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In Cleveland, OH, I spent a day touring the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

In Cleveland, OH, I spent a day touring the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
2022-08-20 Rock _ Roll Hall of Fame-006.jpg
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The Hall of Fame was an interesting place to visit, but I would have been disappointed if that was my only reason to travel to Ohio.

The thing that galled me was the lack of any mention of Calypso or Soca. They are belatedly inducting Harry Belafonte this year, so I guess they will have to add an exhibit. There are some who will say, but Calypso is not Rock. Well, neither is reggae, but a number of reggae artists have been inducted and there is a significant exhibit about reggae. And reggae evolved from mento, the Jamaican variant of calypso.

Incidentally, rap evolved from "toasters", DJs in the Bronx and elsewhere who would sing rhymes at parties where they performed, a variant of extempo calypso, the roots of which go back to Africa and slavery.

What about soca? I think almost everyone has heard Hot Hot Hot many times. And Who Let the Dogs Out. There are other socas that have been popular.

What needs to be clarified, since the 1950s, the calypso and soca most Americans hear are cover versions. Even Harry Belafonte's Caribbean repertoire was mostly reworks of old Caribbean folk tunes, and many of his tunes had nothing to do with the Caribbean.

Another well known Calypso, Rum and Coca Cola was made popular here by the Andrew Sisters, but was a cover of Lord Invader's lyrics. Regarding Soca, both Hot Hot Hot and Who Let the Dogs Out were popularized here by cover artists.

Modern artists they should induct include Lord Kitchener, David Rudder, Machel Montano, Lord Shorty and many others. And in the same way they recognized those who laid the foundation for Rock, they should recognize artists like Houdini, Lord Radio, The Lion and many others. Unfortunately, I doubt this will ever happen.

Perhaps Trinidad needs to establish a Calypso Hall of Fame, but I doubt that will ever happen either.

August 20, 2022

Author
John Schmidt
Visits
74

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