British Calypso Themes   "Gold Coast Champion" Part 1 | Part 2   The calypsos recorded in England during the 1950s focused on subjects of interest to Caribbean migrants. This population was the primary market for the songs, though records were also shipped back to the Caribbean.

The United Kingdom:     Calypso in Britain     Recording Calypso     Performing Calypso     Calypso on Radio, Film & TV     British Calypso Themes

While Lord Kitchener's first calypso about England declared "London is the Place for Me," he seemed to change his tune with subsequent calypsos that painted a stark, if humorous, portrait of Caribbean life in the U.K. Kitchener commented on the scarcity of jobs, discrimination, food ("Stop the potatoes and give me rice"), landlords ("My landlady too rude"), taxis, the underground train and the cold weather. A general feeling of homesickness was conveyed in one of his best-known calypsos, "Nora," which expressed his desire to leave his English girlfriend and return to Trinidad.

"The Underground Train"

"Food from the West Indies"

"Victory Test Match"	Though calypsonians wrote about boxing, soccer and tennis, no sport captured their imagination like cricket. Calypsonians in Britain followed the lead of their counterparts in Trinidad, who had been writing about the sport at least since the 1920s. In 1950 the West Indies cricket team traveled to London and beat the English team for the first time at Lords, the center of British cricket. This historic event was commemorated in several calypsos, the best known of which was Lord Beginner's "Victory Test Match." With its opening line "cricket, lovely cricket," the calypso became a hit in England and was heard on radio broadcasts of cricket matches throughout the world. Calypsonians have continued to write about cricket up to the present.
"'V' for Victory"	"Lash Dem Lara!"
	Next: British Calypso Themes, part 2

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