COURTESY OF THE AGENCY GROUP
The colorful veteran reggae singer in in Honolulu tonight.
In reggae, as in every other style of modern music, there is that handful of innovators on one hand and a far larger number of followers and copycats on the other. Among reggae's great innovators is the inimitable and multitalented Eek-A-Mouse (born Ripton Hylton), who's back in Honolulu for a one-nighter at the Hawaiian Hut tonight. Mouse is in the house
John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.com
So what's up with the singer of late? "Mousing around, lookin' for a little more cheese," Eek-A-Mouse -- Mouse, for short -- said of his current activities when we connected with him by phone from California last Thursday. We'd been cautioned that he sometimes responds to interviewers' questions by speaking in a patois almost unintelligible to us non-Jamaicans, but there was only a trace of it to be heard as he talked about the various "cheese-making" projects he's working on.
Where: Hawaiian Hut, Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive Eek-A-Mouse
When: 9:30 p.m. today
Tickets: $20, 18 and over
Call: 941-5205
First off, there are his two most recent albums. "Eeksperience," released last year by RFO Records, is his latest album of newly recorded songs and includes his thoughts on topics ranging from housing the homeless to eating sushi with a woman from Fiji.
"The Very Best of Eek-A-Mouse Vol. 2," released "about a month ago" by Shanachie, contains 13 vintage recordings, several of them being made available on CD for the first time. And two more albums will be out soon, he said.
He also does 150 to 200 live shows a year. This weekend, he's in Hawaii. Last weekend, it was Peru.
"It's like Hawaii. They love reggae (in Peru), you know, it plays on the national radio," he said.
Hawaii and Peru are destinations far removed from the legendary Trenchtown district of Kingston where Mouse grew up. He started singing in elementary school, with Marty Robbins, Nat "King" Cole and Sam Cooke three of his early inspirations. Recording was a natural step that he took in 1974 at the age of 17. Seven years later, he became an international reggae star in the British Commonwealth with the now-classic song "Wa Do Dem."
The U.S. record industry took note, and Mouse got his first American record deal in 1982. He's been working around the world ever since.
WHAT makes Eek-A-Mouse so unique? The name, for one, bestowed by friends who teased him about betting on a horse by that name that never paid off -- until the time he didn't bet on it. But look beyond the name and it's all about style. Mouse entertains with a blend of singing and rapping (the precursor of it known in reggae circles as "toasting"), to which he adds scat-singing and self-created sound effects. As a composer and lyricist, he addresses comic subjects and political issues with imagination and insight -- sometimes playing the clown, at others times as an incisive social commentator.
He also enjoys performing in costume and may take the stage tonight dressed as Robin Hood, a gladiator, a musketeer, wearing a top hat and tails, or in prisoner's stripes with a plastic ball and chain.
"Spontaneous is what it's about ... for me, it's natural. When I'm on stage, I feel like I'm on Broadway, you know, it's show biz," Mouse said. It was his high-impact performance as an unscheduled warm-up act at the 1981 Reggae Sunsplash Festival in Jamaica that helped make him known outside of the Caribbean country, and Mouse says that more than 20 years later, he still enjoys getting out on stage and entertaining.
"When I perform, I feel happy, you know, and I don't think about a song, it just comes to me. Sometimes somebody will mention something to me, and I just sing about it."
Mouse suggests that young singers "get their material ready, sing or rap in the right range and write good songs.
"And don't just sing in the bathroom!"
Despite his misadventures with the original Eek-A-Mouse, horse races remain one of his favorite nonmusical activities.
"I love horses, and I still go to the racetrack or watch on TV -- Del Mar Racetrack or Hollywood Park. I love the thoroughbreds and to watch the horses. It's fun, like a stress release."
Since there's no horse racing in Hawaii, Mouse says he may try surfing.
"Go ride dem big waves or something," he said, laughing.
"I can't surf. Ya know somebody that can teach me?"
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