"Jack the Ripper" is a song written by Clarence Stacy, his brother Charles Stacy, Walter Haggin and Joe Simmons, and first recorded by Clarence Stacy in 1961. His recording, arranged by Lor Crane, was issued that year as a single on the Carol record label in New York City. The most famous recording was by English musician Screaming Lord Sutch, released as a 7" single in the UK and Germany in 1963 on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

. It was credited as written by "Stacey, Hagen, Symonds", produced by

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted in the development of recording practices like over ...

and recorded in his

Holloway Road Holloway Road is a road in London, in length. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road as it passes through Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington. The road starts in Archway, near Archway Under ...

studio in Islington, England. The song was banned by the BBC upon its release.

Musical composition

Sutch's version of "Jack the Ripper" is two minutes and forty-eight seconds long, in the key of

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing ins ...

, and 4/4 time. It begins with the sound of footsteps and a woman screaming, followed by a rendition of the " Danger Ahead" motif by the guitar and drum kit, accompanied by a ghoulish moan from Screaming Lord Sutch. The song itself is a

three-chord song A three-chord song is a song whose music is built around three chords that are played in a certain sequence. A common type of three-chord song is the simple twelve-bar blues used in blues and rock and roll. Typically, the three chords used are t ...

, with a

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

played by guitar and bass, with accompaniment by piano and drum kit, which is repeated throughout. The song bears some similarity to a previous American novelty record, "

Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...

", from 1960.

Personnel

* Screaming Lord Sutch – singer * Roger Mingay – electric guitar * Ken Payne – bass guitar * Andy Wren – piano * Pete Newman – saxophone *

Carlo Little Carl O'Neil Little (17 December 1938 – 6 August 2005), better known by his stage name Carlo Little, was a rock and roll drummer, based in the London nightclub scene in the 1960s. He played in an early version of the Rolling Stones. Little ...

– drum kit *

– producer

Cover versions

* In 1986, Canadian garage punk band The Gruesomes covered the song and released it on the ''Jack the Ripper'' EP. * In 2004, Detroit garage rock duo

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...

performed a cover of "Jack the Ripper" live as part of the Under Blackpool Lights release, incorporating the guitar riff from the "

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...

" theme by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

. * In 2006, English garage rock band

The Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spu ...

covered the song for the B-side of their debut single, " Sheena Is a Parasite", later included on their 2006 debut EP, ''

The Horrors EP ''The Horrors'' (also known as ''We Are the Horrors'') is the debut EP by English rock band the Horrors, released on 24 October 2006 by record label Stolen Transmission. It consists of the A- and B-sides to the two singles previously released b ...

''. A rerecorded version was later included on their 2007 debut album, '' Strange House''. * In 2008, The Fall covered the song on their Halloween show at Hackney Empire, as well as Black Lips. *Others:

The Fuzztones The Fuzztones are an American garage rock revival band formed in 1982. History Founded by singer-guitarist Rudi Protrudi in New York City, the band has gone through several member changes but is currently active in Europe. Dismissed by some cri ...

(1993), The Vice Principals (2000), Casey Jones and the Governors, The Revillos, The Phantoms, The One-Way Streets (1966), The Beguiled (1988).

Notes

External links

Screaming Lord Sutch - Jack The Ripper (live 1964)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack The Ripper (song) 1961 songs 1963 singles Song recordings produced by Joe Meek Decca Records singles Songs about criminals Cultural depictions of Jack the Ripper Songs banned by the BBC