| CALYPSO: A WORLD MUSIC |
British Calypso ThemesPart 1 | Part 2
Calypsonians often wrote songs about British royalty and the Empire. The best known is Caresser's "Edward VIII," which recounts the King's abdication in 1937 to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. |
The United Kingdom:
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The calypso remained popular for decades in the Caribbean, the U.S. and the U.K. Both Roaring Lion and George Browne wrote calypsos about the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In general, calypsonians covered major royal events, especially official visits to the Caribbean. They also chronicled resistance to British colonialism and the independence movements of the mid-twentieth century. For example, Lord Kitchener's "The Birth of Ghana" (on the independence of the Gold Coast) was popular in England, the Caribbean and West Africa. When Trinidad and Tobago gained independence in 1962, a local calypso competition was held to celebrate the occasion. |
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The development of calypso in the U.K. differed from that of the postwar U.S. American calypso was focused primarily on the pop record market and became highly commercialized. Though many Britons became familiar with calypso during the 1950s, British recordings were aimed at Caribbean people in England and in the Caribbean itself. In the U.S. calypsos about male-female relationships were the most popular, while calypsos in England covered a wide range of themes related to the Anglophone Atlantic world. During the 1960s, the overall popularity of calypso in both the U.K and the U.S. declined. In England, Jamaican music developed a strong presence. Meanwhile, Caribbean migration to England slowed after the implementation of the restrictive Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962. During the 1960s, the leading calypsonians in the U.K.—Kitchener, Beginner and Terror—all returned to Trinidad. Next: Africa |
