Behold the Migfhty Sparrow

Children go to school and learn well

other wise later on in life u gun catch red hell

yesterday was 11 plus exam day in Barbados, and they were playing this old calypso on the radio.

These potent lyrics are from the calypso “education” written and sung by Slinger Francisco aka the Mighty Sparrow from Trinidad and Tobago.

If Al Gilkes is 100 years old Sparrow must be a 1000!

I remember hearing that Sparrow song when I was a small child in primary school 4 decades ago.
At that time even my 11 plus exam seemed like ages away and going to Combermere was a school fantasy.
The lyrics to this song impacted on me even at that young age, it took the words of my mother who was always drilling me to do well at school and converted them into memorable lyrics that imbued themselves into my brain.

I can remember almost all the lyrics to this song word for word, and 40 years later the same song that helped to motivate me is still there to motivate my children, and their children.
Sparrow’s “Education calypso has endured and survived the test of time and will continue to be a favorite for ever, it epitomizes how long a well written calypso can survive.
I hope the children who sat their 11 plus exam yesterday did well, I hope they listened and adhered to the warning tone in Sparrow’s lyrics which I will finish with…..

“For there is simply no room
in this whole wide world

for an uneducated little boy or girl

don’t allow idle companions to lead u astray

To earn tomorrow u got to learn today”

I challenge a calypsonian to release lyrics for Crop Over 2008 more potent that those…!

The prestigious Sherbourne Center

Where were the bakes?      That is the question I asked when I attended the “Sponsors breakfast” yesterday morning at Sherbourne Center hosted by the Government and NCF.

In case you don’t know, the “Sponsors Breakfast” is an annual event where the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) invites sponsors to breakfast with the objectives of wooing them with highlights of the coming Crop Over season and hopefully acquire their financial support through sponsorship.Or the government gives sponsors some hot tea in an effort to help them “brek de air” and “brek some money” at the same time…

The presentation of the ‘Breakfast event” was impressive, the entertainment was excellent especially the multimedia piece performed by Merle Niles and Jennifer Walker. Prime Minister David Thompson was there along with Minister of Culture Steve Blackette, the NCF Chairman, CEO and a cadre of government ministers.

NCF Corporate Communications officer Wayne Simmons performed M.C duties and along with media specialist Doug Hoyte presented the 2008 Crop Over theme for this year “We Ready”.

Will go into what the Prime Minister said tomorrow but today I want to focus on a more important point. The food served at the event was excellent with eggs, fried plantain, fruit and other breakfast gastronomical delicacies. Except for one thing, look as I may I could not find any bakes….! Fish cakes were there, but no “bakes” that popular bajan delicacy from years ago made with flour and water.

Come to think about it I have never been to a function and been served “bakes”, that needs to change. NCF being the vanguard of our culture needs to take the lead in this indigenous food matter. Next time we have a traditional Bajan breakfast, I want to see some bakes…!

Otherwise Great Event, Can’t wait for Crop Over 2008!

Tomorrow; The PM say dat…….. (to be continued)

Boyce Voice mentioned Mr Antonio ” Boo” Rudder yesterday and as if on cue I looked in the newspaper and see him associated with an interesting entertainment development.
“Rudder heads new Copyright Group” stated the headline, the article announced a new copyright organization had been formed entitled the “Barbados Copyright Industry” (BCI).
The list of directors were given and the fact it had been incorporated since December 19th 2007.
The formation of this new copyright group makes interesting food for thought, most performers and song writers are already members of the long standing rights collection agency in Barbados COSCAP (Copyright Society of Composers Authors and Publishers Inc)

Does this new entity BCI compete against COSCAP?

Maybe COSCAP CEO Erica Smith and staff Gail and Paulette are quaking in their boots? (Not that I have seen them wearing boots that’s just an expression, I would like to see Erica in boots though those tall black ones that…. sorry I digress, lets get back to the point..)

