About the site
The intention of this site is to list discographies for as many calypsonians, calypso songwriters and calypso/soca labels as possible! At a later stage, it is hoped to add some biographical information and possibly a section for steel band recordings of calypsoes, but that can only be done as time permits.
The calypsonians included on the site are essentially those active from around 1956 to present. Artists whose primary recording careers were before this date (such as The Lion, Attilla the Hun etc.) will only have their post-1956 releases included, if any, but artists whose primary recording careers were after this date will have all their known records listed.
The main reasons for choosing this date are:
1) The earlier period has been well covered by other discographers.
2) This approximately coincides with the introduction of 7" singles and 12" LPs.
3) A certain Mighty Sparrow hit the scene in 1956!
By calypsonians, I am really talking about artists who perform in Calypso Tents and/or in calypso competitions in the Caribbean during the Carnival season of their island(s).
Jamaican "calypso" is really almost entirely Mento rather than authentic calypso (see, for example, www.mentomusic.com ) and is not dealt with on this site, although there are references to Trinidadian artists who recorded in Jamaica.
US-based artists of the calypso craze period of the late 1950s are also not included here.
You will find here many many artists from Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St. Vincent and other English-speaking caribbean islands.
The site is a work in progress and will be updated and expanded as information is received and as time permits. Please forgive any errors! In particular, some of the dates of records have been guessed and may be some way out. It is not a high-tech site to say the least and should be regarded as an illustrated text book!
I am very keen to get additions or corrections. Very few people have provided me with any information - if you have any records by the artists or on the labels featured on the site which are not currently or correctly listed, please contact me with the details. I need your help to improve the accuracy and completeness of the site.
I am particularly keen to hear from people from Barbados, Antigua, St. Vincent and Grenada as the information I have on calypsonians from those islands is not as good as that on T&T calypsonians.
Please note that this site is for information purposes only; I do not sell anything and am not able to provide copies of any material listed on the site (unless you are the copyright holder or artist!). The purpose of the site is to act a public resource centre for information on the works of calypsonians and calypso songwriters, producers and arrangers and to promote their works in any way I can. If you have any questions or need information not currently on the site please email me at calypso_archives@hotmail.com
E-mails asking to buy records/CDs or asking where one can find them will not receive a response.
Dmitri Subotsky
27th December 2005