Fredrick Dookie & Desmond Silpatt

Fredrick Dookie & Desmond Silpat were cousins and close friends who though not prolific, created one stunning reggae tune which has been near impossible to find for over 40 years.

Like artists from Supercat to Sheila Rickards, Freddie & Dessie are of Indo-Jamaican descent. They gravitated to music from an early age participating in Festival competitions and writing non stop.

Recorded at Aquarius and arranged by Willie Lindo, the track features back up vocals from a young Beres Hammond.

I have loved this song for a very long time and this reissue has been in the works for several years since I tracked down one half of the duo Dessie aka Desmond Silpatt who is now based in Florida.

The search for the best possible masters to create a new 45 is always front of mind, but sadly the master tapes for “Girls Talk” had disappeared. Freddie’s personal vinyl copy and the original stampers were unearthed but found to be too far gone, so I had to look further afield. Though I’m a pretty relentless digger of rare reggae I could not find a copy of “Girls Talk” for love nor money.

Finally a clean copy was located in Brazil and I’m very grateful to Leo Baretto and Venderson Borges for their assistance in sourcing the vinyl so we can finally share “Girls Talk” again with the audience it deserves.

“Me Look Like A Lion But Me Humble Like A Man”

Freddie who provides the song’s hypnotic vocal was a devout Rasta man who sadly passed away several years ago. He is survived by Dessie, a renaissance man, inventor and author who has penned thousands of songs in his time.