Lord Flea

The singer/composer Lord Flea, whose performance was the highlight of the 1957 film "Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957)_, was the leading proponent of the Jamaican music genre "mento", which is a precursor of reggae and ska. Sadly, he died in 1959 at the peak of his popularity, having made mento a cross-over genre globally. Although mento was marketed as "calypso" (a music genre native to Trinidad) in the U.S., it was quite a distinct genre and thrived until eclipsed by American rhythm and blues (R&B) and the development of reggae in Jamaica. Mento frequently uses the banjo (which is atypical in later Jamaican music), played in place of lead guitar. The acoustic guitar was used for rhythm, while the banjo or woodwind players typically handled solos. In lieu of bass, mento groups used a rumba box, a thumb piano fabricated from a wooden box with a circular hole in front, over which there are tuned metal tines that are plucked to produce bass notes. Other instruments were the bamboo sax, which sounded like an organ, harmonica, fiddle, wood blocks, maracas, fife or penny whistle. A single bongo or conga drum typically was used for percussion. (The influence of American R&B recordings led to the waning use of the banjo, bamboo instruments, woodwinds, the rumba box, and the fife and penny whistle.) Though mento was first recorded in the 1920, it wasn't until the 1950s that the genre began to be recorded in earnest. That decade is the "Golden Age" of mento music, and Lord Flea was its superstar. Lord Flea was born Norman Thomas in Kingston, Jamaica in 1932. He studied music at the conservatory in Kingston, and became a trained dancer. The 18-year-old Thomas moved to Miami, Florida in 1950, and the following year, he married Catherine Anderson, an American citizen, with whom he had had three children: Katherine, Norman, Jr., and Henry. His signature hit was "Where Did The Naughty Little Flea Go?" The title he bestowed on himself was keeping in accordance with calypso custom, whose musicians typically elevated themselves to musical royalty. At the height of his fame, he graced the covers of "Look" magazine and was featured in "Ebony" and "Jet", magazines targeting African Americans. Lord Flea died in Miami on May 18, 1959 from Hodgkin's Disease in Jackson Memorial Hospital, after a hospital stay of many months. He was 27 years old. Each night before his death, Lord Flea played music for the doctors, nurses and the patients on the ward. His funeral precession was the longest in Miami-Dade County Count history, stretching for over five city blocks.