Corie Sheppard Podcast

Episode 254 | Mama Doreen

• Corie Sheppard • Episode 254

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Corie dedicates this episode to the late matriarch “Mama Doreen,” whose Girl Guides guard-of-honour in a packed Tacarigua church sparked a bigger conversation: the crisis of community and how strong institutions can pull Trinidad & Tobago back from its apparent moral decline. Anchored by memories from the funeral and repass—hymns, kaiso, and hard truths—Corie argues that movements like Girl Guides, Brownies, Scouts, Cadets, school bands, and the Police Band don’t just “nice up” events; they form citizens, bridge generations, and repair trust between youth and the State.

We salute bandmaster Anthony “Mr” Prospect and explore what Independence parades actually mean, why cancelling them matters, and how pageantry signals “we are us.” We touch this year’s National Awards, asking how we value cultural workers next to sport and politics. In the music lane: Leon “Smooth” Edwards’ iconic Panorama moments; why brass belongs in our sound; and a canon defence of Shorty—“Endless Vibrations,” “Om Shanti,” and the unfinished business of credit. There’s a lively detour into Scorch’s 101 soca list—criteria, crowd reaction vs cultural impact—and a real-life car-ride debate about youth music vs parents’ music. We also reason through police-in-schools optics, state-of-emergency fatigue, and how uniformed performance (yes, send the Police Band into communities playing the youths’ songs) can soften hardened lines.

It’s gratitude, history, and kaiso—offered for Mama, inspired by the Girl Guides, and focused on rebuilding the institutions that can steady a wobbling society. Click the link in my bio for the full episode. #coriesheppardpodcast

00:21 World Song / Girl Guides opening
01:34 Dedication to “Mama Doreen” & why this episode
19:27 Hymn that still speaks (“…humble themselves…”)
22:08 Kaiso at the repass, institutions we’re losing
30:21 Police Band IG clip & the power of performance
36:57 Youth music vs parents’ music (the school-run debate)
40:25 Kaiso set: in loving memory
43:51 Who is Anthony “Mr” Prospect? (bio + legacy)
1:00:11 Republic/Independence, awards, and culture as culture
1:10:27 Leon “Smooth” Edwards & iconic Panorama moments
1:13:46 Independence kaiso, Scorch 101 criteria, why Shorty matters
1:27:31 “Oom Shanti” & the case for compensation/credit
1:29:17 DNA—Mama’s favourite; why some songs live forever
1:32:39 “Dedicated to Memory” (Rudder) & roll call of greats
1:38:39 “My Way” — final tribute to Mama Doreen

SPEAKER_11:

Our way is clear as we march on and see our flag on high is never so true. To give to both great and small. Oh, we can give. Oh we can give.

SPEAKER_10:

