Lord Melody

Trinidadian calypsonian (singer and composer), best known for songs such as "Boo Boo Man", "Creature From The Black Lagoon", "Shame & Scandal", "Jonah and the Bake", "Juanita", and "Rastaman Be Careful". Melody's career spanned over forty years, from the beginnings of calypso music to his embrace of the more dance oriented Soca style by the late 1970s.
Born: 1926, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
Died: September 26, 1988, Trinidad (Aged 62)
Melody began recording in the mid to late 1940s, and continued up until 1985, three years before his death. He is regarded as one of the most popular calypsonians behind Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener. He had a friendly rivalry with Sparrow. Lord Melody began working with Harry Belafonte in the late 1950s. Belafonte recorded a number of Melody's songs, including some that Melody did not end up recording himself. He spent much of the 1960s working with Belafonte and did not release any albums between 1963 and 1972, although did release several singles and compilation tracks. His return to albums with 1972's Mas Is Devil Power (Trinidad & Tobago 1972) (opens in a new tab) was notably more dance-oriented, he had made a stylistic shift to the more dance oriented Soca style by the late 70s. He kept recording in this style until the mid 1980s. He was diagnosed with cancer in the early 1970s, and eventually succumbed to it in 1988.