Music to Buy in Tobago

[CeriandRob]

Hi All we are off to Tobago for the first time in 128 days. We cannot wait !!!
Thanks to My Tobago for a simply amazing website...it has answered all our questions and has been an amazing help.

There is one question i cant find the answer to....i am a great lover of Caribeen Music...Reggae to Calypso...howeevr could you advise if Tobago has any music store or are they all in Trinidad !!!!

Many Thanks

Ceri and Rob - Brighton, England

[Hugh S]

Besides CDs being available on the streets near the Marketplace and KFC there is a good music store at the top of Castries Street in Scarborough. What he doesn't have in stock he can usually get. There is also a place selling lots of reggae and soca at the intersection of Castries and Carrington, below street level, next to the drugstore. Vendors also have music at the stalls in Store Bay.

So YES, there is a lot of music available!

Enjoy, Hugh

[Frank and Mina]

I used to buy audio CDs and MP3 compilations from the various stalls down oppsite the port. One guy used to sit inside his speaker enclosure some years ago!

Also for quite a few yearsI took a mini disc recorder coupled to a stereo FM radio.

The reality now is that you can find just about all of it and more ( right back to Dr Kitch and the famous injection or Gipsy going 'for cane' ) on You tube and download it with the free MP3 convertor.

I am finding that they are beginning to run out of ideas where new music is concerned. There must be a finite number of variations on the theme of jumping up and waving.

This year's carnival offering consisted of 'Trample it' repeated ad nauseam. The judges must know it by heart. 'Advantage' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1FUG4n5pac

Also popular were 'Town Ting' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-58TjuQ- ... re=related

and Wotless http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0DvbOk8 ... re=related

Fairly appropriate to the cavorting, which I thoroughly enjoy, was 'Illegal' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKi5gYJ- ... re=related

The catchiest tune by far was Benjai's 'Trini' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qiXDwTI ... re=related

Enjoy these before deciding what to buy.



Frank

[Hugh S]

Thanks for the links! Can't wait to get my hands on this new music!

Hugh

[Alex Douglas]

Just keep in mind that most of the music you will see being sold on the street or in these small stores will be bootleg.Every one does it but it is illegal to copy and sell copyrighted music. I'm opposed to it because it robs the performer of revenue and it is very costly to produce recorded music. If you can, try to purchase from stores selling genuine c.d.'s and music.

[GervaisAlkins]

I have to agree with Alex. The music sold on the streets of Scarborough amongst other places are all boot-legged and I don't agree with people purchasing local music through these vendors. It's one thing to buy 'pirated' music of international, grossly wealthy artists like M Jackson, Jay-Z or Rihanna but many of our local and regional artists are'nt fabulosly wealthy.
Shore Things, Kariwak Hotel and one of the shops in the Crown Point Airport are three places I've seen in Tobago that sell Local Music and Reggae. Shore Things has an awesome collection of Putumayo Records Cd's that I suggest checking and the owner Giselle will probably now where else on can get music cd's. Legal cd's cost around $120tt while the pirates cost a $10tt. It's a big difference in price but if you pay more for the legal stuff you know you're getting a better quality product and you can have the piece of mind that you're helping to support local and regional artists here in the Caribbean.
Have a great trip.

[Frank and Mina]

Hi Alex and Gervais.

Agree with you both and have ever since I heard 'Sing Boy Sing' by Shadow, which sums up the situation well but it's not on Youtube, ironically.

I think it is a shame that music from T and T tends to stay in the local arena and only appears to find popularity abroad with expats and visitors who have heard it on holiday. In my opinion, singers like Shadow and many others deserve a far bigger marketplace worlwide.

Shoppers in Scarbourough, particularly off the cruise ships, would buy non-bootleg CDs with their unspent TT$ if they were easier to find. They are unlikely to risk heat exhaustion climbing uptown on the offchance that there might be a proper music shop. Another problem is that not every visitor listens enough to the music to know what to buy and even if they hear something they like, they have no idea what it is called or who it is sung by. For example they may hear a song that sounds as though the words are "I want to take a ride on a donkey" when in reality the are " I want to take a wine on a tung (town) ting".

Regards from a couple who have enjoyed the music ever since we first set foot in the islands,

Frank

[Hugh S]

Frank,

Let's hook up for a cold one sometime, talk about music and tings. I like your style!

Hugh

[Andy K]

Another problem is that not every visitor listens enough to the music to know what to buy and even if they hear something they like, they have no idea what it is called or who it is sung by. For example they may hear a song that sounds as though the words are "I want to take a ride on a donkey" when in reality the are " I want to take a wine on a tung (town) ting".

Frank,
even if they would listen carefully they would still have problems to understand the meaning of the lyrics.
I believe this is a major deterrant for the export of calypso.

As for Cassie's tune "town ting", also try to search for "tongue ring" in YOUTUBE. I don't want to post the link here

[Frank and Mina]

Hi Hugh.

Unfortunately we've just returned home! We head back usually in Jan/Feb to get away from this miserable climate.

Andy, I'm surprised I never heard that version coming from a music truck! I will edit it into the proper version to listen to in the car.

Frank

[Alex Douglas]

I don't agree that visitors have to understand all of the lyrics to buy or appreciate calypso music, but the traditional form of the music is harder to export ,since so much of the local culture ,slang and political affairs are woven into the lyrics but soca music (the party version of calypso) has a chance to have a larger impact.

What I have observed is that if a song has a catchy chorus and a beat that people can move to , they are likely to gravitate to it and possibly purchase the music. Think hot, hot , hot , by the late Arrow. Reagge and dance -hall music have enjoyed worldwide acclaim for many years , in spite of the difficulty in understanding the Jamaican dialect.

Most of the world understands most or all the lyrics of Bob Marley, that's because he sings most of his hooks or choruses in standard English and that is what draws most people to the music. If the calypsonians adopt this measure more openly -and some have in the past ,think: would you like to rock it with me baby, by the late Merchant-it can help to push the music to a larger international audience.

Marketing is the biggest obstacle to local music , in my opinion . The performers have to ask themselves , whom am I targeting , who is going to buy this music , am I making this music only for the local consumers or do I want to appeal to a broader audience? What can I do to get international sales and airplay? If the performers do some homework the music can go places.

[CeriandRob]

thank you all so much for this info ...only 103 days and counting and my ipod is filling up with tunes already to be played on the island xx

much love to all

[Andy K]

You may also check

http://www.islandmix.com

for all caribben music, including literally all the new soca and calypso.

Have fun !

[Alex Douglas]

Yeah . have lots of fun, because when you're on vacation in Tobago , time really flies.

[LisaJ]

All we heard out there was Benjai's Iz ah Trini song. Played it last night with rum and coke as I am missing Trinidad & Tobago!