Spinning this Friday afternoon an intriguing pair of albums by a husband and wife duo, Brits  [Kimberley Barrington Frost], Selket [Dorothy Frost] who went by the names of Ramases and Sel, although the album artiste is “Ramases” (different than the more commonly found ‘Ramses’). The husband dreamt and was convinced that he was a reincarnation of an Egyptian pharaoh and their stage act was modeled on such. During his ‘lunacy’ they recorded two albums ‘Space Hymns’ in 1973 and ‘Glass Top Coffin’ in 1975 before he took his own life.

The albums are a mixture of progressive, psychedelic space rock with occasional tinges of folk and are as eccentric as the duo. Folks who appreciate progressive music and bands like Hawkwind may enjoy these now cult LPs. One of the reasons we buy LPs outside of music is also for the artwork. Both these LPs (mine are UK first pressings) have a spacey art ..... and the first LP is designed by Roger Dean and folds out six times.

Going back in time we can recall that Barrington Frost was, anecdotally, born between 1935 and 1940 in Sheffield, UK^. He was the only child of musical parents (his mother played piano to silent movies in the local theatre, and his father was a tenor) and grew up singing and playing guitar from an early age. He joined the army and after completing his service, in 1960 he met and three weeks later married Dorothy Laflin who was working in her parents' Felixstowe restaurant.

The couple settled in London, where he worked as a jazz singer by night and tookanother job during the day, while Dorothy waited tables. The Frosts relocated to Sheefield in 1966 and remodeled their home in a Roman style. Barrington shaved his head and began dressing eccentrically in silk robes. In 1968, the story goes, during a drive to visit a client he was visited by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses who told him he was the Pharaoh's reincarnation, and he must take up the Pharaoh's message in a musical career.

He took the advice seriously and his early singles (recorded with his wife, whom he renamed Selket or Seleka) failed to make any impact. In 1971, as the Ramases he was signed Vertigo Records and recorded the album ‘Space Hymns’ that had the most expansive artwork.

Ramases's second album ‘Glass Top Coffin’ was recorded at Phonogram Studios in 1975 in London, but did not sell well. Ramases was unhappy with the strings and chorus which were added post-production without his permission, and he was unhappy with the cover too.

They did record a third album ‘Sky Lark’ which sadly only remained to tape. The album did not sell well. Ramases and Selket left London and returned to the country of Felixstowe Ferry to live their life.

In 2014 actor (and Ramases fan) Peter Storrmare collected together (with the help of Selket and Harvey Lisberg) all of Ramases' surviving recordings, both released and unreleased, and compiled them into a six-disc boxed set.

Reviewed by Juzer Kopti

Juzer Kopti originally from Bombay and now based in the suburbs of Washington DC, is a music enthusiast who enjoys crate digging for rare records. His taste in music tends towards 60s-70s psychedelia, folk, rock, jazz, fusion and progressive. He also enjoys collecting fountain pens, vintage cameras, while also pursuing other expensive hobbies.