Loose Lips
Loose Lips (Gossip!) This week 08/02/07
By Island Events
Feb 8, 2007, 8:56

Hits and misses

This group of companies having a close-shave experience with the East Indian entertainers in T&T after they launched a website touted as the first ever here and purporting to support artistes of all genres, except for one or two not-so-small errors. At the launch, it was clear that calypso, kaiso and soca were invited, and that ragga, chutney and groovy were missing; and on the website, where you can now purchase and download music legally, Sonny Mann and Rikki Jai constitute the entire Indian music contingent!

So, imagine the surprise when, the next day, one of the two radio stations in the group decides to host the self-made chutney messiah and he start to bash the people and their website on their own radio station. Well it turn out to be the faux pas of the year and Mr. General Manager could not offer two cent of a response because he had no idea that himself was on his radio station bad talking himself!

And did you know Allison Hinds compose and sang Trini hits too?!

Licence to speak

This radio DJ who has licence to speak but needs one to play people’s music in fetes and on the road, and this radio host who seem to be mixing up his soccer with his soca came out grinding axes. They say how the copyright people don’t have authority to collect money and how the fees are too onerous.

And to support their reasoning, they bring the other copyright people to air and support their grouses on radio. Well this thing came through powerfully as an example where even God could get scandalised in T&T. It was a loud clamour – a Boom! I mean – as everybody start crying on everybody else about how bad these people were and how they must be stopped.

When I tell you Third-World radio drama! I shame because I know people listening and we really showing off we ignorance. Then came the copyright president and old mas break out – I was sure he was getting a cut tail. I turned off the radio oui, and say this is Carnival! But I hear that the DJ who started this fiasco going to have to pull out court clothes so I done talk because it have laws that say I must hush now!

The alternatives

People are still talking about the press conference where “the boy” staked his claim to the venue. It’s what my friends like about him. They say is no brass tacks, all business; and that he’s too far ahead of the pack for the rest to matter. It’s a strange concept but he is his own alternative!

And they are saying too, that Lady Culture could have sucked salt and go back to the old venue since it still standing, because this thing about the green did not pan out well at all.

You know they even wanted me to talk about the state funds that put out the baby advertisement and I said no – ah draw the line. But I could not help thinking that Downing Street did not buy advertising space when Cherie had her fifth child, the first to be born to a sitting Prime Minister. Why we can’t we imitate the British example, especially when we know we have witless advisors!