Welcome to episode two hundred and something something of the Cory Shepherd Podcast. Welcome back to everybody who's been listening. Welcome to all the new listeners. We have an episode today. I know now all you only hear from the when it's memorial and people pass away. When you see is a memorial there or a funeral or is a wake. It's a very Trinidadian thing. If we're talking about the culture, we had to talk about the culture in total, right? So if it's a place where we only bung up a funeral, then I'd have to get back together with Oli to celebrate the life of the great Mamadori. So if you don't know, the song is the national anthem. You can say that the international anthem of the girl guides, the world song, you know what I mean? So if you know about girl guides and that kind of thing, I have some special things to talk about in this episode. But before, I had to tell you about the last conversation I had. I have a I don't know what to call her to call her my aunt, my grandmother. I could tell you that just as she was a girl guide and the head of the girl guide, she was one of my guides in life. And she leaves me on this earth with specific instructions as to what to do. But I want to get send a message to her too, because I went to the funeral and I played music, and up to now I ain't collect at all, you know what I mean? If you're new to this, right, you just get a little taste of kaiso. The rest is your research to do. We have time to play kaisu, kaiso, kaisu. I mean, sometimes we do, but today we don't, you know what I mean? So it also the family or real matriarch of the family pass away. Mama Doreen, salute to her, and the family, salute to the Samson family, and all the other names associated with Mama Doreen. You know, and going to this funeral, I'm satin on a summer note and we come to celebrate life. I I realized something, right? And it it it strike me as important. And I will get to the specific instructions really for me. Directly about the podcast too. This is a woman who is 90 plenty and lucid and direct, as it people who don't mince words. We need more people like that in this society. But if I wasn't sure about that, and if I ever needed to know more about it, one of the ways I see it is through the funeral and the repass. When you see young people pass away, right? It's something that we're seeing more and more unfortunately in this country. And you know what I mean? Besides the fact that they go by guides and they put them to sit down with Cheetos and Conkles and all kinds of things in the pose them up now. They don't just let you lie down enough. They do like your rest in peace, the way you're awake while you're going to. Beside the fact that you see that, what you usually see is a very full funeral, a very somber kind of atmosphere, because we have this perception that you're not supposed to die young. It is not typical. You know, the doctors and the health people will tell you, you know what I mean, if you do all medical and everything, we can find you sure you will live for long, you know what I mean? But nothing promised us, nothing given, nothing is granted, you know. It's so important to have that gratitude all the time because we don't know what tomorrow will be, you know if you go be here, you know? And with the young people, you see these funerals full of youths, all of them print jerseys now with flu where is calling thing now? They're in the clouds and they know what I mean. You know what the thing is like. Whereas when you see somebody who lives knocking on a hundred door, like Mama Doreen, what you typically find is that you reach an age where your friends have already passed away. Your family, they didn't really pass away, nobody pass you because they're interested in you, them only interested in the little house where you left back on the land and little monies that you might have and so on, you know. It mightn't be the same, you know. It's not the same. It's not it's not where you have this big outpouring of love. Sometimes it's just the the few people who remain around you that you might find in that church and by the cemetery and think, well, not so with Mama Doreen, no. Because Mama Doreen lived a life I feel we could learn from. I personally could learn a lot from her. In being able to see her and having the honor and pleasure to talk to her, she knows me, you know what I mean? All the all down to the last. And then seeing how people showed up for enough funeral. I want to talk about the girl guides for a minute, right? And um, for for people who might know her a little weird, because it was my sister's grandmother. Is grandmother or great grandmother? My sister's grandmother, you know what I mean? Salute to general and the Samson family, the cashes and so on, all the people who are affected by this. But when you go on there, and they do it down in Takarigo, they're right opposite by Eddie Hard Day, you know, it's an Anglican church there. I think, well, first thing first, I thought it was a Catholic church. A long time didn't go to church, you know. So I tell myself as a Catholic church, I find like the little um what do you call it, homily? I find it going on along. I said, Oh god, I drive off. I started thinking about that thing. I said, Is my still talking? I said, What is this going on in here? But they go on in the Anglican church, and one of the first things that I noticed was the amount of girl guides. The church split up into four sections. The girl guides alone take up an entire section of the church. A quarter of the church was girl guides in uniform. And I talk about girl guides of all age. Some of them have been a girl for a long time, you know what I mean? It's of all ages from little children going to school to um girl guides who them look like they're open girl guides. Whenever girl guides start, them started, you know what I mean? But Mama Doreen was the head of the girl guide. She was herself a girl guide, a work in the organization for many, many years, you know. She was a teacher as well and live a full life. And the church being as full as it was was a testament to the life that she lived. But what was very powerful and very emotional, you know, you go in the church, you sign book and all the normal things that you would see. But then when it's time for people to move for service to start, what happened was the girl guides went and made a guard of honor. And they do I gonna do the sign wrong, yeah? Anybody in girl guides will tell me which one of these signs is the correct sign. God knows it wrong like hell, right? I'm looking like if I encrypt some bloods right now. But they do the guard of honor and they run her straight up. They think that was a powerful and emotional thing to do. And it it it strike me as, you know, I always observe it and I always trying to take away what I could take away from a situation, but it made me realize that this is one of the things that the country needs more of, and I might be missing, and and you know, one of the it was such a staple when we were growing up, and maybe it's just so much different things for us to do, and so much thing for us, you know, we we entertained all the time. Or somebody else might say we sedated all the time. So a lot of things going on in the society that we're not um we're not happy about, we're not proud about, we're not, we we're not feeling good, we're considering migration and all these things. And I wonder if we only start to feel that angst or that discomfort when the news story done happened. We seem to not want to take the time to mould the children again or to be a part of the community or to build the community, but we want the results that come from well-organized and well-oiled communities and things. So, an example of that, as talking about myself here, the tendency is so kind of lock yourself in a gated community, lock yourself in a house, apply for FUL, stand your ground, knock it and knock it and again and again and again and again. That's the response we have to a society that's in decay. You know? When we might be the reason it's in decay. We have this notion that some politicians somewhere have the place now, da da da da da. But it's us. It's really me and you who have it the way it is. And we responded to it by making it worse in a lot of ways. And in the midst of that funeral, in the midst of a time of grief and just reflecting on the life, I saw how much people this woman impacted. I know the impact she had on my life, which I'll talk about a little bit. I know some of the impact she has on my sister's life. But when you look at the girl guides and the way they showed up, or you know, at the Jersey funeral is for young people. When you see plenty of people in a cemetery in Jersey, die when you know is youth's dead. I seen people in Jersey in the funeral because she was also a bad mental player. And I saw representatives from the Trinidad and the Tobago Secondary Bad Mental, Secondary Schools, Bad Mental Association present at her funeral. The people who I see in 30 something 40 years old, isn't it? And they connected with this woman who is 98 years old. So it speaks to something in our society I feel is missing, you know. When I look at what we have become, I wonder if it is, and Olego tell me if I'm ignorant and these things still be very prevalent and so on. The institutions that we used to have that bring communities together and teach people disciplines and teach people a code of honour, the fact that somebody saw it important, so that this woman who's 98 years old who worked with girl guides for 50 years of her life or 60 years, you know, for plenty of life. People are living to see 60, you work in an organization for them kind of years. When you look at somebody who has dedicated that much to something, and the something is bigger than them, the something is institutional, it is global, it has they have rituals and they have uh customs and norms and they build themselves into a cohesive society who could show up for them like that, to do that guard of honor because it's an honor to do the god of honour for the person who would have passed. I wonder if that is what we're missing in a society. This is me thinking out loud, let's bear with me because I think boy, we need individually and I talk me and you ain't talking about the politician and no business person and no da-da-da-da-da. To see how we could get institutions like these back together again, up and running, and grease up nice, so that people, younger people, feel like they are part of something. Because when you feel like you're part of something, you're likely to have a different attitude towards the environment you're coming up in. You know it's not about you. I feel like a big part of the issues we have in this country, from the highest levels of society, to the people who you might say, who we want to point the finger at for disrupting society. So the criminal then only want to point the finger and say the criminal is the problem. I feel from here today, top to bottom, and everything in between, we are selfish. As individuals, we live for self, we live for very few people like your family, your son, your daughter, whoever it might be. You live for that little group who you're in front of every day, and that is it. And we live as though we don't need the rest of the society, and we don't need nobody else. And I don't know if we could continue to live like that. I don't know if no sort of policing will help that. I don't know if no sort of body cam or police inside the schools. I don't care where the policy, you know. I don't think any of those things can help that. I think what the things that are going to help that is things like the girl guides, the brownies, only remember them, the Cub Scouts, the Cadets, you know, these these kind of organizations. I feel could be part of the reason for how we advance as a society or how we start making people uh at least remember that they are part of a whole Benjira song in a half and a half is a whole. We had to get to that point where we we we we build something back. We build something back. And uh Mama Dorian Funeral was one of those places where you realize that, well, first and foremost, that there's there's always hope. And Mama Dorian Funeral was a a place like that. Again, celebrating life, but it's plenty of grief and sadness in there because people lost the matriarch of the family, that's never easy, regardless of what it is. Uh, institutions lost a pillar, and um you you you find that the the the sadness that that that people may feel in moments like those, although we might come and we say we celebrate in life and all that, which is which is true. Uh you can't hold things like that back. And I mean, it's one of the biggest funerals. I went to the church overflowing with people, repass, I eat a whole pillow, I eat every pillow. They can't stop feeding me. I eat it happens, you know what I mean? We had a good time, and of course, I play in this contour because me and daddy get a chance to play together. We play a couple of kaiso and that kind of thing. So I want to play some of the kaiso that we play there. I'll play a few that we play in Mama Dorian and Repass and some things that I see there before before I move on from that. I I saw um I saw young people. What are the other things happening? Young people, I always remember die very young, so the boys little mother. And you know, he lived that life, right? He's a man he picked a road. You know what I mean? Let me say that. He picked he he made his choice and he chose a road in life, right? And I always remember the the the the the funeral was a kind of juxtaposition of people who choose one life versus who choose. So you had a church and some people who dedicated life to the Lord, and there's people who didn't, you know. I mean, they dedicated their life to other things and so on. And you know, when I see a monk that thing they throw along in this man, you know, when when when um the lowering uh a casket, they might throw dirt and the kind of things. Boy, here not the amongst a butt, I think they throw it. But Mama Dory knows so too. Young people funeral, you know. So little Jill's as Jill try to throw her hair and see the when they throw the hand and sit down in the graves of Mama Doreen's like, have a big drink. I say, but I look at my drink myself. They pour all the hands here. See, one of the girls guys say, Oh my. That's that listen. That is the way, that is the way to bout it. You can't go out better, no better than that. So salute to Mama Doreen. I want to I want to I want to dedicate all the songs in this episode to Mama Doreen. And just for the for the what the the role she played in my life as I say, as a guide, as a mentor, as she was she was a person who was listening to the podcast as well. She she had some words for me. She had some words for me before she headed out. Her words were you doing big podcasts. My sister called me, right? The last time I saw her was must be must be last month. And she good and all, she good. She has everything, you know what I mean? Lucid and good. You ain't no 98-year-old who she knows fully well what's going on around her, fully cognizant of everything. And I see my sister calling, I now leave them. We went online and thinking, I now leave them. She video called and I said, What meant? She pulled Mama Doreen, take the phone, Mama Doreen say, You doing big podcasts, and you ain't say nothing about how they cancel independence then they cancel the parade and think. What kind of podcast you really do with? So I want to take this moment to for this episode to play some tune for Mama Doreen. Don't mind you make me play for free. I played some tune for Mama Doreen. I want to play a few tunes too for Auntie Humor, who that passed away just about a year before that. Imagine that, you know what I mean? When you when you see when you see people grow up close, they have a way of heading out the same time too. And one gone, next one looking to go. But before we do that, because of how uh moving the funeral was to me and how much it was a reflection, just the way she lived her life. It was a reflection for me of so many things that are issues with what we're facing today and maybe offering us an opportunity to look at things differently, even while her eyes close. I want to play one of the hymns they had on the on the um, you know, when you're going to church and you don't know none of the hymn, and you had to look, look, look, look, look, because you can't see so well, so you're trying to figure out what hymn they're singing. And this is a hymn that I'm sure everybody knows, but I feel like I hear it for the first time in the final.

SPEAKER_04:

Humble themselves, humble themselves and pray. If they see my face, they humble themselves, and change from the week. I will hear from heaven and for him. I will hear from you.

SPEAKER_10:

Well, my mother do she do good, but she don't exactly make me join the church yet to do this show up. But I find this song nice and I find it very um it's very relevant to it's very relevant to where we go in through and show that on to be good today. Because the faster the faster I joined the church is the faster they come and tell all they are backslide too. So while we talk about heal all that, that'll make sure that uh, you know, they tell me more than a year ago, they say Auntie Earmother loves sparrow. This is the only show you could come to and hear healing and gene and dinner in one sentence.

SPEAKER_17:

Well the girls are strong feeling bad.

