions, he playing the double bass for a number of resident bands. He reckons the Bonzo's were as bizarre as Such.

all the best

Observer

Hi Observer.

Well, I did have the pleasure of seeing Sutch live, and he scared me - and I'm seven foot eight and 37 stone. His Jack the Ripper stuff was really, er, moving. (Like it moved me out of the hall to the nearest bar).

With regard to the Bonzo Dog Band, I am one of England's authorities on this great act. I even perform some of their stuff if the pre-act whip-round produces sufficient cash for vodka. Screaming Lord Sutch and the Bonzos are not to be compared - the Bonzos were light years ahead. Funnier, wittier, and infinitely more accomplished. And they had a good banjo-player, too.

Cheers,

Viv Stanshall's Angry Spectre

[Supe]

Hi all.

It would seem that Lord Sutch spread his net wide indeed. This month's issue of Ripperologist (#91 May 2008) has an article by Jennifer Pegg and myself about a survey we did among Ripperologists and one of the questions we asked was "What sparked your interest in the field?" and one of the people we interviewed cited the Screaming Lord Sutch record. Indeed, the answers to that question were quite varied and very interesting.

We also asked, as a fun question, what a person's favorite song was and while these answers were also diverse (from opera to nu metal) no one named any of the Ripper songs out there.

Don.

[Graham]

Hi all.

It would seem that Lord Sutch spread his net wide indeed. This month's issue of Ripperologist (#91 May 2008) has an article by Jennifer Pegg and myself about a survey we did among Ripperologists and one of the questions we asked was "What sparked your interest in the field?" and one of the people we interviewed cited the Screaming Lord Sutch record. Indeed, the answers to that question were quite varied and very interesting.

We also asked, as a fun question, what a person's favorite song was and while these answers were also diverse (from opera to nu metal) no one named any of the Ripper songs out there.

Don.

It goes without saying that the Bonzo's humour was somewhat above such sleaze as common mass murder in the 19th century - there were tigers to be hunted out in Indiah for a start!

Good health,

Legs

[Observer]

Hi Bill

I discarded most of my albums years ago, and bought the cd's but am slowly but surely buying the Bonzo's Lp's back, it's costimg a fortune, I paid a tenner for a battered copy of I'm the Urban Spaceman, on the Sunset label only last week.

Hi Graham, a pleasure to meet a fellow Bonzo fan. As I said a freind of mine met Viv and the boys back in the 60's when they were performing at a club where he played the double bass.

They were virtual unknowns at the time. The managment were not too enamoured with Viv when instead of sayimg Haloo Haloo Haloo at the end of Little sir Echo he replied F*** off F*** off F*** off.

Do you own Viv's solo album "Teddy Boys don't knit", one of my favourite songs of all time appears on it, namely "Terry keeps his clips on".

all the best

Observer

[Observer]

As you probably know Graham the Bonzo's appeared on the kids comedy programme "Do not adjust your sets", You can get a DVD of all the episode's on Amazon. I havn't watched it for a while, but off the top of my head ther's 8 episode's with a song by the bonzo's in each episode.

all ther best

Observer

[George Hutchinson]

I'm a huge Bonzos fan as I used to be in a band that was always being compared to them in terms of silliness.

I knew Dave Sutch a little and it was such a shame when he died. I first met him at a public event and he was, frankly, a total arse. Awful. However, I met him again two years later at a film showing and we both arrived early and went for a coffee. The real man was lovely. He was quiet, friendly, chatty and clearly lacking in confidence. I really took to him and retrospectively it's not all that surprising to understand why he took his own life after his mum died.

I've got a photo of me and him with Honey Lantree of The Honeycombs from 1991. I used to be a huge Joe Meek fan once upon a time (their producer, the English Phil Spector to those who don't know the name).

PHILIP

[Observer]

Hi Phil

Was it true that when Joe Meek came over to Britain he wasn't exactly truthfull about his experiences in the recording studio?

all the best

Observer

[Observer]

On second thoughts skip that Philip, I'm thinking of someone else, Mr Meek was English. Now who was I thinking of? If I remember rightly he worked with the Kinks and was Americam

all the best

Observer

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