Correcting the past: Iwer’s push for Road March

For Neil “Iwer” George the experience of then having lost the Road March title by one point in 2000 has made winning it a priority in 2018. The main contender that year was Superblue’s Pump Up.

As part of his road march redemption, on December 26 George released his potential contender, Savannah, written by Andre Jeffers of Perception Management (George’s new management team) and mastered by Kasey Phillips. His other song for Carnival 2018 is Agenda.

Before the Savannah was released George teased his fans on social media. On December 19 he issued a statement on his Facebook page, saying, “I would like to apologise to all the real Iwer George fans and the true masqueraders. It’s been 17 years since I’ve delivered a Road March title to the people. After the controversy of 2000 I have deliberately stayed away from the Road March race...up until now. On Boxing Day 2017, I will make it up to the people.”

In an interview with Newsday he said, “In 2000, I released a song called Carnival Come Back Again and what happened that year, at the end of Carnival, when the Road March results came out, it said I had lost by one. And I did not take it on – and the same Ash Wednesday night, the whole country looking at the news, the place where they said I did not get any play in south, and then Kalicharan came on TV and showing what was going on in south for south Carnival and Kalicharan crossing the stage actually playing Carnival Come Back Again.

“It end up in bacchanal and confusion. I don’t like bacchanal in anything I am involved in. After that I decided to sing nothing about Road March because of the fact that it had litigation, I expect fellas to have differences. So I stayed away and gave the differences enough time to pass. So I sang nothing for Road March for 17 years and this year is my first Road March attempt.”

Savannah has been playing in George’s mind for the last two years. He said the idea came to him when he realised that large-scale Carnival events were moving away from big venues like the Savannah and other outdoor spaces. “The whole idea I am trying to say is, this is not a ‘stush’ affair, this is a Savannah.

“Over the last three years, I changed management to Perception Management and one of the things which came on board with that is they are skilled writers. What I would do is, when an idea comes to me, I would pass it over to Perception, and everything I send to them they took it and made a song with it.”

So far the song has received mixed reviews. On YouTube the official lyric video has had 27,758 views at the time of writing, including 463 likes and 101 dislikes.

One person commenting on the YouTube video said, “The Iwer formula is something most of us cannot fully understand. But Mr George does. Within the next few weeks you’ll be seeing him work this formula to turn this song into a smash. Sit back and watch the man work.”

Another said, “Waiting for this whole Christmas Day eh. But this eh sounding good at all.” Another said, “Iwer does always deliver, this tune is problems.”

But whatever the take on it, George’s longevity in the soca industry, as he often refers to it, since 1987 has given him a keen eye and perspective. He credits this longevity to constant reinvention. He said when something becomes difficult he closes one door and opens another. As a result, since 2000 he has only written songs for the Soca Monarch.

Like everyone else, George said he is waiting to see what song the masqueraders would choose come Monday and Tuesday Carnival. But whatever the outcome his focus for the future is to do what he has never done.

“There are certain parts of my career that is not fulfilled. I have never been to Dimanche Gras nor Calypso Monarch. So at this time in my career I am more focused on fixing things that aren’t finished.”