SPEAKER_10:

Last time I remember playing that tune, I think it was if it's not Mama Doreen's Auntie Irma birdie, and I see me play a gene and dinosaur. So my father went to my father's man, no kaisu, you know. No kaisu, and you know, to select and play tune. Because one of the last times I see two of them together, they dancing to the gene and diner. So those auntie, so Mama Doreen and Auntie Irma all they're dancing again. Well, let's hear that gene and dinner. I have plenty more spiral lineup and I have plenty more kaisu for let's go. But institutions, I want to talk about that for a little while, right? Because one of the things that I really enjoy seeing recently, and um is like our partner, so let's talk about the McKesie, right? He's in central bank and he's talking all the time about they having bank league and the central banks is go and play against one another and go up the islands. This is exactly what I mean when I talk about institutions, right? When you hear him talk about that, I mean he's a man done choose the right part and so on, right? For now. But youths is who are concerned about, and I'll talk about some of the episodes I record at or lay join right now, uh, about why even as we talk about to some of the legends in business and in arts and culture and music in our country, I I'm doing it for young people. I'm hoping and praying that younger people latch on to it and they listen to it and they get some of the messages that because what what the true line in all the episodes is a lot is really success stories from some of these people. I'm hoping that it's young people doing it. So when I hear McCasey talking about the way he prepares, you know, he goes he training, he makes sure he makes the side, he encourages other fellas because we had to be the Jamaican Central Bank because it's a league and it's a and I'm wondering if we're rubbing our youth sometimes. I'm when I say you, I'm talking about me. Our youth sometimes of being a part of things. Because we can't continue to assume this thing where we say, well, we grew up alright, because we get licks and we grow up good and we grow. But our generation's so different to theirs because we grew up where we had real Well, number one, we grew up where we had family life. So even if it's no mommy and daddy in a house together, I grew up in a house with 13 people. They're all sheppy and them, all the Kyrie people. They mentioned to keep me in line, you know what I mean? And he partners and them has so much respect for some of the Sheppy partners because them as the men know where you're a teenager and you're out on your road and you're trying to break away. Their men go still watch you and say, Boy, nah, you ain't moving good, they this, that, that. You know what I mean? Uh it's it it We had outside of even our core family structure, we had a village. But like I said, the village locked the doors. Everybody who could afford it, run to gates in communities and do that. Who can afford it? Or who could afford a little, you know, they can't afford the gates to community, gate yourself in all the burglar proof and all the ring cameras and all the this. We isolate ourselves from society. And who can't even afford none of that? At least they lock up the mouth because they don't want to sit this one doing that and this one because now you're you're frightened for your own family. Me saying nobody's wrong, and I just say no the situation is. So we we we we close doors in society, we cut off the idea of community. And then we shocked that we end up with a uh what is it, a generation of vipers. I don't want to say that, right? But we end up with with a society that we're not in control of. We're not we we it it's slipping away from us. So one of them institutions that I watching recently, and and and you know, the the the social media is such a beautiful thing now with a man like me who doesn't leave home to get information. But I watching the police band. When last I said the police band, I remember when I was small, uh, which was a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time ago, you know what I mean, small in age as well as good, you know what I mean, size, you know what I mean, belly and so on. I remember the police band used to have a thing like a on the bandstand. Remember that like around the savannah? People, people who may might have been here before me, who are closer to Mama Dory in age, might might be able to tell me as well if the police band used to play outside. Because I remember it's in the Royal Gardens, you know what I mean? The botanic Botanical Gardens. Uh, but I don't know if they used to play and go and tour around, like I talk about the Calypso tent a lot. I wonder if the police band used to go and play all over the place. I remember what used to happen around the Botanical Gardens or President's Ground or whatever you used to call it where they where they play. And people would come out in the numbers, bring their whole families out. So little to my partner private. I remember watching some show on the Botanical Gardens, and when I look, I see Private and the family taking in, it was Pando, uh taking in the show there. You know, things like that give us something to look forward to. We have a carnival, right? And the carnival sometimes is sedate we a little bit. But shows like that give us a chance to look forward to something to anticipate, you know, to and also to build a certain level and sense of national pride that I also uh I also honestly think that we're missing it. We we just don't have it in the same way we used to. So when I came across this Instagram page, Trendad and Tobago Service Band, I encourage you to go and follow them because there are some gifted musicians in the in the band, and gifted and hardworking musicians in the band, and they have a full ensemble, a full ensemble. So when I look at the the one that catch my eye is really a woman playing trombone, because you know I mean they have a brass section, which brass I have some producers who are coming up in some episodes who go talk about why we at a disadvantage because we're missing brass from in the in in in music, right? But boy, that trombone woman, when I see she plays a piece of music there, I wonder if you're gonna hear it if I play it here, boy.

SPEAKER_01:

Come inside of this party thing.

SPEAKER_10:

You remember that? But it's the action and the passion that she played with a bit of a catch my eye and obviously catch a lot of people because it's our music policeman, or very aggressive with the policeman. You know what I mean? So yeah, when you look at the passion that they're playing with as of it, it was very encouraging to see. And it made me go back into this idea of our institutions and how they're missing, because that had to be one of the ways that could uh or that could still diffuse some of the tension that we see with communities and police. I know several commissioners before. Because I an alternate commissioner, you know, imagine I get like Ulla, and I praying for the country, I said the episode that'll heal all the and I get just like Ulla, you know, it's press. Nothing else ain't walking, I turn into press now, right? But when you look at the only two wicked videos, only two wicked videos and the police, the police have a hard what the police I want to say the police have an impossible job. It's impossible. Me saying all of them good, me saying some of them are corrupt, me saying that some of the police know who they say was meeting the criminal and thing, and then went and meet with him before the thing, and then I ain't saying, like, when if I'm Johnny Abraham who they say wanna, and all of a sudden he's right back down. Johnny, what do you need? Johnny ain't looking like he took together, Johnny Gethold. But I ain't talking about that. I talk about just policemen. Police as an institution itself, it's it's difficult. The working conditions ain't the greatest, it's not good. Uh the the the the amount of pressure they're under, it's not good. They get no praise. Police is one of your hardest work it up. I have not seen in a long time an article, a social media thing, or blogger. I ain't see not raw talk, not with the next one named Sunshine, not on the popular blog. I ain't seen none of them come out and think. How great the police services and they do a good job. They're in a thankless job. They're in a job where they always could be wrong. And when you're wrong, it's on the front page. And when you're right, nobody knows and nobody cares. And they will even say things like, What they do in the work, we not I I just do my work too. Well, in theory, I just do my work, right? But it's nice when you do your work and somebody comes and tells you, boy, you really do a good job, boy, I appreciate what you do for the smallest sort of thing. But when it comes to police and somebody try to get them credit, people say, Well, you're getting them credit for doing the work, ta-da-da-da-da. Social media is a lot of things, and they should ban social media comments. I go healer all on too. So when I look at the passion and the drive that's going into create or the members of the police ban, I send them a message, somebody who know them, get tell them, get tell them I'm trying to get on to them now, want to do something special with them. You know what I mean? But the police ban being one of those things as an institution in a society, and I feel we have a real opportunity to use that to heal the divide between the communities that need the most help or support, and the police who police in them communities who we should be grateful and thankful for every day. Every day. We should be thankful that there are police who are willing to leave their children. Thing me willing to do, you know. They're willing to leave their children home and go into communities and hotspots. Because when I hear gunshot, if the gunshots so I heard it. So, me, I'm not going nowhere close to that. Them going into with the thing line. I always remember I interview with salute um Daniel Loveless, now known as um Adon Ideo. You know what I mean? He does an interview with Uncle Kylo. Well enough, Uncle Kylo, the one who says, Good food this morning, good food, the champion breakfast. He said, Coffee to wash it down, the biggest coconut roll you ever seen in your life. So fish with plenty tomato, salsa, sweet pepper. He said, Good food, good food. I like Uncle Kylo. Uncle Kylo's a general on TikTok. But that's a social media influence of your money. And then I do an interview with him and ask him, you know, well, how you remain so happy? And that man makes one of the simplest statements. I feel it defined my life. He said, Boy, I don't like trouble, and I don't like problems. He said, if I go in a problem, so I go down the next road. I boy, listen. That should be national watch words. What Kylo said. So when he sees people who like me who want to go so when problems start on the left side, I go on right. You have to commend and be thankful and grateful for people who, when the problem is so, them going inside there to solve the problem, all the police on the fire and the regiment and the army and the coast guard, who we don't say nothing about, we don't say nothing good about them. All we say about them is they're wicked and they're corrupt. I feel like things like the policeman, talking about institutions might be an opportunity to do that. I would love to see a state we live in in our country or feel the vibe. I want to be deal when the whole policeman as is run down in the Sea Locks or run up in Lavantee or go down in Castlefield or go wherever else they go and set up the whole band and don't just go and play Johnny, you know, according to according to um the great Juvon Steel. How much time you play Johnny? You don't play Johnny. You could go and play, play Zest music, play Zest team trinny, but learn their songs, go and make a presentation, bring their artists, meet them where they are. It's for too long now. We as the older people in society, as I keep saying every week here, we as the grown-ups now, we can't expect them to come around to some version. I talk about young people now, right? Because we're going to come around to some version of us. I will talk a little bit about Scorch 100 and one listen a little while, right? But uh, as I say that, let me write it down, yeah. Because I'm in a side go talk about things, and I can't remember when the time comes. When you see young young people, the world start when you're born. It was we too. We we the world starts for me in 1980. That's when it starts. So when you're when you're talking about things before 1980, I just picture it in black and white, like before they invent colour and them kind of thing. It's hard for people to fathom what happened before them. So you can't expect them to know we know them and go like, no Johnny. Me saying don't play Johnny for them and go and play the journey too. But play some of their music, get them excited about what they contribute into society and let them know that we value the contribution. Don't mind if we might not agree with the message that they're sending in the song. Show them that you value the conversation. Show them that the police are willing to go and play the music that they find exciting. Like when I look when I drop my school, my son to school in a morning. If you give me a chance every minute or every day, I go be playing some kind of looking for a voice, I looking for a kaiso, martial day. I that's me. Or my longtime dancer, like go play cartel whole day if you give me the chance.

