By Joan Rampersad Thursday, January 13 2011
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Pan arrangers say they are getting on with their rehearsals and have brushed aside the clause inserted into Rule 5 for the 2011 Panorama competition, that included “and the lyrics of the chosen piece not contain material which is considered to be libellous or obscene.”
Yet the new clause raised concern among members of the steelband fraternity and they question the importance of lyrics in a competition where music and arrangement are the focal points.
Arranger for 2010 Panorama champs PSC Nitrogen Silver Stars Edwin Pouchet believes its an attempt to derail another champion band.
“Those who have their ears to the ground must know that they are targeting Phase II which is very unfortunate. They criticised Gypsy (Multiculturalism Minister Winston Peters), for saying that the competition killing pan but what are they trying to do to Phase II?”, he said
Phase II’s renowned arranger Len “Boogsie” Sharpe said it will not affect his band’s chances.
“In our song we are talking about doing something for the betterment of the pan. I could understand Dr Sparrow, Dr Chalkdust and Dr Stalin talking about lyrics but pan don’t play lyrics. They (Pan Trinbago) should disband those rules and put fresh ones for a better competition. But this will not affect us because we have nothing libellous or obscene in the song.”
Well known arranger Ray Holman said lyrics has nothing to do with pan music. “A band doesn’t perform lyrics, it performs an instrumental version of a song. If a song is considered to be offensive or libellous and even if it were in fact so, the only recourse that the organisers of the show might have is to prevent the vocal version being played at the show,” he said.
Keith Diaz, president of Pan Trinbago refused to comment on the issue yesterday and referred Newsday to the organisation’s Secretary Richard Forteau.
Forteau said he could not understand what all the fuss was about since Pan Trinbago has not informed any steelband that its Panorama selection contains libellous or obscene lyrics.
When asked about why the clause was inserted, Forteau said it was intended to inform and protect members of Pan Trinbago.
He said the organisation is now meeting with the different regions of Pan Trinbago to talk about the rules. He said at the end of this process, if pan men came to a consensus that they wanted this or any other clause amended or deleted, it would be done.
Replies
Mr Ray Holman made a great point in that the band doesn't perform lyrics, and therefore the lyrical content should have nothing to do with the instrumental version of the song.
Apparently, PanTrinbago must agree , since they seem to be backing away from their original position on the rule change.
However, this incident should serve as a wakeup call to calypso composers.
We live in a litigious time, and just because calypsonians enjoyed certain liberties in the past doesn't make them immune from prosecution in the future.
it would be in the best interest of composers to be more careful in their lyrical compositions, because sooner or later someone is going to challenge them in a court of law.
The old ways of double entendre, dreams, using aliases etc can be very effective, and can protect the composer from possible legal action.(remember Cro Cro's "dream" about the Attorney General?)