Is Lord Kitchener the Caribbean Wurzels?

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Jonathon Ross played a track by Lord Kitchener on Saturday morning called 'Handyman' - an innuendo-laden calypso track which reminded me of nothing more than certain tracks by the Adge Cutler era Wurzels, explicitly 'The Bristol Song' (although that's quite light on innuendo - unless you come from Horfield, natch). It was so good it momentarily made me forget I was in Kingswood.

Anyway, is this typical of his output? Is it all this good?

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I just finished proofing a HUGE article on Trinidadian calypso. Most calypso (especially older, more demure calypsos) is full on innuendo. Check out Zandolie, Mighty Sparrow, Lord Pretender (they all have names like this), Calypso Rose, Puppet Master, Chalkdust, oh, how I could go on!

― cybele (cybele), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Trinidadian music is not all in your face soca craziness all the time, y'know.

― cybele (cybele), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

where will said article run?
and staying on, any good calypso comp. recommendations? i enjoy honest jon's "london is the place for me" a great deal, but i remember a few rounder lps that were great, yet the titles now go un-remembered.

― abeta (abeta), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd welcome any recommendations as well. I've got "London is the place for me" off slsk and am enjoying it immensely. Do I remember seeing a Trojan soca/calypso box set?

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

the old calypso i know is as much political and social satire as sexual innuendo but the latter is def. a part and can get very misogynyst as well. tiger, radio, invader, etc.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

get the calypso collections on rounder, from the 30s and 40s

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Calypso

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Kitch is pretty good and he does have songs with a lot of sexy bits wrapped up in humor. Hit Me With A Pillow is another song like that.

The problem I find with buying cds of calypso artists is they are usually songs stuck together by some guy in Brooklyn, so you get one or two really good ones and half a dozen lame, pedestrian, party songs. (maybe fun do dance to, but not exactly stuff you need to hear in you living room).
The discs are also $20 and up, hard to find and usually out of stock. It took me over a year to get a Black Stalin disc and I was disapointed.
Anybody know a good calypso lable or distro house?

― Brandon Welch (Brandon Welch), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 16:02 (twenty-two years ago)

amateurist reccomended me this "fall of man" collection and it is excellent, thanks amateurist!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a really cheap comp knocking about called "Kings Of Calypso" or similar. It has plenty of duffers on it and it looks really dodgy but there are some real winners too, like "Women Police In England" by the Mighty Terror. Mostly 50s/60s stuff as I recall.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey--when I said innuendo, I didn't just mean sex--calypso is fascinating in that a calypso might be talking about a stick fight (traditional carnival activity) when in fact it is talking about politcs, society, relationships and all sorts of stuff--all at the same time.

The Trojan Calypso box set is pretty good (though I'm never one to really encourage box sets...but if you want your fill of calypso...)

Oh, and the article I was proofing was part of a collection of essays on masculinity in the Caribbean. It's a 400 page academic collection....but, remarkably, it was quite readable and really interesting.

― cybele (cybele), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 16:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, check this page for distributors:

http://www.calypsoarchives.co.uk/maindirectory/links.htm

Actually, the calypsoarcives.co.uk site is pretty much the most thorough and accurate calypso site I've found.

― cybele (cybele), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 16:34 (twenty-two years ago)

The Avalanches have mixed in a lot of Kitchener in their sets.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

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