‘Big C’ still pushing soca in US

Calvert Constantine was in town for Carnival. If you remember Fresh Fest of the mid ’80s, then you will recall the name “Big C” — the brainchild behind the talent show that launched the careers of several radio DJs such as Alicia D’Duchess, Starchild and Signal 2 Noise. Big C boarded a flight to the Big Apple, his home, on Friday after a brief holiday in the twin isle. He took notes on all the happenings of Carnival 2005 in Trinidad and cannot wait to tell loyal listeners of Brooklyn-based Bashment Radio 103.1, about what they missed. He holds down the Monday to Friday 7-9 pm slot which provides Caribbean news updates, weather and sports.

Bashment Radio 103.1 is another Big C project which was launched four years ago with the sole intent of playing calypso and soca music from Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands. Four years later, 103.1 remains the only radio station that provides 24-hour calypso and soca music in Brooklyn, New York. “People thought that our listening audience would get fed up of listening to soca and calypso music and that we’d get tired of playing that music, but they were wrong,” Big C told People. “While other radio stations like WLIB were changing their format to talk we’ve stuck to the format. Why? Because, not only are the Caribbean folks appreciating what we’re doing, but also the Americans and we get that feedback when they call in,” he said.

Standing close to seven feet tall, Big C’s dress code mirrored something out of an In Style magazine. He was dressed in all black — black denims and black T-shirt with a roughly cut neckline, enhanced with inch-long safety pins. Tres bizarre! He also wore a spiked wrist band, and really dark shades with silver frame that were fixed in his stylised Lenny Kravitz “janks” (hairdo). Big C has maintained his signature “fresh” (a slang used back in the ’80s) look up till today. “One of the segments at Fresh Fest was the fashion competition and we gave prizes for the most creative look, people who would go a little bit from the norm. And I remember I wore the ‘tree’ look — my hair was in the shape of a tree. I shaved the sides and the middle was high and it drooped like branches. I would walk around in the crowd with mis-matched sneakers and people would be like, you crazy. But I went with the ‘Fresh Fest’ concept.” Those were also the days of pointed-tipped boots and baggy pants, a popular dress code at Fresh Fest.

Fresh Fest was the forerunner of “Party Time” which also served to showcase the talent of the youth. Prizes were awarded in the categories lip-sync, dancing, fashion, DJ mix, rap and reggae. “Fresh Fest had the youths looking forward to doing something on a Sunday. We went to venues like the Princes Building grounds, St John’s Ambulance, Harvard’s, Lions Civic Centre and also in the southland. “I remember people like Alicia D’Duchess, who was the first female to go on as a DJ in the mixing competition. You had to match your skills with beats and you had to include soca in your mix. Starchild won more times than anyone else. DJ Joey, now known as Signal 2 Noise was there. Also Shel Shok who started out with the Rock Crush Crew and they used to win the ‘rap’ category more times than any other. As I remember now, some other people who started on the show were General Grant, Dr Hyde and Ziggy Rankin. “I think if we were to bring back something like that, it would take the youths off of crime. They’ll be occupied. I’m so happy some of the guys are singing soca.”

Big C, too, started out as a freelance DJ, playing at popular joints like the “Rolls Royce,” “JB’s Disco,” and “Palaver Place.” “I always liked radio, being around Rennie Bishop and Billy Reece. I was inspired by the energy they had. I went into promotions after seeing fellas like the Scientist and Kenton Johnson/Rap Patrol break-dancing and pulling crowds right at the corner of Frederick and Queen Streets. I used to hang out on the drag, People’s Mall, and I saw their talent and wondered how no one (promoters) was taking them on. So I approached corporate bodies and that’s how Fresh Fest got its start. I also did two radio shows called ‘Solo Rap Attack’ and ‘Fresh Fest Dance Tracks.’

“It’s very sad that the NBN network went down. But I think that, with the amount of radio stations we have, there should be at least one playing strictly calypso and soca. We need a major station like that because we have a lot of music. People meet me and say, you know, ‘we live in a land of soca/calypso music and we can only hear it at Carnival time,’ and it’s true. And I think right now soca is to make its break. We are thinking that it is about time that soca music make it on the mainstream and we are trying to break the market with Bashment Radio,” said Big C. Among his future projects is a link-up programme between his and one of our local radio stations where locals as well as Trinidadians living abroad can send their greetings.