South Africa- Frano on the Frandan Label

	£		40
	$		53

The artist, the music and the heritage....
With the 45" record comes a copy of the sheet music, a Frano folder, the artiste's biography, and lyrics to the song....

A little preview....

Frano's Bio
 Getting Over Babylon's Wall

Frano, also known as Alfred Francis, hails from the good green haven of Port Antonio.  A special Jamaica place where the days tick out their time slowly, even sleepily they say.  In the fifties when Frano lived there it was in the centre of the quaint town, near the "Gleaner" shop with his grand aunt who washed clothes for a living.  As the days turned, the youth raced across the square in every direction, measuring his journey's in short and long sprints, depending on whatever errand 'aunti' wished.  He rested on the piazza in the afternoons, mingling with the itinerant flow: sailors looking for action, passerbys, rich man, beggar man, poor.  Poco drums cut the evening air down by the market, "ah -dum-dung ah-dumdung".  The 'drumma' man clapping his sticks with a steady heartbeat in the market place.

"It use to be an exciting ting,  I always used to go an tek dem in.  I always admire the poco drumming, the man who play a drum similar to the snare drum wha we know".

At the age of 9 he had to come away to town to join his parents and begin attending primary school and later Kingston College."  At KC while in second form a mek a little start pon the choir, but bway a kinda nervous and shy out of it".  As classmates he had hotsteppers Tyrone Downie, Augustus Pablo, Gussie Clark and Glen Bowen.  "Everyday  when I have de time I haffi go lissen dem yout play at the choir room, becuase we used to have 3 or 4 piano down de.  When the head master come we haffi run, but them always play the latest number one shot.  I always admire the yout, and I always have the desire to really lear to play an instrument miself"

But Frano kept on running, indeed being fleet of foot, a ntural ability from the Port Antonio days, which took him to the top of schoolboy track.  He specialized int he 200 and 400 metres, 4 x 400 sprint relay, and represented the olde school at the Penn and Florida relays. 

It would be a time later before music came.  There were other roads to travel first and foremost being the journey to the centre of himself.  His conversion to the Rastafari faith, came after much soul searching and Bible readings from Genesis to Revelation.  Simultaneously, Frano began working at Air Jamaica.   "About 3 months after me reach, de man dem choose me as dem union rep and I remain a union rep for 10 years before I was promoted to eb a supervisor.  Even talking bout mi work environment,  I really have to give thanks for the whole movement and accommodation or tolerance that even exist there.  I feel comfortable amongst mi coworkers and as a rastaman.  I did go out go get certain social obstacles past, but by maintaining you work that a man could'n even find any real fault certain acceptance will go down".  Frano is a supervisor for Catering and Commisary Services in the national airline, a dread in a key middle management profile.

"I see it as a milestone achievement still, even in my likle way, because I know maybe 30 years ago it won't happen".  In a final run for music he bought himself a 'box' guitar nd started teaching himself.  Fortuitously, he met ex-Wailer Junior Marvin, who show me two chord and thing, and show me some finger exercise.  Then I really like play the bass.  I always use to play the top four string on the guitar.  Eventually I buy a good bass and ah give Family Man the first chrissening off da bass deh".

Frano represents the fresh crop of talents who are coming to the fore rapidly and not necessarily because of great music experience, but out of the power of their conviction to make music, and leave the nicities of technique to take care of themselves.  His debut single "South Africa"  has not only registered overnight popularity for the singer, but brought about increased awareness of the legitimized terrorism going on in South Africa.....