A Musical Tour of the World: All Countries A-Z One Per Day

Today's country is Barbados.

While various Caribbean musical genres are popular in Barbados, I wanted to find a style particularly associated with Barbados. So, I've chosen the genre Spouge, which is said to be a combination of Jamaican ska and Trinidadian calypso, and also influenced by sea shanties. One of the primary exponents of the sub-genre 'Raw Spouge' are The Drayton Two, and this is their song 'Tighten Up'.



Spouge is said to be invented by singer Jackie Opel, who was active in the 1960s and died in a car accident in 1970. I'm surer I've read of a number of other artists who died in car accidents in researching this thread.

There are quite a few countries in the Caribbean, many of which are quite small. Barbados has an estimated population of 287,025 and the island has a length of 34km/21 miles. Which means that you could probably walk from one end to the other in a day. However, like some other Caribbean islands, Barbadian artists have had success on the world stage out of proportion to its size. I'm not going to post any songs by Rhianna (others are welcome to) as she's too well known, but note the worldwide success of this Barbadian singer.

In doing research for these posts, it's interesting to find people who are very talented and who have a variety of achievements. Barbadian musician, poet, and author Anthony Kellman. This song Done Dead A'ready is part of the music that supports Limestone, said to be the first epic poem from and about Barbados. Kellman invented the 'Tuk' Barbadian poetic form 'derived from melodic and rhythmical patterns of Barbados' indigenous folk music.' (Wikipedia)

Sea shanties have been an important port of the musical history of Barbados, with many sea shanties being associated with Barbadian sailors, and to often reference Barbados. However, I haven't really found a video that really represents Barbados.

Finally I'll include a modern pop song by an up and coming (according to a website published in 2019) Barbadian singer. I feel this has more of a Caribbean feel than songs by more famous artists such as Rhianna. Here's Long Time Love by Krisirie.

 

'Tighten Up' originally from Jamaica by the Untouchables and produced by Lee Perry I believe

 

Miss TC (Terencia Coward)



Terencia "TC" Coward biography | Last.fm

 

This seems to happen a lot with even historically important Caribbean artists.

But, the album with 'Tighten Up', 'Raw Spouge' ,is described pretty much as the type album for that genre. Jackie Opel who is said to be the inventor of Spouge also covered songs such as Sam Cooke's 'You Send Me'. He also released a song called 'Cry Me A River' but it appears to be a different song than the one made famous by Julie London.

While later on, Bob Marley popularised Reggae worldwide with (absolutely classic) self-written songs, many of the earlier artists included many cover songs. Reading the history, people credit these musicians for developing styles and genres, rather than being songwriters. It's hard to find songs verifiable as originals, but as far as I can see, this song by Jackie Opel 'You're Too Bad' is an original. Maybe.



Jackie 'Manface' Opel was said to have a voice to match Jackie Wilson, and dance moves to match James Brown. At a concert where he was supporting Percy Sledge, the crowd called for Opel to return to the stage and play more songs during Sledge's act. Jackie Opel, Barbados music - read Jackie's story secretbarbados.com

 

I was aware of him, but had assumed he was Jamaican. There's more about him here, with the focus on his recordings in a soul/r&b style

JACKIE OPEL : Sir Shambling’s Deep Soul Heaven

 

New to this thread, may pop in when I feel like I have something to contribute (which won't be often).

If being born in the country counts then Dennis Bovell should be ok to post at this point:


Dennis Bovell - Wikipedia

If you look at records from the time, if we are talking about those issued in Jamaica, they often do not have writers credits at all, this usually means the producer ("producer" in this case meaning the person owning the studio/label or funding the recordings) is just putting that money in his pocket, whether they are originals or not, and if there is a credit it can be that same producer having put his name on it. Jackie Opel, as far as I'm aware, largely wrote his own material, but a song like "Cry Me A River" can say "C. Dodd" on the label (and Coxsone Dodd, owner of Studio One records, probably never wrote a song in his life).

