It was Bob's 60th birthday yesterday, which happened to be 'the hottest day of the year' so far in the heat-wave that's ending today. We went for a meal with what friends and relatives he could muster at a Garstang pub.
Bob leads the way back to chez Sapey for cake and more drink.
We understand this is birthday cake number two.
Bob's fascinator accessory was much admired around the Garstang chic set.
Bob had loads of presents to unwrap and play with, so we talked amongst ourselves.
Ting is Bob had a present for me from his old mum's collection. Not her treasure store of 78rpm gramophone records, which went to a dog charity shop, but this rare 45rpm from Island Artists of unmissable Bahamian grooves released in 1957.
The cover to this 45 disc features on the LPCoverLover website as one of the 'greatest calypso covers'. Trawling round the web there seems to be a whole culture going way back but very little about Lofthouse himself. Bob will be thrilled to learn that the sheet music is available for the title song, although it's in 3 flats Bob.
I'd like to share these exotic sounds with you, however one lacks the technical knowledge, and prolly equipment, to upload it.
Reading the liner notes is an insight into an earlier more colonial way of looking at events. Here's a sample:
This tom-tom beat had all sorts of significance for the original African tribes, some of whose descendants were transplanted to the New World generations ago (I'll bet they were). The goombay is peculiar to the Congo tribes, it seems. They were tall, lean-jawed fellows, and it was they who came to the Bahama Islands.
This album is a tribute to Charlie Lofthouse (credited with writing these calypsos). People like his music because they believe in it. It represents the gayest of Bahamian holidays, an unforgettable memory of exotically happy times.
Who let the dogs out?
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