Scrunter

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Scrunter , actually Irwin Reyes Johnson (* before 1979) is a Trinidadian calypso and parang soca musician.

Career

Johnson's stage name "Scrunter" means something like "bully" or "crook". He started his career as a Calypsonian. In 1979 he published the title Woman on the Bass , which has since been considered the "national party anthem". In 1980 the Trinidad All Stars won the Panorama competition with Woman on the Bass . Also in 1980, due to an official instruction that was preceded by a petition from the population, Johnson had to change parts of the text of his calypso title Take the Number , which primarily called for vigilance against child kidnappers, but in one line of text accused Hindu priests of systematic rape of children. In 1983 he won with the titles The Will and Ah Lick E Tingthe "Calypso Monarch" title, one of Trinidad's two great calypso competitions, supported by a cameo from Lord Kitchener .

In 1988, according to his own statement, after some negative experiences with the Trinidadian music industry, he ended his calypso career and turned to the still new genre Parang Soca, a hybrid of the Parang and Soca rhythms dominated by Spanish influences . At that time he opened an event hall in Vega de Oropuche east of Sangre Grande , where the Parang mini festival Pork Dance has been held annually since 1988 . He also won competitions in the parang scene: in 1994 and 1995 he became Parang Soca Monarch, a title that was introduced in 1994. He is now considered a leading representative of Parang Soca. In 2003 he was portrayed together with Black Stalin , Harry Belafonte and Mighty Sparrow in the documentary Calypso Dreams , which was released in cinemas in the USA, Trinidad and Great Britain from February 2004. In 2012 he expanded his repertoire to include Chutney Soca , and Soca expanded to include Indian influences.

In 2008, Trinidad's only punk band covered Anti-Everything , Scrunter's Eat Something Before You Go .

Johnson is not to be confused with Dominican calypso artist Andrew “Scrunter” Bazil.

Titles and awards

  • 1982: Calypso Monarch (for The Will and Ah Lick E Ting )
  • 1994: Parang Soca Monarch
  • 1995: Parang Soca Monarch
  • 2016: Hummingbird Medal in gold

Style and meaning

An article on Parang and Parang Soca in the Trinidad Newsday traces Johnson's leadership role in the development of the Parang Soca genre from the mid-1980s; he had "headed the list of entertainers who discovered the (new) art form for themselves in the 1980s and 1990s with such vehemence that he is (today) often referred to as the king of Soca Parang". The singer has created his own niche within the segment with quirky songs about his homeland Vega de Oropouche. The Caribbean culture magazine Outlish admits Johnson to produce the "best parang of all time", but assesses that he uses "the same rhythms for several years in a row" and only exchanges the lyrics. Johnson himself does not call his style Parang Soca, but explicitly Parang, which he only intones in English.

Discography (selection)

  • 1983: Soca Showcase (EP, Charlie's Records)
  • 1985: Every Shadow (Charlie's Records)
  • 1988: Party Lover (EP, TCA Records)
  • 1989: Summer Jam (EP, Charlo's Productions)
  • 1990: Gimme Some (EP, Charlo's Productions)
  • 2002: A Treasure to Behold ( VP Records )
  • 2003: Scrunter (JW Productions)
  • 2009: A Decade of Scrunter: De Parang Now Start (Compilation, JW Productions)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ eCaroh.com: Scrunter: A Treasure to Behold. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  2. ↑ PanontheNet.com: The Genius of Woman On The Bass. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Private weblog: Take the Number. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Trinidad Guardian of October 12, 2012: Scrunter eyes Chutney Monarch. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Trinidad Newsday of December 31, 2014: Large Turnout for Scrunter's Pork Dance. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  6. ↑ IMDb.com: Calypso Dreams. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Youtube.com: Anti-Everything: Save Yuhself Before Yuh Go. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Trinidad Newsday of December 25, 2011: Is ah Trini thing. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Outlish.com: 6 Things I Learned from Scrunter. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Trinidad Guardian of November 20, 2004: Parang soca ... good, dirty fun. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 9, 2017 ; accessed on March 10, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / legacy.guardian.co.tt
  11. ↑ 1983 Scrunter won the Calypso Monarch with the titles on this EP. The EP release date is unknown.
personal data
SURNAME Scrunter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johnson, Irwin Reyes (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Trinidadian calypso and parang soca musicians
DATE OF BIRTH before 1979