The Trinidad Serenaders w/ Mike Quashie

Artist: The Trinidad Serenaders

LP: Limbo: The Latest Party Dance Craze

Song: "Old Lady Walk a Mile and a Half" 
[ listen ]

If you've never thrown a limbo party of your own, I suggest you give it a try. You can just use a household mop or a broom. Limbo instructions are included below, along with notes and a demonstration by Mike Quashie, the original King of the Limbo from the 1950s, who holds the world's record for shuffling under the limbo bar when it's held just 7" off the ground. Mike's only real competition during his reign as Limbo King was former Topeka cheerleader Betsy Dalrymple (featured on the cover of this 1962 LP) while she was vacationing in Trinidad with her family in 1959. Miraculously, Betsy was able to scoot beneath the limbo bar at just 8" off the ground, despite having lost her right leg in the Kansas City carousel catastrophe of 1957. During her three-week stay in the Caribbean, Betsy's one-legged limbo routine dazzled fellow tourists and Trinidadians alike, as you might well imagine. 

There's a heartwarming New York Times City Room blog entry about Mike "King of Limbo" Quashie here, in which Mike and one of the dancers he worked with in his heyday reminisce together after being reunited in a Bronx nursing care facility. Of course now Mike's knees and back are totally shot, poor guy.

[ Mike Quashie — King of the Limbo ]

Shango

Artist: Shango

LP: Shango

Song: "Mama Lion"

[ listen ]

Song: "Hey Jude"

[ listen ]

This morning I woke up from a terrifying nightmare in which Seattle was being invaded by aliens! They had been hovering over the city for months and had released a strange pixelated-looking black cloud over the Puget Sound, but everyone had gotten used to all that. Now for some reason the aliens were infiltrating the city on long, slender vehicles. They were driving up from out of the water and onto all the city streets! They hadn't done anything weird yet, but somehow we all knew they were up to no good. I had just retreated into the safety of my attic bedroom with my sister and some friends when I suddenly woke up. I was instantly relieved to realize that it had just been a bad dream and that the aliens hovering over Seattle hadn't come up out of the Puget Sound and into the city after all. It took another minute or two before I was able to comprehend that I was laying in my bedroom in Ballard and that there weren't actually any aliens. That part was a dream too! Whew. 

This terrific Shango record from A&M Records in 1969 is one of the things I picked up at Jive Time Records when I traded in a bunch of LPs that I was clearing out of my collection. The album was produced by Jerry Riopelle, who later released a couple of albums that still remain in my collection. You can find info on Shango from expert Dave Silverstein here, along with some informative followup comments here. If anyone has more info on the group, please feel free to chime in! And please also remind me to never engage in one of the Shango dances—where men are blindfolded, the machete is swung, and the head of the cock is severed.

L'eminent Barkoff

Artist: L'eminent Barkoff

LP: 7" single

Song: "Grain de Café"

[ listen ]

My records finally arrived from France! I only meant to order one, but as usual I got carried away. I've never been able to resist a man in a white leisure suit. The local translator says this 1976 single is about "coffee-berries," so I'm guessing it's probably actually about these. You can find the Barkoff doggie sweater available here.

Boney M.

Artist: Boney M.

LP: Oceans of Fantasy

Song: "Calendar Song"

[ listen ]

Happy New Year! I took a little road trip up to Bellingham for the occasion—a small, fairly quiet coastal college town near the Canadian border. I stayed at the charmingly dumpy Aloha Motel (they advertise free wireless internet, but it only reaches rooms 1—12 and I was in room 15) and I had my last 2010 dinner and my first 2011 breakfast at downtown Bellingham's neat old 24-hour diner, The Horseshoe Cafe. Of course I also found some records on my trip, including this 1979 LP by Boney M. If you still haven't got your 2011 wall calendar up, this song can help you keep track of what will be happening over the next 362 days.

 

[ Aloha Motel — Bellingham, WA ]

 

 [ Horseshoe Cafe & Ranch Room ]

 

 

 [ My first breakfast of 2011. ]

The New Bermuda Stealers

 Artist: The New Bermuda Stealers

LP: Life

Song: "Soul Train"
[ listen ]

These guys are SO much better than the old Bermuda Stealers. "Soul Train" is my favorite track on this neat Canadian-made LP, though their version of the theme from "2001" is a close second. Liner notes included below along with individual photos of the guys in the group, which I've put in alphabetical order according to first names.

