MUSIC EEK-A-MOUSE : Reggae Rodent : Singer from Jamaica with a strange name-- and a strange voice-- will bring a little music to Santa Barbara.

By BILL LOCEY

Sept. 5, 1991 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

At 6 foot 6, he’s the biggest mouse you’ve ever seen. Mickey, Mighty or Speedy Gonzales could only gnaw at his ankles.

This mouse is reggae singer Eek-A-Mouse, which is a pretty funny name for man or a mouse. And he has a pretty funny voice, too, sort of squeaky and weird just like, well, a rhapsodizing rodent.

Besides a funny name and funny voice, Mouse has had trouble with the immigration cops. He lives in the ghetto in Kingston, Jamaica, and doesn’t even have a phone--none of which is very funny. After 11 albums, you’d think he could afford one. But more on that later.

And the Mouse man’s parents aren’t really as cruel as, say, Frank Zappa--the guy who named his children Moon Unit and Dweezil, and who may discover when he’s old and senile that the kids legally changed his name to FooFoo Mugwump out of spite. But that’s a different story. The Mouse man’s real name is a rather regal-sounding Ripton Hylton.

“Well, you know, mon, I got the name from some friends,” Mouse said in a recent phone interview from beautiful downtown Kingston. “I didn’t like it at all at first, but now, I’m getting to like it.”

But it’s the ‘90s, Mouse, and everybody has a phone, don’t they? Well, there is this one tall guy in Jamaica, named after a rodent, who doesn’t, which partially explains why it took about a week to complete this interview.

The singer’s management company said Mouse usually calls once a week asking for more money. Maybe they’re happy he has no phone, because he can’t hassle them so much without one. But a reporter wanting a call back can get nervous. So not a creature was dialing, not even a mouse. Then came the collect call from a pay phone.

“Well, you know, mon, I’m moving and my last house is all messed up and my kids messed up my phone,” said Mouse, who is very fond of saying “Well, you know, mon. . . .”

Perhaps Eek-A-Mouse will now have time to work on some snappier repartee. Recently he had to cancel several Midwest dates in the midst of his current 75-city tour thanks to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. According to Mouse, he went to Canada for a few dates, but the INS wouldn’t let the Jamaican back across the border into the United States.

That’s when a Los Angeles radio station started a “Free Eek-A-Mouse” campaign.

“There were a lot of problems up there, so I had to cancel some dates,” said Mouse. “They said that the INS moved some offices, and by moving, they got my stuff all mixed up. When I tried to get back into the States, they said, ‘We can’t accept Mouse,’ so the Mouse went back.”

Yet, none of this has affected us. The Mouse tour is back on schedule and he arrives in Santa Barbara on Tuesday night at the Anaconda Theatre in Isla Vista.

The Anaconda, which has the largest dance floor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, has seen more trouble than a mouse at a calico cat farm. In 1970 the venue was the Bank of America, but angry locals rioted and burned it down.

There are no riots expected when the Mouse shows up. His newest release, and big-label debut, is the cleverly monikered “U-Neek.”

On this one is his dig at the INS called “Border Patrol,” which will probably keep him off their Christmas card list again this year. There’s also a very strange cover of a Led Zeppelin tune, “D’yer Maker.”

“Well, you know, mon, I’m from Jamaica and I do reggae,” Mouse said. “I’ve got 10 or 11 albums now and I just signed with Island Records. Reggae has been getting bigger because of Bob Marley, but it still needs more promotion to get it to the people. I’ve been singing since I was a kid when I used to hear Nat ‘King’ Cole on the radio. He was my favorite. I love to sing; it’s my whole life. Sometimes, when people hear my voice, they wonder if it’s a mouse or a man.”

Or maybe they wonder if he’s an actor or a singer. Or both. Mouse recently played the part of Fat Smitty in the film “New Jack City.” And onstage, Mouse dresses in a variety of odd get-ups, including those of a gladiator, a Chinese coolie, a pirate, a jockey, a punk rocker and a Mexican bandit. But apparently, no mice, famous or otherwise.

“Well, you know, mon, sometimes I like to dress up. It’s not just music with me--I like to put things together. I’ve got millions of costumes. Basically, I’m just looking for a bigger market. I’ll just take it from here. I just try to live, you know . . . .”

* Two more Santa Barbara bands recently got signed--Ugly Kid Joe and A Band Called Horse. They join fellow Santa Barbarians, Toad the Wet Sprocket, who recently had a CD-release party for their third effort. In Ventura, Cirith Ungol is signed and a new one is imminent on Restless Records. And Ill Repute from Hueneme has half a dozen records. Elsewhere throughout the 805 area code, hordes of bands are hoping . . . .

* “We’ll never get signed,” said Spencer Barnitz, front man for Spencer the Gardener. “We accept that. The record companies don’t know what to do with us. We’re working on our third tape now.”

* WHERE AND WHEN

Eek-A-Mouse, $12.50, Tuesday, 9 p.m. at the Anaconda Theatre, 935 Embarcadero del Norte, Isla Vista, 685-3112.