Women hooked on Blackie

Irvin “Blackie” Blackman is no “stupidee.” He said that while the lyrics of “Ah Hook” has no bearing on him, he has no problem in doing the laundry of his other half. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. If my madame wake up and not feeling good and she tell me she have two things there to hang out, I’ll do it. That’s the only way two people could make it in life; I help you, you help me.” From the very day of its launch on October 30, 2004, “Ah Hook” — written by Ronald Forde and arranged by Junior “Ibo” Joseph — has been and continues to be one of the most played songs on radio.

“Yuh ever see a song become a hit on the first day of its release? I never see that. On every radio station yuh had people calling in, particularly the women, and commenting on the song saying ‘Oh God, ah want ah man like dat!’ Soon, Blackie plans to return to the studio to work on a Road Mix of his party song. “This will energise the song more,” he revealed. Blackie never anticipated that his tune would have such a phenomenal impact. “Fordy called me around 6 am one day last April and tell meh he had this song and he started singing it... Ah say, whey boy this bad! I changed around one or two things to suit me. But here nah, ‘ah stupidee’ was not part of the song. That went into the song the same day Ibo was engineering it. When ah heard the song ah jump. Ah say Laard!”

He is now recognising that “Ah stupidee,” “mook,” and “hook” have been adopted as the latest slangs. “Funny you mention slangs because I was told that calypsonians are the ones who used to give people a slang for Carnival. And, (he was told) ‘Ah Hook’ has created that long-ago feel.” As we walked through the streets of Port-of-Spain after our scheduled interview, fans recognised him. “Keep up the good work,” said one woman. “Nah, nah ah can’t pass yuh like dat,” said another. Hugs and kisses followed. “It doesn’t have a woman in Trinidad and Tobago who doesn’t like the song... And I feel good about how the public is appreciating it. A woman told me: ‘Yuh know why I like this song, every time a calypsonian open he mouth is about ‘jam she’ and ‘wine from behind,’ and it’s never a song for the woman, that women will enjoy. But yours is different.’” Calls for performances are numerous. Last weekend he gave his tenth performance for the season in Tobago, where he said the song is a “road march.”
 
“It was the best response I received so far. The Tobagonians love the song!” It was Blackie’s third performance that day. He has set a limit, though, of singing up to four songs a night to avoid the hustling, once the venues are in close proximity of each other. But contrary to word on the street, Blackie is a Trinidadian. He resides in Chaguanas. Additionally, he is no babe to the calypso world. As a matter of fact, he got his christening via the first annual TT Coast Guard calypso competition in 1981 when he named his calypso after the canteen operator, Daniel. The song — “Daniel is a Vampire.” Blackie told the story: “We used to trust things at the canteen and at the end of the month Daniel would give us a bill. But when you go he would tell you that you owe him something like $250; and you know you owe plenty less than that. And people wanted to complain but there was a formality where you had to write a letter... So men got a mouthpiece in song.” As it turned out, Blackie won the competition and walked away with a trophy and $500. Daniel had a good laugh at the song and even sponsored the first prize.

Henceforth, he became “hooked” on music. In his 26 years as a member of the Coast Guard, he won the competition twice. “I sang for five or six years and then I realised I couldn’t win again because they kept putting me third and fourth.” Three years ago he resigned as Chief Petty Officer and is now Regional Co-ordinator for the Central Region of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1984, he composed the song “Tip toe, tip toe” while aboard the sea vessel “Cascadura,” en route to St Vincent. “I gave it to Poody (now deceased) and the song was a hit. After realising I had the potential, the following year I came out with the song ‘Form a line and wine,’ co-written by Reynold Trimm. In 1995, he sang the popular hit “If ah horning”, and “I think where I came to the forefront as regards TT is when ah started to sing for the steelband. I sang ‘Ting Tang’ in 1999 which was played by 26 steelbands. I think it’s because I stayed in the steelband vein for five years, this is why the name Blackie disappeared to a point. That is youths I lost. They feel that Blackie is new and they so wrong.

“I noticed that after the Panorama, the pan songs go into the basket... I’m not giving up the pan but I want, 20 years from now, when you put on my music I must song refreshing, still fresh.” Blackie has dedicated five songs to the pan on his 16-track “Ah Hook” album. “Tenor Fever” is one of them. “It pays tribute to all people who push pans. Kitchener and everybody sing ’bout the tenor pan, the guitar pan, everything else but the people who push the pans,” he said. His 2005 pan offering — “Panorama” tells of what “pan men and arrangers have to endure and they doh get paid for it.”