Crazy - born
Edwin Ayoung in
1944, on Maraval Road
in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
of a Venezuelan mother
and Trinidadian father
of Chinese descent,
was - in his youth -
as skilled and competitive
in his country’s national
pastime of cricket,
as he has been now for
years as a world-travelled
musician, performing
artiste and composer.
Though
dubbed The “Loveable
Lunatic of Soca,” Ayoung
has time and again not
been given his due in
his native land, yet
remains one of the most
commercially successful
artists on the international
soca scene. An experimentalist,
he pioneered the unique
musical genre known
as Parang Soca and played
a leading role in promoting
Chutney Soca. Crazy would go on
to sing several monster
smashes in parang soca,
including
Muchacha
and
Homemade Wine.
A
brilliant double-entendre
artiste at its best
-Edwin Ayoung has delighted
in pushing the envelope
in his humorous and
witty manner.
With songs like
Paul, Nani Wine and
Suck Meh Soucouyant to
name but three, this
illustrious performer
remains a staple in
the music world.
He’s
been ranked in the top
three for Trinidad &
Tobago’s annual national
calypso monarch competition
- his best showing being
at position two with
Dustbin Cover.
He captured the prestigious
Road March title (the
‘tune for the road’
during Carnival Monday
and Tuesday) in 1985
with
Suck Meh, Soucouyant.
This
hard-working hit-making
machine and best-selling
soca artiste over the
years has stayed in
the public consciousness,
serving up such ditties
and classics as
Drive It, Dis Is
How and
Coldsweat.
On
the pan scene, Crazy
sang one of the most
popular ‘pan tunes’
in years; written by
Amrit Samaroo, 2007’s
Band From Space captured the imagination
of the steelband music
community worldwide,
becoming the panorama
selection for some,
and part of the overall
repertoire for others.
Edwin
Ayoung makes his home
in California on the
USA’s west coast, with
frequent trips back
to the land of his birth.
Edited by C. Phillips
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