soul calyspo
Why do people always believe Soca is a mixture of U.S music and calypso. Soca is a fusion of Indian and Calypso music. 
Perhaps because the person who coined the term described it as soul of calypso?
He actually described it as "the soul of calypso". Shorty was searching for music with a higher spiritual leaning (soul). However as Swima has implied, there was already other music very similar to what we today call Soca, due to the various experimentations that were taking place at the time. You had Maestro experimenting with Calypso and Cadence (Cadence-lypso) and Wellington fusing Calypso and American Funk for instance. Shorty was the first to really define his music and with Indrani in 1973 and Endless Vibration (not just the song but the entire album) in 1975, Calypso music really took off in another direction. Later in 1975 Shorty visited his good friend Maestro in Dominica where he stayed (at Maestro's house) for a month while they visited and worked with local Cadence artists. Sadly a year later Maestro would die in an accident in Dominica and his loss was palpably felt by Shorty, who penned "Higher World" as a tribute.
Two years later Sweet Soca Music was released, with the runaway hit, Om Shanti leading the charge. The incorporation of the Indian elements was obvious on this song, but had been there from the very start thru the influence of arranger Pelham Goddard (among others), who grew up in St. James and as a boy was an active participant in the Hosay festivals of his youth. Shorty called his music SoKa, and gave his famous description of it as incorporating the two disparate cultural elements. Sadly, times being what it was, many at home rebelled against this notion of adding anything 'Indian' to Calypso...and many admonished him to "stop trying to be Indian". Even many Indians themselves were offended (first by Indrani...this 'creole' fella talking about this woman who is basically ah indian 'ho'), now by the near-blasphemous use of 'Shanti'. Suffice to say the song was both revolutionary and controversial in it's impact.
Those against the name 'SoKa' gained momentum when the press started describing the music instead as SoCa...and from there the Soul
and Calypso nonsense started...there was a decided push to discount the Indian influence. Shorty eventually conceded the fight, figuring that winning the war (pushing his music higher) was more important than winning the battle (over nomenclature). When Sugar Bum Bum came out shortly before the end of the decade...and everybody started focusing more on shaking their ass rather than shaking up the way they thought...Shorty then gave up the Soca ghost, packed up his family and moved them to Piparo and started focusing on Jamoo...with which he sought to make an even more complete break from Secular music.