This new agency BCI deals ONLY with the collection of reproductive rights as it pertains to books and other publications.
COSCAP is known for collection of music royalties but by virtue of the “authors and publishers” in their name I would assume maybe they collect for books too, of course “I could be wrong and I usually am” (Quote from COSCAP director Smokey Burke)
So poet khaidji should be looking to join up and collect some royalties on those excellent pieces he has written, Asiba writes some pretty long comments he could publish them as a book.
It also still means that maybe Boyce can join and benefit as I write, see what you are reading here…? That’s writing yuh idiot, therefore I can de deemed a writer.
Hence when I am finish here I will print off a couple stories from Boyce Voice staple them together  mek a book and bram! I joining up.
Question is as a writer which organization do I join, COSCAP or the new collection kid on the block BCI ?

Ashley “Honey Money” Dupre

Do you know who Ashley Alexandra Dupre is?
You soon will, she is on her way to fame and fortune, Ahsley is the 22 year old call girl that Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer paid thousands of dollars for her sexual services, an act which is now costing him his political career.

Lets not digress people, let us stick too Ashley, well as much as we can afford to being she costs thousands of dollars a “stick”. In Barbados and the Caribbean, when you are exposed as woman of dissolute nature who exchanges money for sex, you are known as a whore and people whisper behind your back and call you slutty names.

In America now the same act can get you instant fame and a book and movie deal leading to untold fortunes.
In America selling your “honey” can put you in the money, depending on who you are selling it too.
Since Ahley’s whorish activities have been exposed over 5 million people have visited her MySpace page to view her photos, music and biographical information.
Ashley is not only good on the “mike” in the bedroom (thousands of dollars worth) but she’s also good on the real mike as well (if you can’t figure that out you are an ass).
Ashley also sings and actually went to New York to pursue a musical career, whoring was just to a way to pay the bills at the end of the month. So now the two songs she did are selling like hot cakes on the net. And of course a label is showing an interest in signing her up, next she will sell her side of the story to “The Enquirer” and write a tell all book of which Universal Studios will buy the rights and the movie will be directed by Oliver stone.To show you how famous Ashley is becoming, you are now reading about her on Boyce Voice, last month we would not have given a rat’s ass about her.
The Ahley Dupre situation epitomizes how sexual notoriety can be used in America to achieve instant fame. This reminds me my favorite classic Eddie Murphy comedy sketch where he plays a pimp selling a book on “How to be a prostitute”; Eddie’s pimp punch line was “Be some body …. Be a hoe”

Before I Go, a Boyce Voice Quiz:

Question: What do you call a West Indian Politician who pays money for honey?

Answer; A West Indian Politician! As that sort of thing does not cause a stir down here,

Governor Spitzer; “Damn! why did I spend my money on that young honey?”

I always keep my promises except for when I don’t.
Last week I mentioned how lia deserved her own write up, and here it is.

                                    This is Lia

I first met Lia Gajadhar back in 2004 when Madd was working on a dance idea to the song “Hard Ears”.
It came to me that we could use an idea similar to “Thriller” with ghouls dancing with our lead singer Eric Lewis and choreographer Trevor Priddie recommended Lia and told me she was good, just returned from studying make up in the States.

So Lia came to the Madd office and told her I wanted her to make up dead people to dance with Eric, so she asked exactly how intense to I want them to be as she can do some pretty gruesome stuff.
And I was saying to my self “yeah right” who is this lil girl claiming she can do make up gross people out?”
Well I could not have been more wrong, look at this picture…

Here is Eric with the Trevor Priddie and his dancers made up by Lia, she did some make up that was so horrific that patrons actually scampered from the dancers in horror when they went into the audience.
Even Eric’s own daughters became afraid of him after seeing him performing with the “duppies”.

Lia used a technique where she started with one level of horror make up effects that intensified as the season progressed, so you ended up with the dancers looking like accident victims with chunks of flesh hanging from their body.

I remember once being back stage when lia was finished working on the “dead people” and they looked like bodies that had started to decompose. “It was freaked me out and I had to leave. It reminded me of seeing Ingrid with out make up once.
 

Because of the excellent make up effects from Lia and effective choreography by Trevor Priddie and his dancers “Hard Ears” became one of the most effective live presentations Madd has ever had in Bacchanal Time calypso tent, my only regret was that I was in it as an undertaker and didn’t get to sit in the audience and enjoy the spectacle of it.

