Trevor Wilkins – giving ‘authentic’ calypso a space in the land of ‘pop’

On weekends it beams out of Manhattan’s WNYE 91.5FM, a public service brokered radio station (presenters pay for airtime) survey-rated as garnering a peak accumulative audience of some 300,000 mostly TT nationals.

Pals over the years, we conversed at my home where Trevor told of deciding to join family members residing here and further his education. Graduating first from broadcasting school, then in 1984, unable to gain radio employment in his homeland, he returned determined to seriously advance his American tuition.

He relates, “I started working at a record store on Fulton Street, then I worked packing boxes and stuff like that for (giant retailer) Sears and in 1985 decided I needed to really improve myself if I was going to do something with my life so I went to Baruch College in Manhattan, studied business for five years and had a 9 to 5 job working for a real estate company while going to school.”

Clean-shaven and a steadfast exercise runner, Wilkins amazingly linked his job-hours with a 5:30 to 10 pm weekday college schedule graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in marketing and finance, majoring in marketing.

A two-year account executive spell at the city’s Z-100 radio station which included some minor announcing chores swiftly followed, leading to a similar more sustained engagement at major underwear manufacturer, Fruit Of The Loom. Then the lure of radio tugged again.

“In 1995, I started doing my own radio show,” he shared, “I had one hour but I was doing talk radio at WNYE every Monday night from 8 to 9.” I queried his choice of topics and learned, “My talk show was basically to show the commonality between African Americans and Afro Caribbean people … that we had more in common than was thought and I think I was trying to bring people together.” Interestingly, he added, “but after nearly two years of doing talk radio for an hour a week, I realised there was a void of authentic calypso music that no one was doing in New York.”

“Trevi,” his longtime nickname, clarified that back then he would intersperse bursts of relevant “message” calypsoes as conversation triggers which he learned, induced a “buzz” among listeners, raising his awareness of the void.

In 1996, determined to explore this dearth, he hired a freelance marketing agency to run a small survey in Manhattan questioning why only the most current calypsoes were being aired on the three radio stations with Caribbean playlists.

Utilizing his marketing savvy in fashioning the study, Wilkins declared, “I knew how to pool the numbers on this thing and we came up with some interesting observations… that people really liked authentic calypso music and they weren’t getting it.” He identified as authentic the classics of the ‘50s through the ‘70s, even rolling back to the 1930s to include those bestowed by “the founding fathers.”

Undaunted after failing to persuade the major pertinent stations to have him research and showcase the “kaiso” evergreens thereby attracting a more mature demographic, he launched into acquiring his own archives, eventually with striking success.

Late 1996 Trevor purchased from an elderly US-based Englishman a “very good” collection of some 200 vinyl gems in LPs and 45’s which in June ‘97, effected the takeoff of his now esteemed radio programme from 7 to 9 pm, Saturdays.

A succession of fortuitous programming and related events saw those hours expanded to the now permanent 8 to 11 slot and the Monday forum cancelled. In addition, with Wilkins’ rental since 1998 of an enormous compilation he describes as “the biggest calypso collection I’ve seen in my entire life,” the heightened audience appeal allowed for a similarly time-slotted Friday presentation in 2003.

Explaining the show’s progression ever since, its visionary host said, “When we came into my collection and the rented one, we were able to then make a case for the music because we started studying it, doing themes by organising the music, looking at what transpires in the music.” And these insights merely outline the extent and depth of the creative process invested in this uniquely Trinbagonian cultural radio event.

The Wilkins show while always entertaining, is largely driven in purpose by its creator’s abiding belief as thus conveyed, “I think the problem with us and calypso music is that we have not been able to see it as valuable, see the fundamental value in the music and make the case for the music… see how it can really change people’s lives as it used to.”

He further observed, “Calypso music used to give people information, used to help people understand themselves and I think this is one of the things we’ve walked away from … we’ve walked away from the music that made us. If you look at the people that listened to our music back in the day, they’re people who believed in education, in doing the right thing, in setting good examples for the young people and the music would tell you that.”

Asserting that one could intellectualise it, he lauded authentic calypso music as “what’s keeping us (the show) alive today.”

Drawing other Caribbean folk and even white and black Americans in its pervasive appeal, this weekend radio staple constantly delivers a raft of irresistible specialties with calypso themes addressing humour, politics, the “badjohn” era, social issues, local slangs, “messages,” etc; Kitchener, Sparrow, Rose, Spoiler, et al, are also spotlighted.