By Tony Deyal
For the great Mighty Sparrow and those who followed him to develop the mix in Trinidad and Tobago and share it around the world- read, share, play and enjoy this Christmas
Good Housekeeping says that “White Christmas” is the bestselling Christmas song of all time, “Home Alone” is the most popular holiday movie of all time, and “Gifts” have both Christian and Pagan origins. As Trinis say, “Not we!” Whether at home or abroad, Trinis everywhere, regardless of race, creed and class, never stop with white. We add, or have, black, pink and every possible mix for life. More, if any of us end up in Home Alone,” we will faint, or run like hell bawling, “Mom! Mom! Where you?”
And while Good Housekeeping is into Christian and Pagan origins, we are all for one and one for all Christian, Catholic, Indian, and anybody and anything else dropping by and singing, dancing, drinking, prancing, eating and getting something to carry home for the wife and children. Wherever they are, Christmas Day brings great themes of love, hope, family, and tradition, all marked by joyous gatherings, festive and, in our case, Calypso music.
Or so I thought until, at ten years old, we moved just before Christmas to an area in the deep south of Trinidad and ran into a group moving from house to house singing a language I never knew, and shouting, “Sereno sereno, sereno sera estos son serenos dl la madruga’a.” I am still not sure, but it was supposed to mean, “Calm, calm, calm it will be, these are the serene one of the early morning. There is everything here, divine, first to the Father, then to the Son …” Fortunately, and before crying about the people wanting to come in our house to make noise, I found out that they were a group led by a lady named Daisy Voisin playing something called “parang.” Later, I was told that the singing started in nearby Venezuela since the 19th century.
Fortunately, I was able to speak long after with my colleague and the top expert in the region, Zeno Obi Constance. He is the best person in the region regarding Calypso, Carnival, and other areas that are part of the history of the Caribbean region. He explained that there were great “paranderos” known for lively, festive songs about love, religion and partying using instruments like the cuatro, guitar, cello, and maracas. Initially, Parang and Calypso were separate and distinct.
There were people like Papa Chune. But the best in that group was Daisy Voisin with songs like “Algeria Algeria” and “Hooray Hoorah.”
The quintessential Christmas calypso and greatest every, according to Zeno Obi, is Nap Hepburn who’s calypso, “Tell Santa Claus” is one of the greats celebrating of Christmas as a calypso. Zeno sees it as the period after the pure, pure parang.
Having gone through White Christmas, Parang, and the sweet Caribbean Calypso music during the 60’s and 70’s, we came to the “turning point.” It was a case of going local and not being forced to stay with “White” as the only colour of Christmas. The person who made the change was Frankie Atwell with the song “Green Christmas.”
According to Zeno Obi, after the parang was established as Trinidad’s Christmas music, calypsonians, and indeed local singers in general, sang and recorded their versions of those that were and still are popular foreign Christmas favourites. At the same time, they were ensuring that the Trinidad calypsoes continued to reflect the Yuletide spirit. I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus and White Christmas are notable examples. Spoiler with his now famous Father Christmas and Nap Hep Burn with Tell Santa Claus stand out.
Speaking about White Christmas, after independence and the 1970s Black Power movement, singers were influenced to go ‘local’. Frankie Atwell recorded this influence when he rejected the idea of a snow-filled Christmas for a green one, without the perennial snow. Frankie Atwell was a legendary singer/composer who gave us many other classics in debunking, and not just one single colour. However, that first non-white colour took us into a wider scene starting with “Green Christmas.”
Interestingly, the previous down came up and the update was up and down. As Zeno Obi said, “Berch (Big B) singing ‘Bring Back Parang’ lamenting the fact that there was no ‘parang’ again, especially the authentic parang. He saw this as a kind of bridge between parang, loss of parang to the calypso, before going to vibrant fusion genre from Trinidad and Tobago, blending the Spanish-influenced, Christmas-season sounds of the traditional parang full of merry-making serenades with Latin rhythms with the high-energy, modern beats of Soca, which is an offshoot of Calypso.
The best way to look at it is to start with Big B’s “Bring Back Parang.”
However, for a short while, between the “Bring Back Parang” and the “Soca” (calypso music with elements of soul, originally from Trinidad), there came in a “mix-upper.” It was a group, Moonlight Serenaders, sampling Dupe’s “Black Is Beautiful.” In a sense, it was pure Soca parang or parang Soca before the “big shot” singers like Crazy took it over. It is Moonlight Serenades- “Negro Es Hermoso.”
This didn’t last long and out came “Crazy” (Edwin Ayoung), a Trinidad calypsonian who has been active since the 1970s and is one of the most successful Trinidad and Tobago artists. He was the first artist to sing a “Parang Soca”, and now he is the king. As Zeno Obi says, “Crazy made it to the top with Soca, Parang, and Parang Soca. In fact, he has ‘Parang Soca Medley.’
After Crazy, there comes another great, Scrunter, who is considered one of the “Best of Trinidad.” In 1980, he came out with “Woman on the Bass” and in 1982 won the Calypso Crown with “Lick-e-Thing” and “The Will.” He is supposed to be the “King of the Parang Soca.” However, he is the one who started the “mix” with sexuality as one of the double innuendos. Here is one, “De Parang Now Start.”
Joining the group is a lady in the mix, Singing Francine. She has the distinction of being a pioneering artist who helped break the glass ceiling for women in calypso and was an early exponent of parang. Interestingly, like some of the best performers, including the Mighty Sparrow, she was born in Barbados and migrated to Trinidad as a child. As a soul singer early in her singing career, she performed as a backup vocalist with Sparrow for about fie years. Her spill was with the Soca and her choice, “Parang Parang.”
Next was “Alexander” (Kenny J), who brought in a very sexual, double innuendo like a “brush in the band” which is, like most Trinis, extremely popular. Since “Alexander” can’t speak for himself, you can at least hear and read the tune.“
One of the new ones, Ninja (Kenson Neptune) is deep into the Calypso stories, using the parang but more of a calypso narration, which is definitely right for the “Wrong House.”
Finally, we go to Christmas and the songs for many people who were still into the “White” Christmas. This is by Stephen Mathis of Fyzabad, Trinidad, with “Around Christmas Time.”
*Tony Deyal was last seen asking his colleague Zeno Obi if he prefer “kai-so” or “Calypso”?