SPEAKER_01:

Every morning this boy going to school, all I hear is, Nenem putu, big memputu, and I want to hit him with a blasted butu. I say, but what the hell is going around this car every day?

SPEAKER_10:

But die them fellas' music, die what they like, and them kind of thing. We rob them of that. We wasn't young and we didn't like thing too. They let them use and them make the contribution to society because coincidentally the Asian song on the sunny rhythm produced by a Trinidadian, why we must just celebrate these kind of things. So I would love to see the police band and I want to meet with them bad. Or they tell them to give me give me the number. Somebody tell me 628 police band, but I try to hang on. So get a number for them for me. I want to I want to talk to them, I want to see what they would do. I have something special planned for them. But again, an institution that I feel we could use because if the police only showing up to the community in tactical girl with a face thing and the thing cover and the nothing and the body cam, then, and they train any back of the extra. Or when I'm a young child, my only interaction with the police is in a school when I go into school because I am bad. I'm a bad person, I'm in a bad school, I have done bad. And now they have to send police to make sure I don't do bad. What you're doing is separating them from the society. What is going to be those little children now when they turn adult? What is going to be their view of the state? What is going to be the how do they go through the country? I ain't talking about nothing complicated and now. How are they gonna feel about littering and cluttering up the street with garbage? And if we are flooding, how do they go feel about it? How they feel about raising the children in this country? Will they feel and grow up like valued members of the society? And don't mistake what I'm saying, I'm not saying dope, I'm not critiquing the idea of putting police in the schools at all. I feel the same way everybody feels about the school fights and something had to happen. So I uh any decision always better than no decision at all, where I concerned so I don't really have too much of an opinion or putting the police in school. Or let's say they lock the one police in a room. Hey, I miss coming and talk to you. They lock the one police in a room, boy. He in a room, they he kill and sleep because nothing happened. The presence of the police itself, the man, police and uniforms still mean something in this country. I've been to countries where police and uniforms don't mean much, and they are army everywhere. Thankfully, we in a country where police and uniforms still mean something. But police in a uniform sleeping mean snap the padlock fast, poor fella. They say he's still in the school, they can't find the key up to today then. So if that's your only interaction with the thing, this is all my point is. If all your interactions with the police is when the police trying to police you and hold you from protecting the rest of the society from you, we have to be very careful about how we treat with young people. Young people just become 40 something fast. And you want to have a batch of 40 something, not like we, you want to have a batch of 40 something who love the country and feel like it's a good place to be. And but I really give me and come for all that political talk and have you talking. I mean, I come here really to play kaiso in loving memory. Auntie Ilma and Mama Doreen.

SPEAKER_17:

The governor had a ball, I never did nothing so yeah. A mad woman jumped the wall and invaded bed Brooks back with the battle in hand, come back in the police man, it's a woman, chick the witch in the governor face Tellin everybody inside the place. Check it up again, check it up again, Mama yo. Caleb so my stroke like this, no prospect Mr. Prospect, stop the man, but that was a big mistake Because no demand woman won't give him a break if you wanna conduct, dispand if it's your hard luck. No fellas, one, two, three, follow me. That is how I like to hear music play. Fast solidito lapito man, let me hear you blow. The governor tell the yard with this lunatic ghost tight. Woman is ready, mad, and she should be tied. She's the way you try to prove I'm only having fun. No behavior self and do as I say. In spite of all the comments, Rossback still let me know fast. No one was just a fest, but nothing chara. No your excellency I was up in the mud house resting easy. It's the music on the fine, I'm gonna be like this. So let the music play, let the music play, let it play.

SPEAKER_10:

