What Is Soca Music?

This material is geared primarily towards folks who are new to this genre of music called soca. As an artist who has been recording soca songs for the last eight years, and who has won Caribbean wide soca competitions, I shall humbly attempt to present a comprehensive introduction to soca music.

Soca music originated in the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago. It is widely accepted to have been created by Lord Shorty (born Garfield Blackman). He noticed that Calypso music was threatened by the more popular reggae music and dying out and attempted to create a new hybrid that was more appealing to the masses. He fused Indian music with calypso music and this resulted in a more energetic hybrid called solka, which later became known as soca. Lord Shorty introduced soca to the world in 1973 with his hit song, Indrani.

Naturally, soca music of the seventies is very different to what exists today. Today, there are two main types, namely Power Soca and Groovy Soca. What is the major difference between the two?

Power soca music is very fast, with tempos of around 160 beats per minute. The music is largely instructional in nature. Soca artists thrive on motivating audiences to respond to their dancing instructions. Power soca music is largely music to jump, wave and "wine" to. ("Wine" is derived from the word "wind" and is a type of dance that consists of hip movements). Crowd reaction is key.

Trinidadian soca artist, Superblue has been credited with starting the "jump and wave" craze. His success with this style of soca was so incredible that since then most soca songs are written with crowd response in mind.

Today, the challenge for power soca songwriters is to write songs that can move audiences but not be a regurgitation of the jump and wave theme. This is not the easiest of tasks because of the very nature of the festival that soca music is centered around. Soca music is largely carnival music. Since carnival is all about jumping and waving, the music that drives it must be able to engender such activity. Increasingly, artists are succeeding at writing songs which are not necessarily based on "jump and wave" or waving rags and flags. In an attempt to stay clear of monotony, themes like love, peace and togetherness have been very common.

Groovy soca music is arguably, a better means of propelling soca music forward internationally. It is much slower, around 115 beats per minute. This newer kind of soca allows for a wider range of topics to be addressed. Unlike the total frenzy that power soca gives rise to, groovy soca is music to sway and dance slowly to. Artists like Kevin Lyttle and Rupee have demonstrated that this type of music is very palatable to mainstream music markets, with international hits like "Turn Me On" and "Tempted To Touch" respectively. Another artist who has gain international recognition with groovy/crossover soca is Barbadian based artist, Alison Hinds.

I believe that fast and groovy soca music should continue to co-exist. I readily accept all variations of soca and put none against the other. Music is dynamic. Throughout history no genre has ever stayed the same and hybrids are constantly created.

In addition to power and groovy soca, other types of soca music include ragga soca and chutney soca.

Ragga soca is a fusion of dancehall and soca music. Ragga soca performers include Trinidians, Bunji Garlin and Maximus Dan.

Chutney soca is a blend of East Indian chutney music and soca. Chutney Soca is an up-tempo, rhythmic type of song, accompanied by traditional Indian musical instruments such as the dholak, tassa, the harmonium and the dhantal.

The line between different kinds of soca music is becoming less and less clearly defined. It can sometimes be very difficult and controversial to pin-point what is groovy, power, or ragga soca. There is so much fusion taking place that it is often difficult to tell whether a song is really a soca song. For instance some have argued that Alison Hinds' hit song, "Roll It Gal" is not really a soca song but an R&B song with a West Indian influence. While I do not hold that view, it goes to show that there are no clear distinctions and definitions. Soca music, like other forms of music is an art and cannot be restricted to a specific or exclusive mold.

Soca music is largely competitive. Every year artists try to outdo each other at carnival competitions such as Soca Monarch and Road March. At a soca monarch competition artists perform before large audiences and are ranked by a panel of judges. A road march song is the song which is played the most during a carnival street parade. Each Caribbean island holds its own competitions. Prizes can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars for each winner, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago.

Some of the biggest soca artists in the industry have bowed out of competition. These include big names such as Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and KMC. The commonly held view is that "music is a mission, not a competition". Personally, I have found such competitions to be a very negative force, causing undesirable friction between artists. As an artist, I have had my own battles. However, winning is so much fun that it can be hard to quit. The fans can be relentless in urging an artist to compete against their own will. The way these competitions are set up, it is easy to go unnoticed if one is not taking part, except if you are already strongly established in the market.

