Kim Johnson reports that the word "badjohn(s)" sprang fromJohn Archer, a notorious Police Court character who set the Trinbagonian, probably the regional and maybe even a world record with his 119 criminal convictions, and whose very name would come to mean a ruffian and a bully."John Archer," reported the Mirror in 1902, 'better known as'Bad John".Now, THIS is BadJohn calypso !
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Hi Glenroy, this is an exceptionally wonderful calypso by Sparrow and highlights the Badjohns of old. Thank you so very much for airing it on Pan Times.Incidentally, do you have the RCA 45 titled "Racetrack Scandal" by Sparrow. If so, could you enter it on WST. Many thanks.
Glen, thanks for this one I can remember as a teenager in POS General Hospital when “Goldteeth” was shot his bed was opposite mine; the man was an amazing personality. I remember one afternoon during visiting hours this man crippled by the gunshot wound he had the nerve to put a beating on his girlfriend while his boys stood around the bed and did nothing. The experience left a lasting impression on me, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
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GRJ i'm looking for the vid for Badjohn but it says this vid does not exist . Could you help ?
That's John Archer's picture, BTW.
Could be , Peter. But I kind of like the John Archer story!
Sparrow, the Mighty ...
But has anyone ever heard a theory that the word might have come originally from an old English term, a "bad John"?
Just asking.
Peter
Kaiso. Why not have some like this instead of Jump and wave.
Hi Glenroy, this is an exceptionally wonderful calypso by Sparrow and highlights the Badjohns of old. Thank you so very much for airing it on Pan Times.Incidentally, do you have the RCA 45 titled "Racetrack Scandal" by Sparrow. If so, could you enter it on WST. Many thanks.
Glen, thanks for this one I can remember as a teenager in POS General Hospital when “Goldteeth” was shot his bed was opposite mine; the man was an amazing personality. I remember one afternoon during visiting hours this man crippled by the gunshot wound he had the nerve to put a beating on his girlfriend while his boys stood around the bed and did nothing. The experience left a lasting impression on me, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Some of the most notorious Trinidad "badjohns" of the mid twentieth century are named here, folks!