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Edwin Ayoung:
“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
artist 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
Cold Sweat.
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.
For the 2014
steelband Panorama
season, “Crazy” has
already lent his
vocals to
Thoroughbred of Pan”
released back in
August of this year,
and now returns with
another, the track
featured here, Pan
In Yuh Pwefen.
Edited by C. Phillips
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