Popular soca performers include Machel Montano, Destra, Alison Hinds, Atlantik, KMC, Shurwayne Winchester, Denise Belfon, Bomani, Bunji Garlin, Iwer George, Bomani, Kevin Lyttle, Tizzy, Maximus Dan, Mr Killa, Mantius, Fireman Hooper, Jamesy P, Tallpree, Claudette Peters, Burning Flames, Nicole David, Ricky T, Qpid and Krosfyah.

Some of soca's biggest worldwide hits include "Turn Me On" by Kevin Lyttle, "Tempted to Touch" by Rupee, "Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men (originally sang by Anslem Douglas), "Sweet Soca Music" by Sugar Daddy, "Nookie" by Jamesy P, "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter (originally sang by Arrow), and "Follow the leader" by Soca Boys (originally sang by Nigel and Marvin Lewis).

Instrumentation

Brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones have been very typical of soca music. Sometimes, the saxophone forms part of brass sections. While these instruments are still used in live performances, synthesizers and samplers are increasingly replacing them, particularly in studio recordings and at smaller concerts. Soca is very percussion and drum driven and these are often very loud in a soca mix. The bass is also very important. Other instruments used include guitars and keyboards.

Leading soca-producing Caribbean islands include Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.

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Where Can You Find Calm Music?

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We all live in a world where the pace of life has increasingly become fast and often stressful. This is probably why more and more people are searching for calm music. If you can't seem to hit on the perfect soothing tune yet, you might want to check these great sources.

You can find almost anything in the internet these days, including compositions for relaxation. Some of these can be downloaded for free. Be careful though, not everything that can be downloaded is really free. Make sure you check that the website you are in is really authorized to offer tunes for free.

There are many excellent free pieces but many of these are only partially available. If you want to get lengthy pieces, you'd probably have to settle for paid downloads. The good news is that there are now a number of musicians who specialize in creating relaxing calm music. This means you have a greater variety of compositions to choose from and you can choose those that fit your budget to a tee.

There are also a couple of online stores that don't necessarily sell tunes exclusively but might still have a couple of good CDs that you can order. Internet stores that sell soothing tunes often specialize in selling materials or providing information related to meditation, yoga or relaxation. Obviously, since CDs with the appropriate tracks are an integral part of relaxation, these stores can sell them too. Meditation or yoga portals that don't sell CDs or tunes for download might have recommendations that you could check out.

Of course, there are also some offline sources that you can tap for calm music. Before there were download sites, there were stores that sold a variety of CDs in various genres. If you love shopping with your feet, you can browse over hundreds of titles in popular stores. You could grab a couple of CDs from the jazz, classical or pop ballads sections.

A big store however might have a special instrumental section that might provide more appropriate items. Instrumental albums are often ideal for relaxation because of the absence of lyrics. Songs, even if they have slow beats, might not really be relaxing because the words that they use can carry distressing messages. The best relaxing calm music are often performed on instruments like the piano, guitar, flute or harp. Some compositions are played with multiple instruments but you might just find solo instrumental compositions simpler and more soothing.

You might also consider getting soothing sounds from nature. The sound of birds and water are only some examples of naturally soothing sounds. Although these don't strictly fit under the category of musical compositions, many individuals consider nature's sounds to be quite melodic. You can record these sounds when you're on a nature trip and play them back whenever you need some chill out time from the stresses of the day.

You just can't underestimate the importance of calm music on your mental and psychological well being. There's simply no excuse to get swallowed up by stress because all the right tunes are available in many different sources.

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BBC Banned Music: Top Singles Banned By the BBC

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The British Broadcasting Corporation also known as the BBC is a public broadcasting corporation. Therefore, it allows itself to ban materials that deviate from certain standards of civility. During the years, many singles that were seen as too explicit, distasteful or bear the potential for offending the British public were banned from BBC airplay. Here you can read about some of them.

In 1977, when England was celebrating the Queens Jubilee, the Sex Pistols had released their second single titled God Save the Queen. The single includes controversial lyrics that rhyme the national anthem title with fascist regime. Moreover, the record cover displayed a picture of the Queen with a safety pin stuck in her nose.