 

Rihanna usually always had at least a couple of songs with a more or less "Caribbean feel" on her albums (it is of course a subjective judgement what that even means), and since while I'm a fan most others on this forum aren't there is seldom a reason to post anything by her, so when there for once is a reason I'll take it, it doesn't have to be one of her most obvious hits, here is a favourite (more of a general "Latin feel" to this perhaps).

 

Interesting tracks everyone. Thanks for the music.

Just before leaving Barbados, I noted that like many small countries there is quite a bit of music about Barbados itself, and makes me think that like many small countries there is a strong national feeling.

This song, Enjoy Meh Life by Mickey tells the story of a woman who comes from England to Barbados, and who decides that she wants to stay.



And, here's a song commemorating 50 years of independence. Our Home Barbados.

 

And today's country is Belarus.

I'm not going to be applying a single formula to each country, and for Belarus I've found interesting modern music. I found this vocal electronic music interesting. The song is Rano Rano, by Shuma. It takes about a minute for the vocals to start. I found this band interesting, and purchased a digital copy of the album this track is from.



Equally electronic (with vocals) but a bit more poppy - but still interesting - is this song, Salut by Mustelide. Mustelide is a solo project by Natalia Kunitskaya. Some of the keyboards remind me of Japan's Yellow Magic Orchestra, but this song has a more modern feel.

Going in utterly the other direction, here's a Belarusian folk song The Grey Horse by the Kozak Family Trio. The song is about a young man who saddles a horse to go propose to a young girl.

And finally here is some 'Pagan Folk Metal', Дунаю by Znich. I think it's pretty much what you'd expect if someone says here is some Pagan Folk Metal from Belarus.

For me personally, Belarus might be the country that I've come closest to without actually visiting it. I've been about 1km from the border, in Białowieża in Poland.

 

That "Rano Rano" song is beautiful.

 

One thing I'm learning from this thread is precisely how much good music there is out there in the world. I've been researching countries ahead of time, and believe I have some really excellent music to post in the future.

 

I was looking for some unaccompanied Belarusian folk songs on YT; most that I could find appeared to be performed by singers from other countries, apart from the group Voyla, based in Seattle; lead by Volya Dzmeka from Minsk



About

 

I've been a few times to Belarus. Minsk must be the cleanest capital in the world. It's also perhaps one of the dullest, but it is pleasant enough, especially in summer. The countryside is beautiful, mainly forests and lakes. Unfortunately, about 20% of the country's territory and population was affected by the Chernobyl disaster, especially in the Southeast, around the town of Gomel'. When I visited the area in 2005, there were still many restrictions on people's daily lives, such as not being able to collect and burn firewood, collect mushrooms or berries, and the need to have vegetables and other produce from their kitchen gardens checked for radiation.

But on to the music: Песняры (Pesniary), which simply means "songwriters" in Belorussian, started in 1969 with a mix of rock and Belorussian folk. Apparently they were extremely popular in the 70s all over the Soviet Union and was one of the few Soviet bands to tour in America in 1974! The video below is a compilation of their most popular songs year by year. Given the large number of comments, they seem to be still popular. After the death in 2003 of founder Vladimir Mulyavin, it split into various groups all claiming to be the rightful heirs of Pesniary, including a state-sponsored spinoff. I listened to some recent clips and that has nothing to do with what the original band was about.

 

And here is a short clip of two girls playing the traditional Belorussian dulcimer:

 

Great music and educational choices as always. The folk music is nice, as is the band 'Songwriters' (I prefer the earlier more 'beat combo' style songs, but all of it is nice.)

BTW: I think that Guadeloupe, Tahiti, and New Caledonia should be added to the list. Opinions?

 

If you have the energy to add more places, why not? But why add Guadalupe and not neighboring Martinique? And why not French Guyana? And then there would be no reason not to add other territories, such as Bonaire, Curacao, Sint-Maarten / Saint-Martin, Cook Islands, Niue, Faroe Islands, etc. etc. Where to draw the line? Or perhaps whenever you bump into music from a territory not on the list, just post it (as I did with Aruba and Abkhazia).