Calimbo Steel Band

Artist: Calimbo Steel Band

LP: The Heart of Trinidad
Song: "Bedbug"
[ listen ]
Song: "Land of the Sea and Sun"
[ listen ]
Song: "When the Saints Go Marching In"
[ listen ]

Here's a record I first found at Golden Oldies in Seattle—inexplicably priced at $30. Still, I listened to it on the record player there and loved it, so I put it on hold until I could get approved for a short-term loan. In the meantime I made an afternoon road trip out to Snohomish, WA where I found the same Calimbo Steel Band record in great shape for just $3.50! If anyone would like to pay $30 for a copy, Golden Oldies still has one—or you can buy a copy online for $9 here. Chuck Wood (pictured below) handles lead vocals on "Land of the Sea and Sun" and several other LP tracks, but Bernardo Noriega sings lead only on "Bedbug," which has some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. The last track I've included seems to be a sort of all-band sing-a-long. Does anyone know why so many steel band records feature "When the Saints Go Marching In?" It's weird, right? If you ask me, Calimbo Steel Band's version is better than most of the others. I've included the LP liner notes below—it seems we have Texaco to thank for much of the music of Trinidad.

[ How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could... this guy? ]

A unique and appealing mixture of many cultures, Trinidad
is perhaps the most interesting and vibrant island in the
West Indies. Calypso was born here, as was the Steel band
and the Limbo. The Calimbo Steel band incorporates the best
of all three, featuring the outstanding talent of Trinidad. The
leader, Andre De Labastide, and Roland Harvey play the high-
pitched "Ping Pong" Steel drums; Carl "Gerald" Lawrence is
featured on "tenor booms"; Kenneth Lawrence on "alto" and
George Lancaster on "bass." Glenfield Leslie is heard on drums,
while Henry Pachot doubles on vocals and tumbas. Bernardo
Noriega doubles as a vocalist and with the maracas; the famous
Nanai is the guitarist. Chuck Wood is the vocal balladeer,
with Bonnie Casey providing vocal harmonies. Captured for
the first time in perfect high-fidelity recording, the Calimbo
Steel band brings you—"The Heart of Trinidad."
—GENE NORMAN

* * * * * * *

The Standard Oil Company, Texaco, and the rest of the
petroleum giants never realized it at the time, but they may
now claim credit for a new musical rage, which originated in
Trinidad during the war when the natives grew restless over
the scarcity of musical instruments. The islanders began
making music out of anything that was handy, and if
there was one thing the beaches offered in abundance,
it was oil drums. Empty ones, of course.

In due course, the Caribbean music-makers developed
instruments out of the steel drums that would yield several
different notes. Until recently, about 14 was the maximum.
Just enough to play most calypsos, rhumbas, sambas
and other basic Latin-American numbers.

Recently a topnotch steel band known as the Calimbos
(calypso, limbo, get it?), managed to spread its range
to 23 notes, considered a record among the islanders.
And the Calimbos boast that they can play
anything—even classical music.

The Calimbos just wound up six weeks at the El Mirador
in Palm Springs, Calif., where they jammed the South Pacific
Room night after night. Before coming to the United States,
they toured South America—Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile
and Peru—and worked their way north through Central
America and Mexico. Everywhere, they were a smash hit.
Naturally, the limbo dance—in which the dancer worms
his or her way under a constantly lowering crossbar
between two uprights—is most popular with crowds.

—ALONZO (BOB) CHILDERS, Entertainment Editor
SAN GABRIEL VALLEY DAILY TRIBUNE

[ Calimbo Steel Band ]

Pedrito Altieri y su Banda de Acero

Artist: Pedrito Altieri y su Banda de Acero

LP: Pedro Altieri and His Steel Band

Song: "Irene and Judy"
[ listen ]
Song: "Colonel Boogey"
[ listen ]

I always find it sexy and excitingly international when a record features an airplane on the cover—especially when there's a cluster of handsome Caribbean men standing on the tarmac in the foreground. And after listening, I have to agree that this is one of the best steel bands in the Virgin Islands. The LP has liner notes in both Spanish and English, so I've included both sets here:

Pedrito Altieri se identifica como compositor, artista y director
de Banda de Acero, siendo a la vez el primer puertorriqueño en
tener y dirigir su propia banda de esta clase.

Es increíble como Pedrito y los miembros de su banda obtienen
notas y ritmos de esos drones de acero que ellos mismos preparan.

