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ABSTRACT
This query examines the history of Harlem calypso in the 1920s and 1930s, and Brooklyn soca music in the 1980s. Unfolding in the context of diasporic Caribbean Carnival celebrations, the evolution of these distinctive music styles provides a window into the dynamic nature of twentieth century cultural globalization. Specifically, the development of Harlem calypso and Brooklyn soca demonstrate how music can serve as an essential connecting thread in the formation of the modern transnation. The validity of the terms “center” and “periphery,” when used in reference to the new, globally connected world, is challenged. The need for more nuanced models that stress the dialogical, cyclical movement of cultural actors and their expressions between the Caribbean homeland(s) and urban diasporic communities is stressed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
* Portions of this article will appear in Ray Allen, Jump Up! Caribbean Carnival Music in Brooklyn (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
1. Listen, for example to the 1931 recording of “Stop Coming and Come” by Wilmoth Houdini and Gerald Clark and his Night Owls the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuX4xLVa_rI
2. See for example 50,000 Harlemites Watch First Annual Trinidad Carnival and Parade; Dance at Golden Gate.” New York Age (6 September 1947); “165,000 Watch Indies Day Parade.” New York Age (6 September 1958); and “West Indian Parade Ends in Riot.” Amsterdam News 9 September 1961.
3. Quote from “Mardi Gras Comes North.” Amsterdam News (17 February 1951). See also “Gay Dame Lorraine Carnival Ends Pre-Lent Season” Amsterdam News (5 March 1949) and “The Dame Lorraine Carnival Shows the Best in Costumes Amsterdam News (25 February 1950).
4. See the following newspaper accounts of Eastern Parkway Carnival: “One Million Participate in West Indian Parade.” New York Amsterdam News (7 September 1974); Cummings, Judith. “600,000 Get in Step with West Indian Beat of Brooklyn Parade.” New York Times (4 September 1973); Dunning, Jennifer. “Dancing in the Streets Marks Brooklyn's West Indian Fete. New York Times (6 September 1977).
5. Steelbands performing instrumental versions of calypso and soca tunes played an important role in Brooklyn Carnival, but one that lies beyond the space limitations of this query. For a discussion of the history of steelbands in Brooklyn see Allen and Slater, “Steel band Grows in Brooklyn” (Citation1998).
6. Interview with Granville Straker by author, 18 July 2013, Brooklyn, NY; and Bill Nolan, “Granville Straker Interview,” liner notes to the CD Best of Straker's: Ah Feel to Party (Rounder CD 5066/67, 1996).
7. The 1974 Straker recording of Shadow's “Bass Man” can be heard on the CD reissue Best of Straker's: Ah Feel to Party.
8. Interview with Rawlston Charles by author, 17 September 2013, Brooklyn, NY.
9. Calypso Rose's biography is drawn from interview with Calypso Rose by author, 23 July 2014, Queens, NY and Guilbault 2007, 102–111.
10. Calypso Rose’s 1977 recording of “Give More Tempo” for Charlie's Records can be heard at the youtube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIBTAdQThNQ
11. Interview with Charles, 17 September 2013, and interview with Rose, 23 July 2014.
12. Sparrow’s 1979 recording of “Don't stop the Tempo” for Charlie's Records can be heard at the youtube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ymoTcYjR1E
13. Arrow’s 1982 recording of “Hot, Hot, Hot” can be heard at the youtube website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkGgdIBX1to
14. Background on B's Records is drawn from interview with Kendrick Meade by author, 22 August, 2013, Brooklyn, NY, and interview with Hue Loi by Author, 24 February 2015, Trinidad. Meade and Loi worked for Meade in the 1980s, organizing recording sessions and overseeing distribution.
15. Although a good deal of early Jamaican reggae and ska music was recorded in Jamaica by local producers like Coxsone Dodd, the music only reached international crossover audiences when London-based labels such as Melodisc/Blue Beat and Island Records became involved in recording and distribution in the late 1960s and 1970s. These two companies were owned by British, non-Caribbean producers Emil Shallit and Chris Blackwell respectively. See Bradley, This is Reggae Music (Citation2000, 111–132). The history of Latin music production in New York is complex. Both major labels such as RCA and New York-independent labels Tico, Seeco, Fania, Alegre, and RMM produced Latin music from the 1960s through the 1990s. The influential independent labels were owned by a mix of Latinos and non-Latinos – Fania by Dominica-born Johnny Pacheco and Italian American Jeffy Mascucci; Tico by Jewish American George Goldner; Seeco by Jewish American Sidney Sielgel; Alegre by Nuyorican Al Santiago and Jewish American Ben Perlman, and RMM by Nuyorican/Domincan Ralph Mercado. By the 1990s most of these independents had folded or ceased to issue new material, and U.S. major record companies had established Latin music divisions. See Pacini Hernandez, Oye Como Va! pp. 15–33 and 47–149.