Well, I should do go and leave you to Google Mr. Prospect or read it. Let me read it, right? It's like after winning a scholarship, the man's name is Mr. Guillermo Anthony Prospect. Sorry, let me get that right. Guillermo Anthony Prospect. A R C M L M C A M-U-S, L T C N L R S M. Put handle to the man's name. After winning a scholarship, he became the first Trinidadian to study military bandsmanship in England, graduating from the Royal Military School of Music at Nello as the best conductor in his class in 1963. Anthony Prospect joined the Trinidad and Tobago Police Band in 1944 and retired in 1982. Mr. Prospect single-handedly transformed the police band in his colorful career, being appointed the first Trinidadian-born director of the police band in 1964. He immediately impacted the Independence Day Parade when he adopted the 1964 road match, Lord Kitchener's Mama This is Mass, to a military match. A lover and promoter of Steel Pan, Mr. Prospect did a long playing album, LP, with the Renegade Steel Orchestra. He was also conductor/slash musical director of the Desperado Steel Orchestra, but his highlight came in the with Casablanca Steel Orchestra, placing second in 1980 with Zampa with the Zampa Overture and transcribing the 17-minute Long Chaikovsky 1812 overture to win the Steelband Music Festival in 1982. Mr. Prospect also formed the first police steel band that went on to composing and writing. Formed the first police steel band and went on to composing and writing music for the steel band orchestras. Among his compositions, uh this is where he's gonna trouble, intermetal, all the time if that's right. In E-Flat 1966 Music Festival test piece at Maracas Bay in 1972, uh the king of Calypso Mighty Sparrow also sang about the character charismatic conductor in a calypso called the Governor's Ball, widely known for its chorus catch line, Shake your battle like Mr. Prospect. But Mr. Prospect was one of the main men, as they say here, who now when we enjoy the Independence Day Parade or when we used to, Mr. Prospect was one of the men who you see the same way now. I see people in the comments when Independence Day get cancelled talking about now they can't wet them down a thing, da da da da da because now it's turning to outside on tracking road, now the fire service go wet down some people and so on, which I like. But they say, you know, in other words, people were diminishing the importance of the Independence Day parade. Uh, and trying to bring it down to it's just a juve and it's just a lime and it's just a this and it's just a that, right? We're gonna get to that, right? Reason I'm talking about this is because I was told by Mama Durin in our last conversation that Big Independence Day cancel and you play as podcaster, podcaster, and he ain't saying nothing about it. She damn right. I was also told by Auntie Murle, who was saying the funeral, Big Independence Day, you cancel the whole thing too. Because I have a tradition of every Independence Day coming and play songs that are about Trinidad and the big one here, and some very patriotic songs. And I didn't really get a chance to do it this Independence Day. So right now she amadong as a yellow as a code. She says, You like you take, she says, like you take one. You you you get by. You get by, you get by, you get by because the thing cancel, and we know one thing we could look forward to, just like the parade and the fireworks, is that Corey go play a little kaisu for we had Independence Day, but no luck. No luck with that. We didn't have the time, but I'm gonna fix that today. We gotta fix that today and make it um We gotta make it right. We gotta we gotta pay off our debts. But when Mr. Prospect, and one of the things that we look forward to the parade a lot, because I am not sure that our parade I'm not sure if it is seen as a show of military force and so on, right? Although now these days we could We could we could probably use a good showing of military force. I want to be very careful because I am a man had to travel soon, right? If only find out the slower picking my words carefully, is because I had a travel soon. And what I don't want to end up happening is that people tell me, well, I've heard your comments on so and so and so and go back from hence you came. Don't come here because you're not welcome in this place, right? I have a place to go, I have a thing to do. But these days, maybe we could use a good little show of military force, given the pronouncements from certain benches on certain platforms these days. I feel maybe we have a military and we have artillery that I don't know about it, must be the best kept secret in the world because like we could be like we could respond to things. You know, long time, eh? When when you in my fattima days, when you you want to you know you're not in nothing, you know you're a coward. And but fight going on and you don't want to be looked at like no punk on the block, right? So what used to happen a lot is that a man might I I ain't calling no names like Corey Shepard, but a man might be frightened to fight, right? And have men who he know brave. So when the fight starts, I can't end up, I mean Corey can't the fella can't end up in a situation where everybody says a punk and you run and all them guys and thing. So you have to look like you fight. So what the fella used to do is run behind big fellas like Mr. Reese, you know what I mean? So Mr. Reese in Fatima. No. Or if you're if you're going Fatima and you listen to this, there's no Mr. Reese, it's just a name. Let me say Mr. Priest. So he goes on. What the man go do is when when when Reese running, you hide behind Reese. And when Reese had a man under control, he pelt some hand, wrung Reese back. So bah ba. So when fights start, everybody go say, but yeah, boy, Corey running, fellow running, and he was a feeling like in a lot of ways, I don't know what makes that story come to mind because we talk about fight people and attack with full force and thing like we are force, we never force, we never force, we never hear force. So one of the things that our parade stands for for me, and I'm very, very biased towards Kaiso and Calypso. I want to salute my brother Jude and Naldo from the Alternative Perspective podcast. Uh they used to always tell me that you know, this man is always complaining that the opposition at the time, the UNC-led opposition, would not show up for the parade and think as if this is the biggest problem in the country. To me, it is. And why I feel it's an issue is because one of the things that our parade does, and and as the article saying here, led by Mr. Prospect, is that it is also a significant or a signal or a message about our independence that we can do it always. So I was talking to somebody recently, and they're saying that maybe we have an opportunity to change what the parade is to show true independence because the parade in and of itself is a colonial thing and da da da da da da da da da true. But in this era of revisionist writing, correcting history or whatever, led by Dr. Kirkme, we must also remember that we have a history. I was the first one to tell you, take down all them things from Maruga and the statue of Columbus and them thing. And when I say that, I don't mean forget Columbus, I just mean don't try to glorify him. But he's a part of our history. So is the parade, so is the our colonial past as part of our history, or slavery is part of our history, indentureship. All those things must be taught. We must understand what those things are. Even if it is just hope that we don't repeat the same mistakes or that we see it coming if somebody comes back to take me for 400 more years. We must know what it looks like. You understand? What I say in it to say is I'm not saying that we have to abandon, I might be the happiest man if you turn the whole parade into a conga line and we bump and grind going down the road, I might be the happiest man for that. But I respect the historians and the people who need part the history not to be completely erased. For Mr. Prospect in his own way, because we could have still be playing a sort of military music from England and them kind of thing and all those things. We could have still be playing that. Mr. Prospect is part of the reason why now every parade, every one of the armed forces and every one of the special forces and every one of our protective services, this be playing a kaisole, playing something, playing something that we know, playing something that is of us, created by us, invented by us, perfected by us, is as part of the parade. So for that reason, our show of independence is an important thing to me. We must never forget that the prime minister, president, all the dignitaries, leader of the opposition, and so on, I feel must be present. It should be mandated to me that we remember because again, institutions. If you ignore all the institutions like the girl guides, the brownies, the independent if you if you throw away all the institutional things, the fullest institution go be the one that wants to close down and federal shit and move more people to rule, you know, that institution go be here forever, you know. You know, they remain here, that institution and go move. We can't just throw away everything that we have that is our tradition and so on. And if the leaders of the country are flippant about it and are talking about 2010 to 2020, wherever it is. My gride put it is that the opposition leaders are signaling to the country and to their supporters in particular, they are letting it known that we don't care about this, it is not important. I don't know if it's because the party is yellow and they refuse to wear red. I don't know if it's because they don't want to be in the same room with the other people who are in power. I doubt that is where it is because I got my my theories that this was Fred and them kind of thing. I don't know if it's a hot son, me don't know if it's but I feel it's better the opposition at the time come out and tell me, okay, these are the reasons why I not participated in any. And we address them reasons because you had to be there. So I was I set like a map up here, you know, I waited for them because they're in power now and they have a few months running up to independence. I waiting to see if they go red out and come and stand up in the back of a van and come and watch prospect shake baton and them kind of thing when when when when people and but lo and behold, they cancel the whole independence parade and the fireworks. Um we are still in a state of emergency up to now. I think we are now in a world where we are in a permanent state of emergency. These things happen faster, people. If you ever read about the way countries run and them kind of thing, you know, they have this thing they talk about this frog that was in this pot. And if you put the frog in the pot of boiling water, the frog just jump out. But if you put the pot in the frog in the cold water, you just relax. And if you turn up the heat and you light semand and then you let boil, the frog go boil into that. I feel like we some frog, you know. Because some things in this society going on now that we just accepting as normal, and one of them is a state of emergency. The word emergency tends to carry with it a connotation of some temporary state of heightened awareness and response and so on. Keyword there is temporary. But now we're in a state of emergency that we we was in a state of emergency before the election. Everybody wanted to know when it got done, what is the thing, what's the plan and what happened? Now, nobody, it is radio silence, crickets on the state of emergency. I don't know if it's because we forget, I don't know if it's because we trust this current administration more than the last one, so we go in and we're going along with it. If it's a state of emergency, we just we we cool saying I don't know if we feel like as a society, this is that the threat to us is so looming that we don't want to come out or we want to stay in the state of emergency. Or I don't know if we feel much, much safer because we're in a state of emergency. When I watch the headlines, I don't see anything happening different than what's happening before where security is is concerned. But but again, I I I default to the people who are in charge because they have more information than me, and maybe they're seeing something that causes us to be or need to be in a state of emergency. I don't know. Where my difficulty lies is they would have had the same information that the last administration had. And when the last administration did it, I was here saying they have more information than we, so they might they might know something that we don't know, and if that's what they had to do, that's what they had to do. And we can't just stay permanently in a state of emergency. If that's the case, we need help. But again, yeah, we are we are outside health now, you know. I mean, the the the the the the people there. I really just come to play Kai Swan thing, you know. But again, salute to Mr. Prospect, salute to who he is. I would like to I would like to take a a little minute if all a good humor might to play uh a tune, which we also play in the repass, you know what I mean? The repass is expensive, repass, and if you see people they feed, boy, listen, I never see nothing like that. Hundreds and hundreds of people in this funeral and not everybody gave in the repass like a wedding, you know what I mean? But for nothing, they wouldn't play the band. The band playing for free. The band is not, you know what I mean. I say, but I said Doreen didn't leave her little thing, she didn't leave back her little thing as part of the repass budget for we, but of course, I guess again, the great Ken Kobe is a man who knows how to fine-tune and know how to select tune. So every time I ask him before we play, I say, but we want to play, boy. He said, Me and no, this man is talking to me like I really know how to play music, you know. But if he pull this one out, which I hear we sing or play in a long, long time.

SPEAKER_00:

Up the hill, down the hill, when Miss B told you, you know Miss B told here?

