Calypso Rose

Calypso Rose or Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis (born April 27, 1940, in Bethel Village, Tobago) is a Trinidad and Tobago calypsonian. She started writing songs at the age of 13; over the years, she has composed more than 1000 songs and recorded more than 20 albums. Considered the "mother of calypso", Rose was the first female calypso star and her lyrics frequently address social issues like racism and sexism. Her influence over the calypso music genre forced the renaming of the Calypso King competition to the Calypso Monarch instead. She has received every award available to living artists in the Caribbean.

She currently resides in Queens, New York, and regularly returns to Trinidad and Tobago in addition to touring. The name Crusoe Kid was meant to signify her origins in Tobago, and a reference to the novel Robinson Crusoe. After hearing her perform, the managers at Young Brigade renamed her Calypso Rose because a rose is considered the mother of all flowers and she considers herself the mother of female calypsonians that came after her. Calypso Rose was the fourth child to be born by her mother, Dorchea Sandy, who had a total of thirteen children, two of which died. Her father, Altino Sandy, was a leader of the Spiritual Shouter Baptists. In addition to being a leader in the church, he was also a fisherman and Rose would to go with him every evening to the beach when she lived with him. She lived with her parents and her ten siblings in a two-bedroom house until she was nine-years-old, at which point she went to live with her aunt and uncle on the neighboring island of Trinidad. Her aunt, Edith Robinson, was wanting a child so she suggested to her husband that he go to his brother, Altino Sandy, and ask to take care of one of his children. Ms. Edith Robinson came and asked for Rose's permission to adopt her, Rose agreed and went with her to Trinidad. Shortly after arriving in Trinidad, she began to get bullied because she was a 'small islander' which she didn't expect because she thought Trinidad and Tobago was one place. Rose came out in an interview as a lesbian at the age of 72 and was married to woman for 17 years by then. Her health was not always in its best form as she faced and survived breast cancer in 1996, stomach cancer in 1998, diabetes, and two heart attacks which was solved by a pacemaker.

Career When she went to live with her uncle and aunt, her aunt was a big influence on her love of calypsos because of the many records that she owned and the freedom she would give her. Rose then began to write her first calypso called "Glass Thief" which signified her shock to Trinidad after her aunt gave her money and told her to go to the market where she saw boys stealing eyeglasses from someone's face. This was the start of her voicing her opinion on gender equality and later on writing her second calypso that empowered women to dance. Calypso Rose began singing at calypso tents in the 1950s at the age of 15 going against her harsh critics, and had the opportunity to perform in different places from Grenada, St. Vincent to the US Virgin Islands . A large influencer and supporter of Rose was a man named Lord Kitchener, a calypsonian who was the first to recognize her as a composer. From 1963 to 1965, she would continue to perform in his tent. She knew Lord Kitchener from the age of 9 and he was known for his influence on many young calypso singers because of the songs he would make. Even with many of the religious elders in Trinidad's disapproval for Rose's participation in calypsos, she was able to win them over with her song "Abide With Me" which is about hurricane Florence that hit Tobago and Grenada in 1964. In 1966 she would perform with a very well known calypsonian in many occasions by the name of the 'Mighty Sparrow' (Slinger Francisco). Despite many people's misconceptions, Rose was not the first female calypso singer. However, with her song "Cooperation", she was able to compete outside of Tobago and Trinidad against other male calypsonians and win her first title as Calypso King in the Virgin Islands and win Virgin Island's Road March in the same year. In 1966, she wrote the song "Fire in Meh Wire" that had gone international and was translated into eight different languages, and was the first calypso to run two years in a row at the Trinidad Carnival. With the making of another song called "Tempo", Rose was able to become the first female to win the national Road March title with "Gimme More Tempo". Soon after, in 1978, she performed "Her Majesty" and "I Thank Thee" and was able to win another national Road March and became the first to win Calypso King with "Come Leh We Jam", which changed to Calypso Monarch because of the successful integration of females in a male-dominated competition. By the mid-1970s Rose had located to Queens, New York. She recorded for the Brooklyn-based calypso labels Straker's Records and Charlie's Records, and used the city as a base for international touring. Her 1977 Road March winning song, “Tempo,” was written while riding the New York subway. In 2016 she released a song titled "Calypso Queen" in which she confirms her reign. In 1979 Calypso Rose performed in a concert put on by the Colombia's Caribbean Students' Association and was later reviewed by Robert Palmer (writer) from the New York Times. Palmer tells how powerful she was as a performer including a quote by the master of ceremonies for the evening; "people who will not trust politicians will listen to the common sense commentary of a celebrated calypso singer and song-writer like Calypso Rose".

