Blue’s return to the carnival landscape has caused me to go back in time, listening to a number of our soca classics. One of my favourite soca artists from yesteryear is Penguin who gave us such greats as Deputy, What Sweet in Goat Mout’ and Look de Devil.
What I love about Look de Devil is how arranger Leston Paul opens with the iconic Jab Molassie rhythm and whistles then goes into the horns and chorus repeating “Whey de devil dey?” Penguin sings a staccato melody that is in tune to the Jab Molassie’s chant, “You fraid de devil. You fraid him bad.” The beauty of the piece is in the lyrics. Here Penguin addresses the hypocrisy in our society where those posing as good people are indeed wolves in sheep’s clothing. Such rich texture in this composition. It is indeed a classic.
This of course made me think of our soca music today. They pale in comparison. Whereas the pioneers of soca sang about anything under the sun, the modern crop is set on singing only about being in a fete or having sex. Most of the music does not sound intrinsic to Trinidad & Tobago and then there is that dreadful trend today of riding the rhythm which does not showcase an artist’s individuality. The soca today in at the bottom of the abyss and I blame this on technology. Modern equipment has made it much easier for dreamers to enter the soca arena. Now engineers put together rhythms and then lyrics/melody is put on it whereas in the past the music came after to compliment the melody/lyrics and enhance the message. So my thoughts then strayed from soca to advertising, wondering if we too are victims to technology.
I entered advertising in 1999 and computer technology was relatively new to the business so I experienced some of the old ways and the burgeoning computer system. Today, it’s all about the computer, in every department and I wonder if we are better for it. The computer and the internet have bought speed of delivery to the business for sure. However, has speed affected creativity? Has replacing typography with the computer negatively affected the work by the artists? Has the use of availability of stock images caused the loss of a personal touch as when the ads were hand drawn? Has the creative work from the copy department suffered because of the shorter deadlines? I would love to hear from industry veterans who can compare yesterday to today and the pros and cons that computer technology has bought to advertising. Is technology another “Devil” according to Penguin?