SPEAKER_10:

I want to tell a little Holly mother, but then I gotta ask if you know who's Holly. Coming up for Independence Cancellation, we're hot and sweaty in the Republic Day, and of course, uh the honories for the National Award is something that I typically talk about every year. And this year, I have to say that I've seen the case and I'm well pleased. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? I've seen that case and I'm satisfied. Usually I come in to argue about national awards. My issue being that I, again, part of my mission and people I talk to is to talk about our culture. I want to talk about we culture in total. And our culture is not limited to music and arts and performance, but the music and arts and performance is part of the culture. I think politics is our culture. I think the business is our culture, the lyman, the kind of art. We must take a more holistic look at what how we develop as a society, what our society is. When we are somebody who I consider to be when I make a Mount Rushmore of Calypsonian, I cannot leave out a man by the name of Ian Bungie Garland Alvarez. Rest in peace to his mother, right? And condolences to the family. I feel, again, when you look at what the criteria was for coming up with a Mount Rushmore, the change that Bungie has made and continue to make from the time he starts off in red and yellow and green suit to where he's changing it now and where he's taking, you know, taking soccer music. And the sound of so it cannot be discounted. We will look back at this era here and realize what Bungie really is, but I always feel like when you're talking about the greatest, he to me is up there. If you had to decide on who is the four greatest of all time. So when I look at somebody who has done so much for our society, and many, many people before, like Shorty, who is also on my my list of greatest Calypsoans ever, I wonder what prevents them or what seems to make that contribution to society less than people like Modi, who contribute- I mean people like uh who contributed a lot to society, either in politics or medicine or literature. Who what what how how how we not it it feels as though we are limiting our artists to shakonia medals or maybe uh maybe a um maybe a human buildings or places where there were a few who would get the top national award, what do you call it again? Trinity Cross or Order the Republic of Trinidad. But we're quick to run to gay people who are not from here. I don't care what the rhetoric is and what the reasoning that thing and every other country in the world give moldy thing. I do not like the idea that people who I consider to have contributed nothing to our society, zero, nothing compared to the people who live here and contribute, are by default giving themselves national awards. Now, as always, I listen to Mr. Paolo Koenahan, right? Who tends to make a lot of the things I think about and feel strongly about songs so flippant and foolish when I look at it, where he says that. One of the things he said, which tempered my opinion about this, is that, hey, this is really them national awards, is we who put in the value on that, and it's really people scratching one another back and loving one another and gain one another award. Because when they go country to country, as you are leader of the country, the politicians want to recognize you. So maybe it's politicians playing games, and maybe we need to like the people who care no Grammy because of this, that you know, let us create our own awards and give it the prestige that the national awards has. I don't know. But I do feel as if we tend to not want to give it to the pan man or the Kaysonian or the writer or whoever it might be. I saw Darren Sandy this morning before I started recording a little bit of talking on Winsford Joker divines, you know, and and he's as a literary genius. He's a national award, yeah, believe. But I I I wonder sometimes why if he is the pinnacle of writing in the country, what what stops him from going for the top award? I don't know. But the order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and this Republic Day was given to Hochroy Charles posthumously, and Professor Selwyn Kojo, two people who we know, two people who I would argue are well deserving of the national award. Uh, Professor Kennet Ramchan, Professor Everett's in the education. The fact that he's in education, that is why I don't know him because me, I don't know, so educated, but we know there. But I'm going to scare up. Should I give all the names? Because I mean, this is really usually important to me, so it would be um it's gonna be bad if I don't go through all the names, right? Uh but some of them stand out to me. So Addis Soju Sing, director of women's health and uh Ministry of Health and Healthcare, Fazal Kareem posthumously member of the parliament of Shogunas, East and so on. Trendago Night Riders is Shogun Medal goal for the fifth CPL title. Or for the ambassador sports being culture duty. Whatever is the reasoning, the trendago night riders, guys. The Trinbago Night Riders Gashonia medal goal, right? I am assuming that this is in ranked order from order the republic come down, right? So the Shakunia medal goals go trend on the bag of night riders who's not owned. It's not a thing that we own. I think Venkeys or whoever it is owned that. We don't, that is not our team, but we get them. But Modi get what too. Oh yeah. Uh moving further afield, the Shikonia Medal Silver. The great Kenny Phillips. Corey Shepherd Podcast Alumni, Kenny Phillips, producer, arranger, engineer, broadcaster, media executive, arts and culture. Kenny, they forget to put guitarists. They forget to put a guitarist. You had to put that the other, you had a guy to correct them. You're part of the administration, though, Kenny. Congratulations to Kenny Phillips on the Shaconia Medal Silver, as well as uh being the head of the border, what you say, chairman of the board or Napa, you know what I mean? I feel good. I feel good. Now again, I just want to ask for a minute, right? Because very happy that Kenny get awarded the Shaconia Medal Silver. But the Trinbago Night Riders. You are you want to argue with me that in terms of contribution to society and what it means, you are you want to argue with me that the contributions of the Trinidad and Tobago Night Riders are team that we do not own. In a space where I saw somebody uh writing about West Indies cricket recently. I wish I could give them credit, but I can't remember who it is right now. And a lot of the people who know West Indies cricket well are saying that CPL is part of the reason that West Indies cricket is crumbling. And why who we played the other day, I think I think we play um I think we play Mauritius. Who the hell is the country? Somebody who don't play, who don't play nothing more Hong Kong, who we play here, baby. I think it's Nepal. And them fellas make a hundred and something runs in a T20. The part of the game that we supposed to be the best at within West India's criminal, we're the best in T20. Also, the version of cricket that the Trenbago Night Riders play. The Shaconia gold medal holding Trinidad and Tobago Night Riders played. And we can't make a hundred runs against what the country name again, Chile? Some little side who don't play no cricket at all. We can't be them. And a lot of people point into CPL cricket and the teacher cricket loves so much being what it's called. But that team in that league that we also don't know is a shaconia gold medal holder. When Kenny Phillips is a shaconio silver medal, so the contribution is less. Alright. The contribution led to the country by Che Rodriguez is less than the contribution of the trend. Alright, okay, okay. Ivan Tulsey, journalists on film and media, and so on, and Amy all know. Congratulations to them all. Humanbird Medal Gold. Garfield rash shorty black man, posthumously arts and culture. Something I feel proud and happy about. Garfield Rashoty Blackman. I can't remember who exactly Rashort is already. But if you make the thing and you you are the start of it, right? I will talk about it quick in the in the Squatch 101 conversation. But if you if you're the start of it and then you you created the thing. And now the thing is one of the things that we're known for best globally. You don't qualify for ordinary Republican Trinidads or being boy. Alright, let me let me relax. Maybe I just don't understand. Leon Smooth Edwards, professor in practice of music, steel pan arranger, and arts and culture. They forget to put educator, they forget to put leader, community leader, all them things, but all right. If you don't know who Leon Smooth Edwards is, right? Our episode coming up where I didn't get to talk to him yet. I hope enough. Somebody please ask Smooth if he could come on, please. I want to tell you some of the things that Smooth does. Smooth was an arranger for All-Stars for many, many years, right? Two different whole eras of all-stars and them thing. So, you see the pan arrangement of woman and the bass that went panorama, I believe, is in 80.

SPEAKER_01:

That people love to, you know, they when Fed done here, Bram Bam, Pram Bram Pram Pram, Bram Badam, you hear that what what what we're living today from nine?

SPEAKER_10:

That song was from 1979. That song was about 1979 and released in 1980. Song by Skrunto. That All-Stars playing was by arranged by Leon Smooth Edward. The man who came up with that, pam bad, the man who came up with that, right? That's Leon Smooth Edward. He write that down on a piece of paper. I don't know that. I don't know that if I was doing an award ceremony, I don't want to compare trying my best. But if I do an award ceremony, I would say, hmm, that man like he bad boy. Well, you know why it's that man me? So Diamond the next year after that, I want to say 81 do unknown band. Do song by Super Blue again winning by All-Stars. And have one of the most iconic pieces of music in the history of panorama, that's Leon Smooth. But same fellow. Leon Smooth was his name. Same man. 83. A song by Kitchener and the name Heat. I don't know if it's one of Kitchener's most popular songs. I don't know if you could argue that. But I could say that if you go back to YouTube and try and watch the performance by Trinidad and Tobago All-Stars, what it was then, Cotelli or Massey? When you look at All-Stars and their performance of that band, I have an episode coming up talking to one of the men who was on the stage and that Heat performance played. And the stories behind that are amazing. I hope you enjoy it when it comes out, right? But smooth.