Lia making up Soca Queen Alison Hinds

We are always talking about the front line performers and not enough on the talented people behind the scenes, Lia Gajadhar is one of those people.
The ultimate testimony to Lia’s talent how ever is what she did with Ingrid Holder, a make up person that can make Ingrid look beautiful has got to be good!

Boyce is leaving the computer before Ingrid finds me ….

Congratulations to me! I am now officially certified.
A certified madd man you might ask. Well that too, but from September 2007 I can now state that I am a certified advanced level Events and Promotion planner having received official certification from University of Cambridge England.

Above is a picture of me receiving my certificate from Principal of Caribbean Training institute, Mr. Wendell Callender. Do I look good or what? I am so damn good looking then, however let’s not digress. The point I want to make here – in addition to showing off – is that often we use the employment description of “entertainer” as a way of shirking educational opportunities to better ourselves.

You do not have to pass an exam to call your self an entertainer like is needed to be an architect or a lawyer. So therefore it is left to up to us to decide if we will look to educate our selves. We need to recognize that every once in a while we need to attend a course if we are serious about being more effective entertainers. So with that in mind I recognized the fact that I was spending my life specializing in something that I did not have accreditation in, so I registered for a course and one year later here I am receiving my certificate.

We need to continue in continue a never ending quest to better our selves, whether we are postmen accountants or entertainers. It is our responsibility as entertainers to educate our selves to be the best that we can be, so we personally benefit and our industry benefits.

* You see that jazz workshop mentioned below we need to get off our lazy asses and take advantage of that free opportunity. Will see you there…

Want to know how I spent my last weekend? Attending a Creative Writers Workshop at the University of the West Indies. Want to know who put on the Workshop? The National Cultural Foundation, aka the NCF… Wanta know why I attended the workshop? So I can improve my writing and more effectively curse the same NCF.

I would therefore like to thank the NCF for sponsoring the work shop which is a part of the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts aka NIFCA. The title of the workshop was a “Voice in My Head” Like Edwin’s song, and it definitely did put a voice in my head.

The Voice was that of Sonia Williams, who is quite a prolific and accomplished theatre person. She writes, produces directs and acts, and was also a good presenter as well. She was very effective in her teaching technique. We studied a piece from the famous Caribbean play “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” by Errol John. I got to read a part as a “Yankee” in the play which seemed to bring much laughter to the persons present. I assumed it was because I am so damn talented and not because of how I was reading.
I learnt about the use of dramatic language and about episodic or cause effect in writing and how the two can be combined. If you don’t know what that means you need to attend the next work shop, you should not miss out on an opportunity to sharpen your skills. The coordinator of the event was NCF Literary arts officer DeCarla Applewhaite.

I want to thank the NCF for putting on said workshop and allowing me to attend; I will now be able to curse them more effectively and in a more creative and dramatic fashion. I can hardly wait!

When the Boss speaks, you answer!

That’s what I always do. I have no choice; it’s my boss who pays me. Some times I am shopping at the supermarket or running on the beach, and a member of the public intrudes in my “private time” and shouts “Ali Singh”, or hollers the chorus of my song “can’t get yuh money back”. Do you think I will ignore and snub them? I think not. Regardless of what my mood is or what kind of a day I am having, I make it my business to say hi and sometimes stop and say a few words.

Why? Because the public is my boss. They are who – by coming to my shows and buying Madd DVDs – ultimately pay me. Can you imagine going into the office one morning and your boss passes and says “good morning” and you don’t answer because you are in a bad mood? What do you think would happen?

Well the same could happen to us entertainers when we don’t speak when our public greets. When you do not respond to your public as you should when you have an event, a person is liable to say “you see that one Peter Boyce, he so unmannerly then, I shout he pun de street the other day and he pass me like I is a bus stop. I am not going to nothing he got”.

When you need another 200 people to break even at your show it is those same members of the public that by attending can make that financial difference. So I have people who stop me in the street and tell me the solution to stop NCF and Calypsonians fighting, who going to be the next CEO of the NCF or simply to voice their support. I listen attentively. Even sometimes I am walking along some body shouts at me a jovial “Peter Boyce yuh Madd ass bitch!’
I cannot walk along with my mouth push up like an unmannerly bitch; I must open my mouth and speak like a polite bitch.

The boss has spoken and when the boss speaks I answer!