On his ID Card Abdul’s name is Anthony Reid. We refer to him as Bub because Abdul was also known as Beelzebub, or simply Bellzie, a name that has devilish connotations in Christian theology and in village talk back in the day. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. To those on his side of the table Abdul was a true friend and a brother, but those on the other side of the table can be forgiven for believing that they were engaging a ‘devil’, such was his tenacity and unrelenting purpose.
Fifty years (50) ago, Curepe Scherzando was a graphic representation of Abdul’s side of the table. Back then, the Steelband Panorama was just ten (10) old and the money economy was already dominating the competition to the extent that the Panorama Finals was mainly and almost entirely populated by the big named, sponsored steelbands. In 1974, Curepe Scherzando was the anomaly, neither sponsored, nor big-named, Scherzando took the Panorama of that year by storm, convincingly winning the semifinal round with their scintillating, high octane rendition of Shadow’s ‘I Come Out to Play’, before a drum set malfunction put paid to their title winning ambition in the final.
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