Big Six/ One Armed Bandit

This "filthy nursery rhyme", as it's been described, was Judge Dread's first hit single in his native U.K. Though banned by the BBC for his entire career owing to the risque nature of his lyrics, he managed to rack up an impressive number of hit singles there. Dread was one of the first white guys to adopt reggae, and despite the novelty nature of a lot of his songs, he was quite influential in boosting reggae's popularity. This is the U.S. release of his first single, a pretty rare item since he made virtually no impact on this country's music scene. Dread (a.k.a. Alex Hughes) died at age 53 in 1998 after finishing up a concert in the U.K. Note: This promo copy comes in the release's remarkable picture sleeve, which grades Near Mint with a touch of wear. The 45 itself has Mint labels with a faint "79" inked on the "Big Six" side. The vinyl and audio grade very close to Mint.