DO YOU KNOW that a version of a calypso written by a Trinidadian calypsonian once spent ten weeks at the No. 1 spot on the American music charts? Titled Rum And Coca-Cola and originally composed and sung by Lord Invader, it was fraudulently copyrighted in the United States by one Morey Amsterdam and became a monster hit in 1945 for a female singing group called the Andrew Sisters.
In T&T, the calypso had also been a hit for Lord Invader and was really starting to peak when Amsterdam took it and stripped it of its social commentary but retained its music and chorus.
So what was Rum And Coca-Cola all about? If you are a regular visitor to Trinidad, you should know or have heard about Chaguaramas, especially at Carnival time, and massive fetes like Insomnia in that area. Well, back in the day Chaguaramas was the site of a US Naval base and Lord Invader put pen to paper to lament the fact that the sailors and soldiers stationed there were debasing local women, who “Saw that the Yankees treat them nice/And they give them a better price”.
The final verse was about newlyweds whose marriage was ruined when “The bride run away with a soldier lad/And the stupid husband went staring mad.”
Despite being watered down, the Andrew Sisters’ version kept the reference to the prostitution the Naval base encouraged by preserving the chorus, “Both mother and daughter/ Working for the Yankee dollar.”
By 1963, the US had pulled out of Chaguaramas and Trinidad, but not before a super-talented young calypsonian, who, in time, would become the self-proclaimed “Calypso King Of The World”, had added his own perspective about the despicable situation.
He was then the Little Sparrow and with his first and arguably biggest hit ever, Jean And Dinah, he dealt with the desperation being brought about by the closing down of the base, as contained in this his opening verse and chorus:
“All the girls in town feeling bad/No more Yankees in Trinidad/They going to close down the base for good/Them girls got to make out how they could/Brother is now they park up in town/In for a penny and in for a pound/Believe me its competition for so/Trouble in the town when the price drop low.
“So when you bounce up Jean and Dinah, Rosita and Clementina/Round the corner posing/Bet you life is something they selling/And if you catch them broken/You can get em all for nothing/Don’t make a row/ the Yankees gone and Sparrow take over now.”
This all but forgotten piece of Trinidad and Tobago social history came rushing back to mind recently when I heard all the talk and threats about shutting down strip clubs in Barbados.
It made Edwin’s voice in my head start to rewrite Sparrow’s Jean And Dinah with a revised chorus that would sound something like this:
“Kim and Tiara/ Rasheda and Market Venda/ Round the Garrison exposing/ Bet your life it is to Lowdown they selling . . . .”
I hope you all enjoy your new Sunday Sun.
Al Gilkes heads a public relations firm. Email algilkes@gmail.com