Rose has collaborated with many artists. In 1967, Rose and Bob Marley performed together in the Grand Ballroom in New York City and later they got to perform together once again in Miami. Rose's relationship with Marley was very close; she named him an inspiration. Other music legends that she got to meet are Michael Jackson and Miriam Makeba in 1978 when she won Trinidad Road March. Her album "Far From Home" led her to collaborate with French/Spanish singer Manu Chao who sang three songs from her album 'Leave Me Alone", "Far From Home", and "Human Race". The album was produced by Ivan Duran. The two were first introduced when her manager, Mr. Jean Micheal invited Chao to the Carnival season in 2015 where Calypso Rose recounted that they spoke for 3 hours about music. She gave him an early copy of the album which he later mixed and added in his own vocals. Calypso Rose has continued to collaborate with other artists, including Machel Montano in a song called "Young Boy" and Kobo Town in a song called "Scarborough Girl" in 2018 with home she performed with in 2019, and helped co-write some of her songs from her album "Far From Home". Calypso Rose is still actively writing new music and carries around a tape recorder with her to keep track of her ideas.

Calypso Rose's music, known for its political and social justice narrative, has had significant impact. Her song "No Madam", about the practice of labor exploitation in the Caribbean, led to the government of Trinidad and Tobago enacting minimum wage for civil servants.

Discography

Studio albums Year Title 1969 Queen of the Calypso World 1971 Calypso Queen of the World 1972 Sexy Hot Pants 1977 Action Is Tight 1978 Her Majesty 1979 Mass Fever 1980 We Rocking for Carnival 1981 Ah Can’t Wait 1982 Mass in California 1983 Rose Goes Soca Unlimited 1984 Trouble 1985 Calypso TrainPan in Town 1986 Stepping Out 1987 Leh We Punta 1989 Soca Explosion 1990 Soul on Fire 1991 Jump with Power 1992 Rosie Doh Hurt Them 1993 Breaking the Sound BarrierSoca Diva 1996 Tobago 1999 Ringbang Queen 2000 Jesus Is My Rock 2003 Calypso at Dirty Jim’s 2008 Calypso Rose 2016 Far from Home 2018 So Calypso!

Compilations The Golden Hits of Calypso Rose (1986) The Best of Calypso Rose (2005)

EPs and singles Calypso Rose and Friends (EP, 2019) Heavenly Sweetness Loves Calypso Rose (EP, 2020) Watina (single, 2022)

Awards and honours 1978: Award for Unprecedented Achievement by a Calypsonian from the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance of the USA 1978: Distinguished Achievement Award for the First Triple Crown Calypso Monarch of the World by The Tobago Benevolent Society 2011: Africa Festival Lifetime Achievement Award 2014: Honorary Doctor of Letters - University of the West Indies 2016: WOMEX Artist of the Year Award 2017: Calypso Rose's Far From Home won the World Music Album of the Year contest at the 32nd annual French music award ceremony, Les Victoires de la Musique 2017: The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the highest honor in the country

Films 1979 - Bacchanal Time 1991 - One Hand Don't Clap 2011 - Calypso Rose: the Lioness of the Jungle