Mr Goody & the Caribs is the untold story of 4 Australians & their journey from the dingy nightclubs of Australia to the vibrant & hedonistic music scene of 1950’s Jamaica & their unsung role in taking Ska Music to the world.
Kingston, Jamaica 1958, is on the cusp of independence, a melting pot of cultures, music & a playground for the rich & famous. Musicians are experimenting with huge sound systems & the genesis of a unique musical style, Ska music.
Little does anyone know that the foundations of this extraordinary music were influenced & connected to Australia. The first ska recordings were recorded by an extraordinary character, Graeme “Mr Goody” Goodall with many 1st releases featuring a young band from Australia, The Caribs.
The Caribs left Australia on a whim, arriving in Kingston in 1958 to play shows to a glamorous, international hotel scene. The Caribs, comprised of drummer Lowell Morris, guitarist Dennis Sindrey, keyboardist Peter Stoddart & legendary Jamaican bassist Lloyd Brevett of the Skatalites, enjoyed a wild ride playing the clubs of Kingston, then home to an elite tourist industry. They entertained everyone from Peter Sellers to a gun-happy whiskey sipping Errol Flynn.
When they meet local aspiring record producer Chris Blackwell & another Australian Graeme ‘Mr Goody’ Goodall, the only qualified sound engineer on the island, Mr Goody and the Caribs join forces for the recording of Laurel Aitken’s sensational hit ‘Boogie In My Bones’, beginning their important contribution to Jamaican music history.
They were there when the Jamaican music scene hit the UK in the 1960s with Island Records, Doctor Bird, Trojan & Attack Records. And part of some of the biggest international hits including Millie Small’s My Boy Lollipop, Desmond Dekker’s Israelites & Symarip’s Skinhead Moonstomp.
Sadly, Mr Goody & the Caribs are no longer with us but their legacy lives on in hit songs from yesteryear, as well as popular music today. It’s time their story was told.
Mish has worked as a film and televsion producer over the past 25 years. She has covered all formats of scripted and unscripted – reality, documentary, comedy, drama and quiz shows. She produced the feature drama The Life and Death of Otto Bloom which opened the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, and the feature documentary Graceful Girls which won the Audience Award at 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival. Mish‘s recent credits include Series Producer on the 3 part ABC series, Magda’s Big National Health Check , Executive Producer on Series 1, 2 & 3 of The Test for Amazon Prime & Co-Executive Producer on the USA series Design Downunder for US streamer Magnolia. Mr Goody and the Caribs is Mish and editor Aleck Morton’s directorial debut.