CALYPSO CAPERS – By Des Kelly

It goes back to the 17th Century. Calypso Capers originated in Trinidad, back in the days of Slave Traders who pushed their slaves to the extreme, the only relief being that, wherever possible, these African slaves used to sing as they worked their fingers to the bone, songs with this Afro-latin beat that later became known as Calypso. This was the only way in which the slaves were able to mock their masters in a way that their bosses could not understand.

Much later, the famous Harry Belafonte’ recorded a typical Calypso hit called The banana-boat song, in 4/4 time with Latin syncopation, and later still, Calypso/Baila Music came to Ceylon via the Portuguese (also calling it Kafferinga) music, and because we did not boast a Belafonte’, nor even a Harry Belafonseka, people such as Wally Bastiensz and Priya Pieris took over to continue our own Calypso Capers.

All the above information introduces another “Master” of Calypso, Brian Hyland singing an old favourite which in turn, introduces the bottom half of a bathing-costume worn by pretty ladies (and others), of the good old days, everywhere. It was known as the Bikini. Nowadays, it is also known as the “G-string”. We don’t worry about the top-half anymore, not when we have an Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka dot Bikini to look for.

Desmond Kelly