Calypso music is widely associated with the song “Day-O” by Harry Belafonte and although he popularized the genre, his song is actually a watered down version of calypso. Traditionally, calypso is Afro-Caribbean music that was born in Trinidad by the African slaves and French creole workers. What makes calypso special is that it has very global roots. Trinidad was ruled by the British, French, and Spanish which resulted in a fusion of European folk music with African rhythms that make up the calypso sound. Calypso lyrics were used to spread news around Trinidad during World War I, and are therefore very political. However due to forced censorship, the meaning behind the lyrics is artfully hidden. Here at IODA, the wonderful label Spunky Monkey (run by famous DJ Irwin Chusid) has provided us with loads of calypso music. Most notably by Lord Kitchener (one of the most famous and long-lasting calypso singers), The Duke of Iron (the notoriously humorous calypsonian), and Wilmoth Houdini (one of calypso’s great pioneers).  Check these babies out:

Artist: Lord Kitchener
Title: Calypso Kitch
Label: Radiophone Archives
Genre: Latin : Caribbean
UPC: 032500234005
Territory: World
Release Date: 03.17.09

Lord Kitchener was known as the “Grandmaster” of calypso. By the time of his death, only the Mighty Sparrow and the Roaring Lion had reached a similar level of respect. For over a half century, he was widely admired for his musicianship, compositions, performance ability and overall support for the calypso tradition. On ten occasions he won the “Road March” title (the award for the calypsonian whose song is most frequently played on the streets during Trinidad’s Carnival). For decades, Kitchener remained a favorite calypsonian among steelbands, due to the catchy melodies and harmonic complexity of his compositions. Calypso Kitch is a fine 1966 LP of his humorous, topical, and trenchant calypso observations, recorded during Kitchie’s prime.

Artist: The Duke of Iron
Title: The Duke of Iron: The Early Sides
Label: Radiophone Archives
Genre: Caribbean : Reggae
UPC: 032509762295
Territory: World
Release Date: 05.15.10

The Duke of Iron (born Cecil Anderson) was a well-known calypsonian, nightclub and concert entertainer, and recording artist from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was renown for his bawdy humor, crisp diction, and confident vocal mannerisms. His clarity in pronouncing English lyrics helped him achieve tremendous popularity with American audiences. In addition to singing, Anderson played cuatro and was an exceptional pianist. This is a collection of his early recordings from the 1930s and ’40s, some with the Caribbean-styled big band Felix & His Krazy Kats. Anderson was a native of Trinidad, and moved with his family to New York in 1923. In the 1930s he was a featured vocalist with Felix & His Krazy Kats. He became a headliner on the New York club scene, which included a ten-month stint at the Village Vanguard in the 1940s. He also participated in the legendary 1946 Calypso At Midnight concerts produced by Alan Lomax at New York’s Town Hall auditorium. Anderson was notorious for humorous, ribald calypsos, like “I Left Her Behind For You,” “Miss Constance,” “The Naughty Fly,” and “The Postman.” During the 1950s and 1960s, he performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and at many leading nightclubs, such as the Village Gate, the Jamaican Room and the Calypso Room. He appeared in the film Calypso Joe in 1957 with Angie Dickinson. He regularly returned to Trinidad to keep up with current trends in calypso, and performed and recorded many annual Carnival hits.

Artist: Wilmoth Houdini
Title: Rum and Coca-Cola
Label: Radiophone Archives
Genre: Caribbean : Reggae
UPC: 032509384565
Territory: World
Release Date: 05.15.10

“The Great Houdini,” like his namesake, was a magician, albeit with words and music. Frederick Wilmoth Hendricks made numerous recordings as “Wilmoth Houdini” (and sometimes as “King Houdini”) from the 1920s through the 1940s. His version of “Rum and Coca-Cola” is often considered the definitive take on this classic tune (later a hit for the Andrews Sisters), and his 1946 composition “Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)” was a hit for Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald. His 1940s novelty song “Bobby Sox Idol” tries to convince a young singer named Frank Sinatra that he “has the perfect voice to sing calypso.” Houdini was popular in the Caribbean and in New York, where he performed often and lived for many years.