Este disco contiene música variada oriunda de las Islas Vírgenes,
Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Santos Domingo, etc., tales como Calypsos,
Merengues, Boleros y Guarachas, de los cuales Pedrito y sus
muchachos hacen verdaderos éxitos.

Esta banda y ha recorrido las Islas que rodeo el Mar Carribe, Estados
Unidos y Canadá habiendo sido muy aplaudida en todas partes.

Con esta grabación tanto Pedrito como los componentes de su
banda se consagran como los máximos ejecutantes de esta clase
de instrumentos y los más fieles intérpretes de la música de
las Antillas Menores.

* * * * * * *

Pedrito Altieri's Steelband of St. Croix, Virgin Islands is an
outstanding favorite of listeners and dancers throughout the
Caribbean and the United States. This band has toured the
islands that surround the Caribbean Sea, the United States
and Canada and have won many acclaim at all appearances.

Pedrito is composer, artist and director of this great band.
He is also the first Puerto Rican to own and direct
a band of this class.

All the other members of the band are natives of St. Croix, V.I.

This record consist of a variety of music from the Virgin
Islands, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and Santa Domingo.

Such numbers as Calypso, Merengues, Boleros and Guaracha,
which Pedrito and his boys play with perfection and
rhythm as never heard before.

On this recording the band is giving its best performance so
that you will agree after listening, that it is one of the
best Steelband in the Virgin Islands.

Tropical Rainstorm Steel Band

Artist: Tropical Rainstorm Steel Band

LP: Yours Truly

Song: "Give More Tempo"
[ listen ]

This Tropical Rainstorm Steel Band LP was released on Seattle's Topaz Records back in 1978. You can read a bit about the label and how it helped influence the city's music scene here. And from Norene Gilbert—aka. "Miss Washington, USA of 1976," here's some gibberish about tropical rainstorms from the back of the record:

On the subject of
Tropical Rainstorms. . .

I stood gazing
through my window eyes—
deep into the storm—
it thundered in me
through me. . .
enhancing my transparency

droplet to droplet
puddle to puddle. . .

rolling waves into waters

I became the storm

following one without
the other. . .

thundering. . .
the rains of a thousand tropics

. . .I am my own mirages
following away

. . .the silence. . .

--Norene Gilbert

The InTrade Harmonites

Artist: The InTrade Harmonites

LP: This Land
Song: "Love Theme"
[ listen ]

It's a '70s steel drum band from Antigua covering Barry White. There's really nothing more to be said. Here are the notes from the back of the LP:

In Antigua, the steelband is rapidly proving itself to be the most
dynamic contributor to the world of musical art. This is due mainly
to the success of the island's top steelband, "Intrade West Side
Harmonites." During the past eight years, this group has compiled
the most impressive record in the history of local steelband
competitions: Five 1st Place and two 2nd Place honors. This
was accomplished through the inspiration of men like—George
Weekes, bandleader; Rupert (Teela) Parker, Kenroy Watkins,
Leroy Gordon, and the brilliant arrangers: The Honorable Sidney
Prince, Minister of Tourism and Finance, and Paul Campbell.

"Harmonites" first entered the local steelband competition in 1967,
one year after they were founded, but failed to place. However,
with sheer determination and hard work they came back in 1968,
were tied for First Place honors, and won the "Bomb" competition
with their rendition of "For a Few Dollars More." In 1969 they won
by a wide margin. They played Sparrow's "Cock Fight" and Bach's
"Air on a G String." In 1970 they placed second. However, in 1971
they reclaimed their number 1 spot by winning the competition
with "Prospect Test" and their mellow rendition of Francis Ali's
"Where Do I Begin" (Theme from Love Story). In December that
same year, the St. John's Cathedral gave permission for the
"Intrade Harmonites" to perform at a church service. In 1972 they
retained their championship title with their selection of Von Souppes'
"A Light Cavalry L'Overture" and Sparrow's "Winer Gal." In 1973 they
placed second and again in 1974 they won the championship by
playing Short Shirt's "Fighting" and Kitchiner's "Tourist Take Over."
They have recently begun touring the neighboring islands and are
planning a tour of the U.S.A. in 1975.

Through the cooperation of members of the band, their sponsors
INternational TRADing Center, their producer Basil C. Hill, you can
now discover some of the delightful sounds from this musical
souvenir entitled "This Land," which, it is hoped, will be
trasured and savored by all.

I can't be the only one considering the erotic potential for the "Air On a G-String" music video. and in case you're wondering where Antigua is, here's a map: