Following some recent local shows featuring popular imported artistes, we’re hearing some clamour again from the adult crowd complaining about the decline in popular music. Since this is a recurring subject, it is probably useful to look back at the swings in our pop music industry in recent years and to recognize how North American music trends play out in our region.
A major difference between the popular music of the ʼ70s and ʼ80s is in the area of themes or subject matters. Caribbean music back then, while designed for dancing, was generally operating with traditional kaiso themes of protest, scandal, comedic behaviour, etc, with much of North American music concerned with matters of the heart or social issues. In both cases the songs were a combination of strong music and powerful lyrics, but in the ʼ90s, in both societies, this began to change, with, the critics say, Caribbean writers copying the American shift to simpler lyrics and emphasis on beat. Soca, now derided by many, was part of this shift. Lord Shorty, for example, a pivotal force in Trinidad, morphing calypso into soca, had originally been dealing with traditional kaiso themes of protest, scandal, etc, but as he turned to this new approach, combining American ‘soul’ with Trini ‘calypso’ we see those kinds of social topics beginning to fall away as the popularity of the new ‘jumpier’ music took hold. Although there was an outcry from the traditionalists (one Trinidadian band-leader, Art deCouteau, originally refused to play it) soca, with its obvious ‘party’ emphasis, actually replaced calypso very quickly. In a purely technical sense, it’s interesting to note that many calypso writers had traditionally created material in a tried-and-true structure which, while intrinsically rhythmic, usually featured a rather placid verse building up to an intense chorus that actually led the crowd into a frenzy. Kitch and Shadow were particularly known for this, but many others (Gypsy, Rose, Crazy) wrote in that model. By contrast, soca dispensed with the gradual buildup and concentrated on getting that ‘jump feeling’ from the first note. We went from a more sedate opening leading to a frantic jump, and then back and forth like that, to a ‘get on bad’ all the way in this new up-tempo soca.
That constant high-energy pitch became a feature of the music, with early songs like ‘Dollar Wine’, and is another manifestation of the appeal of ‘party music’ that dominates popular music today, both in the Caribbean and North America, and, to some extent, internationally. We didn’t notice it at the time, but the music there in front of us was changing to the narrower focus of ‘party’ and the wider themes were neglected, as they still are. Recall the huge popular reaction to another song from that time, ‘Moving to the Left’ which began that whole ‘crowd instruction’ phenomenon (‘put your hand in the air’; ‘make some noise’; ‘win’ your bumper’, etc) which is now a standard that every performer, even the unknown, employs. Clever lyrics or subtle meanings are unnecessary in that format; indeed, they are counterproductive, so the pop music writers (hip-hop, dancehall, soca) concentrated more on rhythmic approaches. Famous exceptions such as John Legend or Adele, are just that ‒ exceptions to the norm.
Promoters and producers in the music industry spot these trends from their early emergence, and one looks back at the ʼ90s and sees song-writers, studio musicians, and recording executives, quickly switching gears to accommodate the new music. It’s important to see it not as an artistic decision for the music business but a purely economic one. As the calypsonian-turned-soca-man Super Blue put it, “People can talk about soca all they want; it pays my bills.” The tremendous upsurge in ‘party music’ in recent years, in both North America and the Caribbean, is the natural consequence of this movement, and it is a condition that is completely overlooked by folks in their middle years who complain about the absence of the music of the ʼ70s and ʼ80s that they prefer. The difference can be simplified this way: the subject matter of popular music from that time focused on romantic love and various sociological matter of the day; such subjects are generally gone from current popular music with the theme now being almost totally ‘let’s party’. Songs such as Gabby’s ‘Government Boots’ or Sparrow’s ‘Congo Man’, or my own ‘Boyhood Days’ would get very little attention if they appeared in today’s market. They may be good songs, but they’re not ‘party music’.
The changed emphasis is total; it is there even in the apparatus surrounding music shows with every ingredient being tailored the same way, so that, with very few exceptions, the solo performer with a microphone is a thing of the past. A pop music show from that bygone era would feature a singer, or singers, with a 15-piece backing band on stage, and rudimentary overhead lighting – that was the package. Today, every big name singer, male or female, is up there along with 15 or 20 professional dancers creating the energy and pushing the beat forward. The lighting effects, timed to pulse with the music, and to accentuate certain sections, are part of the same push – party time. Special effects, too, are designed to accentuate the frenzy, so that we have various projections, with hydraulic equipment moving parts of the stage, and high-tech projections on huge screens. The aim in the industry now was summed up by one of the young Trinidad singers in this year’s Carnival: “We put together our music, and we work hard at it, to create something that when you hear it you have to dance. The party is the thing.” That’s why the dancers are there, and the pulsating lights, and the effects.
Often overlooked in the popular music transformation story is the very significant role played by the modern sound reinforcement equipment, now in wide use, which has significantly improved the ability of such systems to produce superior low frequency sounds; the driving drums and bass needed for today’s ‘party music’ to be effective can be readily heard at any part of the large public venues or, unfortunately, some would say, in the private neighbourhood house festivities where the music is often played.
In short, the story is that the whole ball game is different, and the current alterations, even if you dislike them, are here to stay. Indeed, when one contemplates the technological advances looming for mankind in the coming decades, it is probably fair to say that when it comes to pop music fulminations, we ain’t seen nothing, yet.
