Some interesting facts about Crazy and soca parang;
PARANGSOCA'S SILVER JUBILEE
After just 25 years since first hearing, it already seems difficult to conjure a Trini Christmas scene without parangsoca and for that we must thank calypsonian Crazy who, in 1979, stamped his imprimatur on a formula that has remained largely undisturbed.
Born of a Venezuelan mother, Spanish was Crazy's first language, affording him the option of singing traditional parang in its native tongue but he opted to spike it by infusing soca rhythms, delivering for Christmas 1979 the seminal "Parangsoca", a composition hatched in collaboration with (the late) Clibert Harewood. The song's title was immediately adopted as the hybrid's generic name.
Not that we didn't have locally generated Christmas music before. Traditional parang from legendary groups like the San José Serenaders, Lara Brothers and Daisy Voisin's La Divina Pastora ruled the roost for decades, their style modernised by the likes of Las Estrellas and later, Sharlene Flores with Flores de San Jose (1993). Lennox Gray endured with "Around My Christmas Tree"and Kelwyn Hutcheon still charms with the piano-bar style of seasonal music, much of his indigenous work penned by Everad Leon.
Calypso maintained its fundamental tempo well past the advent of parangsoca.
Before that development there were works by Spoiler "Father Christmas" and Kitchener's "Drink a Rum", then Nap Hepburn's "Listen Mama", Rajah's "Is Christmas Again" and Sparrow's rambunctious "Well-Spoken Moppers", the latter also localising a number of seasonal standards. Even the normally staid Chalkdust pitched in with "Something Salt" but parangsoca, at which somany had scoffed, became the new dominant seasonal soundtrack.
In a recent interview by Calypso Dreams producer Geoffrey Dunn, conducted at Crazy's adopted home in California, USA, the parangsoca creator noted that his original work was fiercely criticised, some of that coming from even close calypso colleagues. "People say I singin' stupidness," Crazy recalled, adding: "Well, it has lasted for 25 years and I predict it would survive for centuries.
Defying detractors, Crazy attracted the attention of a variety of respected calypso composers, including his manager Gary Dore, Rawle Arthur and Brother Marvin, releasing hits like "Indian Parang Chick", "Muchacha" and "Yvonne" (respectively) and would later do cover versions of Reynold Howard's "Hooray, Hoorah" and SuperBlue's "Wave With Santa", scoring successes at every sequence.
Winsford "Joker" Devine jumped into the fray, most notably with "Rosie Balloon" for Mighty Trini and "I Love Christmas" sung by Designer and Merchant's lyrics became the template for what remains the official curtain-raiser: "The Parang Now Start". Bindley B boarded with "Santa Say" and "Santa Looking For a Wife" and Machel Montano released "Soca Santa", establishing continuity by spanning the age gorge and embracing a variety of personal and diverse singing styles under the rhythm and rubric of parangsoca.
Brother Marvin teamed with Baron to deliver some of the best-remembered hits of the genre, including "Come Go", "Its Christmas" and the sequel "Its Christmas Again", betimes releasing an album of cover versions of Christmas carols done in parangsoca tempo. Relator joined too, leaving us among his contributory gems the timeless "Let's Be Friends" and Ashford Joseph hit big-time with his composition "Trini Christmas"
Marcia Miranda gathered about her a gaggle of composers including Preacher, Delamo and Michael Neverson and even more musical arrangers in Pelham Goddard, Carl "Beaver" Henderson, Carlton James, Kenny Phillips, Jason Dasent, Leston Paul, Ming Low Chew Tung and Carlyle "Juiceman" Roberts to release Christmas jollies over 11 successive years from 1990.
Further evidence of parangsoca's pervading influence came in comedic novelties from the likes of Sprangalang ("Papito" et al) and Steve Neaves' "(We Parang the) Wrong House" (sung by Ninja). Even biting political commentary from Cro Cro became part of the parangsoca reference library.
Kenny-J's double-entendre humour ("De Paint Brush", "Cork in Her Hand") attracted some negative comment. Although his songs remain popular, critics arguing such lyrics crossed the line, given the season's underlying religious influence.
But it was Scrunter who best demonstrated the viability of parangsoca. The 1990s started Scrunter's foray into parangsoca with the generic "Xmas Soca Parang", followed in '91 by "Anita" and "(Ah Want a) Piece ah Pork", veering off into straight-ahead calypso for two years, before rejoining the Christmas jam in 1995 with "Parang Jam" and "Chutkaipan", the latter an amalgam of chutney, kaiso, pan and parang.
In 1997, he adapted Merchant's "Party Now Start" to make "Parang Now Start", topping an extraordinary cascade of hits released that year, including "Parranda", "Tribute to Daisy Voisin", "Backyard Jam", "Homemade Wine", "Madame Jeffrey", "Merry Christmas" and "Drinking Anything", swelling his already burgeoning parangsoca catalogue, adding to it a year later "That Ain't Working Here Tonight" and "Leroy". We got "Eat Something (Before You Go)" and "Nikita" in 2000 and last year he came down the chimney with "The Toy"; indeed a bag that makes him the most sought-after performer in the genre.
To top out the 25th year of parangsoca, an all-woman contribution, the CD Christmas With a Feminine Touch showcases the work of Denyse Plummer, Karla Gonsalves, Nicole Greaves, Debra Haynes, Marcia Miranda, Natalie Yorke, Lauren Birot and Lima Calbio adds some new touches to the basic beat as it heralds the silver jubilee.
"I want people to know why this tradition was started," Crazy said. "With the exception of a few bands like Moonlight Seranders and the Lara Brothers, parang music generally did not impact the whole country. The paranderos sang broken Spanish and while Trinidadians could dance to the beat, they didn't know the words. So I put it all together. That is how parangsoca was born."
Crazy noted the spread of parangsoca, saying: "Foreign work for calypsonians used to close after Miami Carnival in October but now Caribbean people in North America are demanding their music at this time instead of singing about chestnuts roastin' on an open fire, so parangsoca has evolved as the original Christmas music of Trinidad."