SPEAKER_01:

Only no curry to banker.

SPEAKER_10:

Again, some of the most iconic pieces of music that you ever hear in Panorama, whether they win or whether they didn't win, was done by the great Dr. Leon Smooth Edwards. But I can get roll because my time is running short. Patricia Stallmeyer, co-founder of Vita's House Hospice Community Service, Drupal T Ramgunay, Pasad, Entertainer, Arts and Culture. Anil Beam. I'll remember Anil Beam. Arts and Culture. Al Hajj Imam Admard Ali Aziz Imam. That's a lot, but culture. Humbered Medal Silver. Only go and Google it now, man. I don't want to be disrespectful to anybody and here, but it's time. Time is what against me. But I want to collectively congratulate all the people who would have won national awards. I want to congratulate the government of Trinidad and Tobago for having the national awards and not cancelling it. I suppose whatever threat they had was it guided on and so on. But for the independence season, I must play one for the independence, right? While we're playing chilling for Mama Doreen and for for Auntie Hilmo, we have we have we had Auntie Mill to sort out too, you know.

SPEAKER_09:

What is really on what it is, what we have to do.

SPEAKER_10:

It's a little bit about this song. There's a man by the name of Lord Brian and name of the Calypso is Independence Calypso, right? Look for it on YouTube if you're here just now. But look for it on YouTube and listen to the whole thing too. I had the pleasure of being a part of the Scorch 101 contribution. They done fire me already, yeah? I went to one meeting and called back. Because my whole purpose, if you all remember, Scorch made a list of the top 101 soaker of all time. Uh Hoppy and them called me in, they say boy come in, you need your contribution. So the panel are looking at is people like uh who I have no right to be among. People like David Wales, people like Carl Beaver Henderson, people like Nigel Campbell, Private Ryan Hoppy, DJ Jell, Casey Phillips, who else are missing? A panel of people who decided on, well, what what Hoppy calling a redo of the 101 greatest soaker of all time, right? I want to tell you what was the top 10 last year. Number 10 was Hot Hot Hot by Arrow, 9, Super Blue, Get Something and Wave, 8 Differentology by Bungie, Tempted to Touch by Rupi together in this Allison Hines Family by Marshall, Bungie, and Skinny. If I had one that I disagree with his family, I I just maybe I just don't like the song. Uh Palance by JW and Blaze. Your top three is number three, Rupee Jump. Kevin Little Turn Me On at number one, It's Carnaval by Marshall Montano and Destro. Now, I will admit this because I mean I talk a lot of shit about all this last year. I was like, What kind of list is this? But having gone through or sat through the list of songs, I had to um let me say that I understand a little better how they come up with the 101 list, and I disagree a lot less. You know, the best way to get a man to agree with is make a man part of the process and bring him in on the thing. Because all of a sudden the man seeing man agree. And bored, I agree. You know what I mean? When you're talking from the outside, everything is easy. But I'll tell you what they use to come up with the thing. What's the criteria, right? It's long, but bear with me. So cultural impact. Songs that have become anthems during the Carnival season or that represent iconic moments in social history often earn higher spots. So when they look at cultural impact, they're looking at what what did this song do? If I had to advise them, I would say the the system works. I would change slightly what some of the definitions are. Because cultural impact for me has to do with how this song impacted just the carnival culture but the culture as a whole. So I know Brianna is a calypso, right? But when I look at cultural impact, if I had to judge the top 100 calypsos of all time, which I may do, if I find the right panel of people, I'll do it. And the truth is that David Wales, Carl Beaver Henderson, uh Martin Raymond as examples, or Nigel Campbell, they would they would be excellent contributors to a list like that. Them fellas know it. They were there for some of it, they created some of it, they commented on some of it, you know. So a calypso like Brian would have been important to me in terms of cultural impact because in 1962, when there was a calypso competition about independence, there is a man who wins the competition. At 25 years old, I want to say that too, he was 25 years old when he won the competition because we have a way of, and I realize it in that room, younger people have a way of talking and think about Kaiso and Calypso and Soker. Like the man was old when so they say old Kaiso. Like if the man was old when he does it, this man's 25. This man's like youth. And youthful music is what he was making, right? It's not to say that he it's songing like an old no, but it was youthful music the man making, and be the competition, big, big people in the competition, right? So when I say cultural impact, that is what I mean. I mean, hey, that song impacts the culture in a major way, and it has to be part of the discussion. So when I go in any room, I really go in with one intention, and I was like, brother, how will you end up with a list here without nobody, if nothing, from Shorty? Because Shorty as the creator of it, if you name in the top 101 of something, the creator of it has to be in it. And uh hearing Lou Lyons say, you know, Lord Nelson talking about uh him also being one of the creators or many creators, right? So that we're not going back to in Shorty wise words, we don't want to push your creator out, right? But the truth is many people that contribute, but Nelson has discordion. So I went there really trying to tell them men, it's a two-tune you can't leave out. You can't leave out home shanty and you can't leave out endless vibration. Endless vibration, change everything at the time. And you have to respect what those songs did. So my issue is that I looking at it from the standpoint of cultural impact and looking at that. But because of the way the criteria set up, it's set up in a way that people like Shorty will never be on the list. People like Sparrow, they're just never gonna be on the list. That's just what it is. Is the is the is the criteria of versatility? Some songs fit perfectly both into local events and international Caribbean music festival, which speak to universal appeal. So if if I get Shorty at 10 on cultural impact for endless vibrations, when it comes to versatility and I look at what if it fits into international and Caribbean carnival music festivals, then the answer is no, it will be it will be one or two. So all those types of songs will get pushed off the list. What I can tell you is that uh two a couple a couple takeaways real quick. A lot of DJs contributing to the list, so I think that I was right last year in saying that a lot of the list comes from what was crowd reaction. The only one could say all that bother the the criteria is cultural impact, versatility, influence on the genre, music production, chart performance, awards and recognition, popularity, danceability, relevance, lyrical content. So the the criteria themselves ain't bad. But and and again, I'm trying to tell them it have some things I shouldn't vote on. Because when it comes to chart performance, me don't know how no song chat. So when I tell him, like, I was trying to kind of default into Private Ryan. He seemed to know a lot about soccer charts and things. I was like, brother, that song chart is like, yeah, that was that was high on the charts, that's the only charts for he's pay attention to that. Why would I argue with him about that? So I say, Ryan, your vote is mine. When it comes to chart performance, I default in my thing to you because it's a Macstin. Music production. What the hell are you giving a score for? And I want to say not just me, several people around the table, what are you giving a score for if Carl Henderson is there? Carl Henderson is telling us that party by Marshall Montano is a almost perfect production. When he says that, I just say, well, alright, cool. What is the point of me judging that? My layman ears and my labor. I can't mix an episode good. So the blast it thing and go cut over all the thing when you're listening to the thing. All my episode people sound like a robot. I go tell Carl what to say. Google who's Carl Beaver Henderson, if you don't know, right? But that's what the point of this program is you had to let Carl decide on what's the production, let him rank that by himself. And we could be could argue with it and think from that standpoint, but you ranking car be far from what Carl. If Carl say party is a nine out of ten is a nine, it's it's what wait is we really arguing. You bring in experts in the room and then you bring in amateurs like myself to think. But again, uh, what are the other takeaway is that you see young people, young people control the world, and then what them say is what when them say it is, it is. And that's what it will always be. You see, youth, because uh even Private Ryan, I come out there with a lot of respect for him coming out of it, uh, in terms of his knowledge of the industry, his knowledge of his craft and so on. But one of the things he was saying is he can't judge the impact of soccer baptists. He said, Boy, me ain't born, me know his soccer baptists. Boy, I see how people post a video with them youth men listening to some old super blue and them watching that like this is what they had like you know the youth is youth, you know what I mean? Youth is youth. I don't like youth be youth, I let them enjoy the light. I have a few more tunes to play now. As I bring up endless vibration, I just want to give you a slice of it so you understand how bad it is, right? That was my only purpose of going to meeting to get a song on the list. I want you to know in advance that I failed, right? If the list doesn't come up every time that I failed miserably, you know what I mean? I understand what them fellas' list is and I do what it says. Maybe, maybe, maybe if I get the right group of people together and I feel like I could get the criteria, right? I really want to do a song. I didn't know if I had the stamina for 100 or no. But if I find the right system that I could do the top 100 kaiso or calypso of all time and do the top 100 soaker all the time, scorch out the list, maybe, maybe, maybe we should do a list too. Another song by Shorty that was uh selling them again, influential and and and important in terms of what soca is and the structure and the makeup. Shorty's so bad, he saw the song on a seventh or in and less vibration. But when you when you when you look at Oom Shanti, and I did see Marge Blackman, something I wanted to shed light on. If you go on Marge Blackman Instagram, you will see it. Well, they're talking about 25 years ago, an Indian artist who Shorty himself said came to Trinidad, hear Oom Shanti, went back and make a version of it. And basically, I mean it I don't think it has much more things you could call copyright infringement, more than that. That is copyright infringement. If you had to if you had to write a book on what copyright infringement is, that would be on the cover of the book. And up to today, the black man family, well, Shorty himself and the black man family was never compensated for what is a complete lifting of Ohm Shanti, which would have sell, I believe, is 20 millions of records, right? I don't want to the number I have in my mind is 25, but I don't want to get wrong. And um, it's a complete hijack. It would be great if that money could come into our society in the US too, right? Let's let go up on the black man ranch, you know. And I want to play a slice of that for you too.

