The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 track listing
"This Is Where" "Girl Why Don't You?" "Shame & Scandal" "I Chase the Devil A.K.A. Ironshirt" "Taller Than You Are" "You Keep Me Hanging On" "Dangerman A.K.A. High Wire" "Israelites" "John Jones" "Lola" "You'll Lose a Good Thing" "Rain" "So Much Trouble in the World"

"Shame and Scandal in the Family" is a song written by calypso singer Sir Lancelot for the movie I Walked with a Zombie in 1943 and originally titled "Fort Holland Calypso Song". Sir Lancelot issued his recording of it in the late 1940s. The Sir Lancelot version was covered by folksingers Odetta and Burl Ives. In 1962, Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Melody wrote new lyrics for the verses while keeping the melody and the chorus. The Historical Museum of Southern Florida said of Lord Melody's version that "No calypso has been more extensively recorded".

In Sir Lancelot's version, the lyric reports gossip about a prominent family on a Caribbean island named San Sebastian.

In Lord Melody's 1960s version the story follows a young Trinidadian man in search of a wife. In each of the verses, the young man asks his father for permission to marry a different woman, only to be told he can not marry the girl as "The girl is your sister, but your mamma don't know". However, the tables are turned during the last verse, where the young man's mother tells him that "Your daddy ain't your daddy, but your daddy don't know", clearing the path for him to marry any of the girls.

There are known versions by Trini Lopez, De Maskers, King Bravo with Baba Brooks & his band, Bobby Aitken and Blue Beat, Odetta, Freddie McGregor, Laurel Aitken. Instrumental versions were also popular, most famously by Caravelli and by Franck Pourcel and his Grand Orchestre.

The song has been translated to a number of major European languages:

British ska/pop band Madness covered the song having previously covered several Prince Buster ska recordings, including the songs "Madness", and "One Step Beyond". The band began performing the song at a series of low-key performances as 'The Dangermen' in 2005.

Madness later recorded the song for their cover album The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1, and released it as a single later that year.

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Wikipedia