Of Carnival and ...

February is the month of love, carnival and the birthday of Barbados' most recent National Hero, Rihanna.  My focus for this entry? Carnival (well calypso) and a bit of love (a sweet spouge rendition).  

First, though, as usual, let me greet those who visited the page over the last month.  You hailed from: Barbados, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, USA and Vietnam! 👋 It seems like this page is a meeting of the United Nations. So grateful for your visits. Thank you. 🙇

I'll begin with Carnival. The most well-known at this time of year is Brazil and for the Caribbean region - Trinidad.  First up? A man of firsts - the winner of their Dimanche Gras (calypso finals), the veteran entertainer, Machel Montano. I remember him as a child in the 1980s when he won his first Junior Monarch title in Trinidad & Tobago with "Too Young to Soca".  Yes. I am that old. We all wondered if he would continue in the artform. He later made a name for himself with party music (soca) and now he's the calypso king of Trinidad & Tobago on his first try. I trust you will enjoy seeing his winning live performance.  When he showed Ras Shorty-I on the screen I got chills.  I'd planned to compare my local fave calypso about the calypso artform but decided not to take anything away from a now middle-aged Machel Montano. His performance was first class and his reputation as an excellent performer precedes him. 

Machel Montano - Trinidad & Tobago's Calypso Monarch 2024 and...

Machel Montano - an eager school boy in the1980s when he won his first calypso title - Junior Calypso Monarch of Trinidad and Tobago with "Too Young To Soca"

Still, the calypso in Trinidad which chorus has been repeating itself in my head over the past week is this lady's - and there's nothing "holy" about it. It's beat is just "wholly" infectious. I've heard it called the women's anthem for 2024.  With the current generation, it seems that anything goes, so a lyric or 2 is a little risqué.  It's not for the prudish.  Still, no-one can argue that Nadia Batson went to Market with this one.

Nadia Batson's rhythmic "Market" song is a huge hit this year 

I can't not feature something Barbadian so to bring it back home on a "love theme", this classic by the late Richard Stoute speaks of both love, fidelity and family.  The best part? It's a spouge rhythm. 

If calypso, chutney and ragga were born in Trinidad, then spouge was birthed in Barbados more than 50 years ago. 

Here is a  photo of the late Richard Stoute, in Valentine's red and white. 

The late Richard Stoute, outstanding Barbadian balladeer. 

No better note to sign off, on the eve of Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day to all. 🍷🍓🌹