The single was found to offensive to be air played by the BBC, but it did not stop it from reaching number two on the BBC official singles chart. According to the myth, God Save the Queen was the top selling single in the UK at the time, but it was held back of number one to avoid controversies.

Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin scandalous duet Je TAime ... Moi Non Plus, translated: I love you... me neither, was the first ever number one hit to be banned by the BBC. Although at the time of its release, in 1969, the sexual revolution was celebrated, the British radio still was not able to cope with such explicit lyrics, not to mention Birkins moans and groans.

The BBC ban and The Vatican denounce, did not stop Je TAime ... Moi Non Plus from being a top selling single in the UK and worldwide. In October 7, 1969, the single reached number one in the BBC official singles chart. At the same time, it had reached number 69 at the US singles chart.

Je TAime ... Moi Non Plus was a major influence on another BBC banned single, Donna Summers disco pioneer from 1976 titled Love to Love You Baby. After counting 23 faked orgasms performed by Summer in Love to Love You Baby, the British Broadcasting Corporation banned the song. However, it did not stop it from becoming a massive hit. Love to Love You Baby reached number four on the UK single charts but peaked to number two on the Billboard pop chart.

Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood is one of the most controversial singles as well as commercially successful singles in history. The BBC did not only ban the song it also did not stop BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read to publicly express his feelings of disgust from the single explicit lyrics. In 1984, Relax stayed in the UK singles charts for 42 weeks. In five of them, it stayed in number one. By the end of 1984, embarrassed Auntie Beeb removed the ban. Relax is still very popular worldwide and it is one of the most recognized symbols of the era. The arguments on whether it gained such a huge success despite the BBC ban or the BBC ban helped promoting it have not been settled yet.

Paul McCartney and the Wings response to the 1972 Bloody Sunday events titled Give Ireland Back to the Irish, was banned by every media resource in the UK. It was forbidden from being broadcast by the BBC, Radio Luxembourg and the Independent Television Authority. In addition, the song title was not allowed to be pronounced on the air, so when it arrived to the BBC Radio 1 chart show it was presented as a record by the group Wings. However, Give Ireland Back to the Irish hit the top of the Irish singles charts.

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The wonderful world of music, Stevie Wonder

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Born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, Steve Judkins Hardaway the country grew in 1900 will be another icon of the music world at the end of the year. Apparently he was blind since he was a newborn baby, because his had developed cataracts in his eyes, when he, but as Steve Ray Charesl country does not allow his blindness get in the way of music from him. He would come later, when Stevie Wonder was known and being known as a producer, composer and instrumentalist, becauseHe could play as many different instruments. He often referred to as a great musical genius.

Stevie Wonder began playing music and singing since the age of four years. Impressed by the talent of Stevie, Berry Gordy signed the boy under Tamla label. It was soon after that, in 1963, Stevie had taken as its first major project called "Fingertips." This success was that he was responsible for the collection of Stevie Wonder in the eyes of the public. Continued to haveMore hits throughout the '60s and '70s.

Due to the lack of creative control on this, he could do, Stevie decided to discontinue the Motown label, when he was 21, so that he go on his own and left to be more creative. Then he made two albums on his own and used this to his advantage when Motown was trying to negotiate with him. They wanted his talent again, but wanted to own the rights to his songs, and wanted more creative control on his own haveto work.

In 1972, Motown accepted his claims and decided that he would return. There was no time, long after his return, which released an album on what was a success as the classic was considered. His career continues to grow and has released several successful albums, appeared on television and has won numerous awards.

During his career, has gone relatively well, and he then won three Grammy Awards. He suffered a bit 'of a setback wheninvolved in a car accident that left him in a coma for about four days cost him his sense of smell, but luckily not hurt by this serious obstacle to his career. He continued, lay a couple of albums, tours and played a little concert series.

Over time, his music was like a little 'hard to Understand, accept, Because of some people, it was so different and perhaps not so simple. Indeed, in 1976 he released an album that is asbe one of Stevie's greatest hits, although not easily accepted by the public. This album is still widely seen as one of the most achieved in the history of pop music.

His music is not always understandable, but it was quite influential in the sense that he has always shown to improve or change the music of the time. There are no real limits, if not as a musician wants limits. There is always something new to tryand to never raise the bar too low in their life goals music.

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