SPEAKER_03:

Shanty Shanty.

SPEAKER_10:

Shanty Shanty Home, you know. Time is what making my pollution song. The name of this song is Ohm Shanty by Roshati. Rashut is a bad piece of music. But I sit on in that room there, and I myself had to say, well, boy, if them fellas and them going and soak a brainwash and pull home shanty home, they might get some bottle inside here. Young people want to hear young people music. But the point, and I just want to take a quick minute too to say salute to Stacey Sobers and the team for putting together what was an amazing show, amazing show, crackers and cheese. I ain't missing that again in this life, you know. I mean, bad, bad, bad, bad show. Free tongue do one steward, Stacey Sober's Lady of Dana, Tazia O'Connor, who are missing a bad, bad show they put together. And um uh hosted by Omari Ashby, who I appreciate a shout-out from the zone. I want to disappear when he started, you know, but I appreciate the shout-out from the stage and the call for people to take in the podcast. But Stacy and they did perform their own shanti, and uh, she's a performer, a performer and a half, so tear down the place, right? Again, I'd have some it has some tune before before I run out of here that I want to make sure that I play for Mama Doreen, you know. I understand that. And when it when you talk about youthfulness and living to 98 years young, you had you had to respect somebody. When we go on up there to play tune, right? We we I say no daddy are trying to figure out what we go play, what we go do, you know what I mean? Some of I know we go play a gene and diner, she'd like that and when we ask everybody what is Mama Doreen's favorite song so we could play it, of course, you know we ain't know it, right? Because we, as was proven in the squad meeting, me and know a song past 1985. I don't know one. But when they ask you what's your favorite song, you know what they say?

SPEAKER_13:

When we are signing, it's an ocean of love. Or let me align up to the stars of above. Let me dance.

SPEAKER_10:

Listen, that is the way it's composed show. It's about Humpton and one greatest song of all time. Them kind of tune can't be over listening. Imagine Mama Dorian asking for DNA. Me can't remember how the song is starting. I can't remember nothing. All I know is a little chukung chukka chung. If the song ain't going so me at two know it. Couple of songs I want to play again for a couple of people. I have to salute to the great Valerie. Who they say was the only original sugar bum bum. The song about which flag woman is written. Valerie Green, mother, the great Colonel Robert with a pass away. Mother of Ian Alvarez would have passed away. Along alongside uh Mama Dorina and Auntie Ulmo. Sterling Henderson is a man we lost this week, a voice, an iconic voice that will remain with us, uh a beacon of vocal professionalism. I just shame to talk about broadcaster when you hear the way these men speak and carry themselves and the commitment they have to deliver the news and keep us informed in a in a Iran a time where we're constantly talking about the fact that traditional media there and radio there, and we still have some people who stand on a level of professionalism and a level of commitment to their craft that is admirable, and we lost the great feeling and listen this week. So I'm wrapping up, I'm wrapping up this episode with two children to children dedicated to a bunch of people who would've been gone, and we we made an attempt to sing this in the repass, but it didn't it didn't go well. It didn't go well.

SPEAKER_15:

Now all that's left is a faint memory based on the theme of a strange melody. Still, we must think of their memory, call their image with pride, telling people from deep and side.

SPEAKER_10:

Sugary peppery, he was never ever wonderful class But Trump in this wherever you are compared just for you And we gon' be them this yeah by do da do da Ba ba da Each and everyone I know some good day we'll have to go right back from where they came What good or bad we must try all the same Not to be too sad or heaps gone on their name And every girl and boy who are sharing my sympathy I must tell you this song is just Dedicated to memory George Bailey I'll always remember Jumpin' when I'm big ban passing big mass sugary peppery He was never ever one more class George Bailey wherever you are brother just for you And we gon' give them real Honda this yeah How many have known a friend playing my stone to the end who will never again And though we play now and then coach the straight To that dear one who has since passed away So for this kind of fun while you jump it up take a break Try and taking this song I make To remember for all I'm sick Rudolph Charles I'll always remember Jumping when it's still by mask Sugary peppery He was never ever one for class Yeah Rudy wherever you have come back just for you And we gon' give them real thunder this yeah If it's ever perfect guys so if it ever put the arrangement on them guys you know I mean but again and you know the last name he called is Rudolph Charles this week would have been the the the the the um the birthday of Charles with a gone this week man would be hammered as well remember Hammer I would like to close the episode on this again Mama Doreen I did what you said I came and I talk about the independence and I gave my opinion I hope I'm back in your um I hope I'm back in your good books as a podcaster I hope I'm taking your high standard and you're very correct that uh as a podcaster yeah you have to come and talk about these things you're right I I appreciate it and it's the last lesson you give mom many many others before you leave and your funeral I want to tell you left me with a lesson as well when I saw what happened in that funeral it made me in the moment realize that the most you could do in this life we don't know how much time we have how you're gonna know if you're reaching ninety how you're gonna know if you know yourself when you reach ninety because I don't tell my little brother mash accord for me and if I go in our house meeting and you know trying to come on just stand up on an oxygen thing send me home you know I mean if she's long as it's DNA it's in my DNA too I want I want home let me go I don't want to think let me I don't want to live your life in a way that you're honored in deadly that she is honored is a lesson that I learned from her even while her eyes was closed is the most we could ever hope for to impact so much people that are 90 and people make it their duty including myself to be present for a funeral like that from beginning to end. I think it's important is a lesson that I take in terms of what we can do what we what what we have available to us in the little we don't know how much of them 24 hours we have but we have the one we are now and the most we could hope to do is to live life in a way that we could walk out of here being honored and being cherished in the way Mama Doreen was cherished.

SPEAKER_16:

So the last tune in this episode I want to leave life located to the great Mama Doreen and now the end is near and so I face the final purchase my friend now let me say this clear I'm gonna state my case of which I am certain I've live I've traveled each and every highway and more much more than less may I say I did it my way I've had a few but then again too few dimensions I did what I thought I had to do and saw it through without exemption I plan each charted course each careful step along the by way and more much more than this I did it my yes there was I show you I did it I've loved I've laughed enough cry I had my feelings I even had my share of losing and now and now as tears subside I find it all so amusing to think I did all that and may I say not in a shy way oh no not me I did it my way for what has a man tell me what has he got if not himself then he has not to say the thing he truly feels like oh