calypso | Musicosity

calypso

Joe White

Jamaican singer Joe White has had an unsung career, issuing several brilliant singles through the ska, rocksteady, and early reggae eras, including 1967's "Rudies All Around," 1968's "Every Night" (produced by Sonia Pottinger), and an amazing version of "My Guiding Star," produced by Charles Ross at Studio One. Somehow, though, White never garnered the mass attention he deserved. Early on he was a member of vocal group the Leaders with Ken Boothe, Roy Shirley, and Chuck Josephs, and several singles by the quartet were issued on Federal, but none generated much action.

Read more about Joe White on Last.fm.

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Calypso Rose

McArtha Lewis, better known as Calypso Rose (born April 27, 1940 in Bethel, Tobago) is a Tobagonian calypsonian. Named after the American general Douglas MacArthur, Rose's earliest years were a crowded environment - 19 people in a one-bedroom house. When she was 9, she moved to live with an uncle in Barataria She began writing songs at the age of 15, and has written over 800 songs. In 1966 she wrote the song Fire in Me Wire, which has since become a calypso anthem. Rose was the first female to win the Trinidad Road March Competition, in 1977 with her song Tempo.

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Lion

There are multiple artists with this name: 1) Lion were a 1980s rock band best known for their The Transformers theme song from the 1986 animated movie of the same name.
A hard rock quartet, Lion was formed in 1983 after ex-Tytan vocalist Kal Swan (born Norman Swan) relocated from London to Los Angeles and teamed up with drummer Mark Edwards who had been in Steeler alongside Yngwie Malmsteen and '3rd Stage Alert'.

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Gaby Amarantos

Gaby Amarantos is a singer and dancer from the city of Belém, in the northern state of Pará and comes from a family of Samba dancers. She's recorded a few CDs, a DVD, has been featured in newspapers and magazines and has made several appearances on Brazilian television shows. Her music sounds like a mashup of 90s Euro rave, moombahton, cumbia, and the kind of Hispanic electro-pop you hear in discos on holiday when you're out of your mind on budget cocktails. Like Gloria Estefan with techno knobs on – or rather, Glozzer in a clinch with Technotronic.

Read more about Gaby Amarantos on Last.fm.

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Arrow

(1)
Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell MBE (born November 16, 1954 died September 16, 2010) is a soca musician who performs under the stage name Arrow. Born on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies, one of his most well-known songs is Hot Hot Hot (resung by David Johansen in his Buster Poindexter alter ego). Although native to Montserrat, Arrow attributes his success to his time in Antigua and time spent with Antiguan bands such as Burning Flames. (2)

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The Heebie Jeebies

Lo-fi, calypso, fiddly, twonk pop. These are labels thrown around wildly, like poo against a monkey's caged wall. Which is what you may liken The Heebie Jeebies playing style to. But that would be paying them a huge compliment. I JOKE. They are a 3 piece originally from the combined parts of Rotherham and Swinton but now based in deepest, darkest West Sheffield and are the ramshackle strum-pop trio you've been waiting you're whole life for. Or perhaps just the last couple of hours. Who knows.

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Patch

Patch is a name that has been used more than once. (1) An Australian progressive rock band with an album in 1977. (2) An American band with an album in 2003. (3) A short lived, innovative rock band from Elk Rapids, Michigan (USA). (4) a caribbean Soca Artist from Trinidad. (5) Electronic Artist, Producer and Sound Sculptor. Patch (1) was a studio project conceived by drummer/composer Peter Dawkins, who enlisted members of the band Spectrum to back him for the album The Star Suite in 1977. Patch (2) released an album called The Perfect Disguise in 2003.

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The Jolly Boys

A mento quartet from Port Antonio, Jamaica, formed 1955. They perform with bongos, banjo, rhumba box & kalimba / finger-piano. In the 50s, they were popular at The Trident Hotel & parties for 'the rich'n'famous', e.g. at Errol Flynn's residence. During the late 80s, they received renewed interest, when Jules Shear heard them playing at the Trident - he returned later & produced Pop 'N' Mento & other albums. A new album - Great Expectation - is slated for release, late 2010. http://Furious.com/perfect/JollyBoys.

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Kobo Town

Toronto-based band Kobo Town is named after the historic neighborhood in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, where traditional calypso (kaiso) was born amid the boastful, humourous and militant chants of the roaming stickfighters. Situated near the fishermen's wharf, the area was a site of constant defiance and conflict, a place where sticks and stones, songs and verses clashed with the bayonets and batons of colonial rule. For the members of the eight-piece outfit, the name suggests an origin as well as a destination.

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