IslandMix - Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Caribbean Entertainment

This is the first recorded attempt at Soul Calypso. It was a huge hit, but like so many fusion attempts, one genre dominates the other. The first minute of this tune is Soca, the rest is straight up funk. The year was 1971





More Soca sounding fusion by Mandrill. They were led by 3 Panamanian brothers. The year was 1972. Scroll through the first 01:25 and listen to the rest.




More Mandrill. They would be 3-Canal today. The first time I heard "Big it up" in a tune. The year was 1973

Here are the complete songs. I'm new to this posting game.

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fresh, fast, fronted and forward

killer tune

definitely one the boys were listening to… three copies still in the collection

come with the soul calypso funk and afrobeat …

... set the scene

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fresh, fast, fronted and forward

niiiice

WOW!!!

WOW!!!!!!!

I doh NEED to HEAR anymore

After LISTENING to "FUNKY NASSAU," no one caah TAWK to me.

WOW!!!

OH my GAWD.

Now that is some GOOD SHIT right there!

POWERFUL EVIDENCE!!!

That is the SOCA and SOUL/FUNKY music that we heard later on in that very DECADE from the UNDERGROUND SOCA industry.

But why should that be SURPRISING?

I done tel aryo that one of the MUSICIANS from CHARLIE'S ROOTS stated that SOUL music was a DOMINATING theme in the creation of SOCA music.

He said that is what they GREW UP on....LISTENING to JAMES BROWN and them FELLAS. He said that TRINIDAD radio station was DOMINATED by AMERICAN SOUL music during that ERA, so quite NATURALLY it would be part of the creation of SOCA music.

Mannnn, this thing is so OBVIOUS, but there are those who SIMPLY REFUSE to remove themselves from the BOX that they got trapped in.

BELIEVE me, I UNDERSTAND aryo PAIN.

You know what, ley me STOP and let RUSTYNAIL do his TING yes.

The first two don't sound much like soca to me at all...but definitely a mix of soul and calypso, nice mix. 3-Canal sounds nice, but different from the first two.

Thanks for the old tunes though! Very nice!

Ah didn't want to post ah rambling intro to these tunes so I let the music speak for itself. What you said is exactly right. The end of the 60's...Black Pride...Dr King, Malcolm, Ali, Motown, Stax, Muscle Shoals, Woodstock, Beatles Invasion. All of these elements instilled a sense of fierce pride in the youth. We started wearing Afros and Dashikis, and turning our ear toward Africa and African influences along with American Soul. What Shorty did happened in tandem with what the youth were doing. We wanted to funkify the old tired-sounding Calypso beat despite resistance from the elders.

There is another poster in another thread who said her dad was a drummer during this time and he doesn't remember the Soul influence. I find that surprising because I myself was a drummer, and it was primarily the drummers and bass players who were experimenting with different beats and grooves. We started using the snare drum to drive the rhythm along with the bass drum. Prior to that you rode the hi-hat all day long in a monotonous sort of way. I'll post some of our major influences at another time

Dollbabi, there will always be indian influence in Trinidad Soca. That will never change. We're locked in together, and much of the Soca in Trinidad today does have that influence. But at the beginning, the Afro/Indo mix was not high on the agenda. No disrespect, but we were looking outside of ourselves.

Soca began Trinidadian, whether people like it or not and it originated as the Afro/Indo mix. Whatever others did before that, wasn't soca or they would have called it such. Sorry but that doesnt sound like soca to me...it sounds like American soul/funk more than anything else, but with a mix of calypso inside.

Mandrill was a funk band and that's how they defined themselves.

Unfortunately, they aren't giving calypso any credit. It just may be that the Latin in their music gave a similar sounds...

Mandrill World Music

GREAT STUFF.

I am LQQKING forward to it.

Not the first time you hearing "Funky Nassau" right?

In AGES.

LAWDDDD.

I could ask you to name SOME CALYPSO BANDS during that PERIOD in time, but I will SETTLE for you naming ONE.....JUST ONE.