The Very Best Of Eek-A-Mouse

Album review

A well-chosen compilation of Eek a Mouse's most popular '80s hits, The Very Best of Eek a Mouse is a solid set of early dancehall favorites, all of them built on the performer's pioneering "singjay" style -- not quite toasting, but not just singing, either -- and his utterly unique vocal talents, foremost being an inimitable high-pitched voice which found him elongating words with mock-Asian dialect and peculiar chants like "biddy beng beng" (a chant so identified with Eek a Mouse that it's printed on the cover of this album), like some kind of Jamaican Slim Galliard. Hits here include the spooky "Terrorists in the City," the sly humor and social commentary of "Anaerexol" and "Star, Daily News or Gleaner," and of course his 1982 breakthrough hit, "Wa-Do-Dem." All are essential, and there's little fat among the remaining tracks as well. This and the follow-up second volume are essential for fans and newcomers alike.

© Stewart Mason /TiVo