 

We can simply discuss and decide ourselves which areas to add and what not to add. Since I posted I thought about it, and your post giving more areas has made me think more. What we could do is enter some catch-all generalised regions for countries not covered, and do them in one day. E.g. a number of distinctive places in Polynesia (and I was born and grew up in Polynesia) could be grouped together and covered in one day. That could be a rest day between letters, or given its own day.

The same could apply for the Caribbean, Europe, etc. That would avoid the list getting significantly longer.

 

If you as the OP would have sufficient interesting material to share about a place not currently in the list, you can always insert it at the time. For the rest, I would introduce a day at the end of each letter for "music from other places staring with [that letter]". For example, I would eventually want to post music from Puerto Rico, which has played a key role in the development of salsa. You would also need to figure out what to do eventually with the US. Just as you decided to split the UK in its constituent parts, you might want to consider at least to give some dedicated space to places in the US with a particularly rich and formative musical tradition (New Orleans & Delta, possibly some native American music traditions, Nashville, etc.). India is another place whose many different cultures has expressed itself through tons of different music traditions, which could never be done justice in one day.

 

Yes. I thought about this, and we can simply stick with the list we have - because we have to have a list. If we get all the way too the end of the current list and feel that we've missed some places, then we could address those places then.

So, current list is the list.

I don't think me being the OP means that I should decide what's what.

BTW: It wasn't my decision to split the UK. That was requested by someone else.

 

Thanks for the music.

Today's country is Belgium. I'm going to start with a song from my youth, Ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand.



To a bit of what I would describe as catchy punk pop, I'll add a catchy bit of pop music Badaboum by Hooverphonic.

Here's some instrumental Belgian folk music. Belgium-Stokkendans

I could post something based on historical import such as some Jacques Brel, but I won't (anyone else is welcome to do so.) Similarly, covers of Motorhead's Ace of Spades in Dutch are interesting, but not what I want to post.

I'm going to finish up with a bit of rock music by the alter-ego of a Belgian comedian. Boecht van Dunaldi by Clement Peerens Explosition.

 

Actually sung by the producer Lou Deprijck (he was also Belgian)
Lou Deprijck - Wikipedia

 

Can't leave out Jean "Django" Reinhardt, born in Liberchies, Pont-a-Celles, Belgium; 23rd January, 1910

 

Belgium provided one of the best live backing bands Chuck Berry ever had, lead by the pianist Willy Albimoor in 1964



In 1971 Albimoor wrote and arranged the US hit 'Jungle Fever; by the Chakachas (Billboard #8)
William Albimoor (Composer, Arranger) - Short Biography

 

Great choices!

Sometimes it's really hard to decide whether a track represents a country or not. This is officially from the Belgian band Triggerfinger, but it really is a collaboration with American rapper Method Man. But, it's officially a Triiggerfinger track, it seems.



Of course, I could choose a track by Triggerfinger that doesn't feature a non-Belgian guest performer. But, of the tracks of theirs that I sampled, this is the one I like best.

 

Talking about Belgian punk, one of the best know bands was TC Matic, led by Arno Hintjens. Their most well-known single was "Oh La La La c'est Magnifique" from 1981:


Also in 1981, the New Wave band Jo Lemaire + Flouze released the beautiful single "Je Suis Venue Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais". The synth line is to die for.
YouTube

The alternative rock band dEUS has been around since the early nineties to wide acclaim. This was their biggest hit in Belgium from 2008:
dEUS - The Architect (from Vantage Point)

And then of course, one of the Belgian greats, Jean "Toots" Thielemans, who transformed the harmonica as a serious jazz instrument and played with many of the jazz greats such as Benny Goodman, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, etc. He passed away in 2016. The general public may know him best from the theme of the movie Midnight Cowboy:
Toots Thielemans - Midnight cowboy - Toots 90 21-10-12 HD

And finally a bit of trivia. In case you didn't know it, the Saxophone was invented by a Belgian named Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s.