The Crooner wins Canadian calypso competition – in every category

Ray Funk

The Mighty Crooner, Guyanese-born Bill Newman, won it all this year at the annual Canadian Calypso Competition with his new composition, The 51st State.

At the competition, held by the Organization of Calypso Performing Artists (OCPA) on July 26, he was proclaimed both the judges’ choice as Calypso Monarch, and People’s Choice, for which the audience votes separately.

But that wasn’t all. He won all the other categories of the competition – Best Melody, Best Lyrics, Best Composition on a Local Topic, Most Humorous and Best Rendition.

Canadian calypso scholar and musician Roger Gibbs noted in a newspaper article in the Caribbean Camera that Crooner was “an unstoppable force this year,” but in these annual competitions he was already “known for his suave style, clear diction and topical compositions.”

His new calypso offered a clever presentation of Canada’s near-universal rejection of the suggestion by President Trump that Canada become part of the US. Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau declared, when Trump first made the statement, “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada would join the US. Current Prime Minister Mark Carney has been equally explicit: Canada “won’t be for sale, ever.”

Newman wanted to express his personal opinion on the matter.

“I was taken aback by the presumption that Canada would automatically want to be the 51st state.” His chorus was as explicit as both prime ministers’ comments.

No, Donald no, we want to let you know,

We don’t want to be the 51st state,

In a country so full of hate,

No, Donald no, leave Canada alone,

You want to be a king on a throne

We better off on our own.

In the last verse, the Crooner is clear on Canada’s stand, as well his own, on Canadian independence.

You don’t respect our sovereignty,

As an independent country,

You so damn presumptuous,

You think that you control us,

We are the True North strong and free,

We don’t belong to anybody,

But when you start sniffing round,

You know we not backing down,

We want to keep our democracy,

We don’t want to live under tyranny,

We’ll never surrender this country,

We’d rather die with our dignity.

The 51st State’s winning best arrangement was by Ozzy Gurley, who has been arranging tunes for the Crooner for decades. In fact he’s the only arranger Newman has ever used, and a musician for whom he has the highest regard. The Crooner describes him as a very talented and versatile

musician, and one of the easiest people to work with. When Newman took The 51st State to him, Gurley responded immediately that the audience would love it and sing along to: “No, Donald, no.”

On a local radio show recently, Crooner commented how right he was.

“Everybody loved the chorus, because it’s very singalong. And so they started singing the chorus with me, but listening intently to the verses.”

After that, his win in the competition was assured.

While growing up in Guyana, Newman was very fond of the local calypsonians he heard on the radio, “Canary and Cobra and Fighter…they were the top three,” but now they’re little remembered. When he was asked recently about his favourites over the years, it was the greats, Sparrow and Kitchener, who immediately came to his mind.

When he was a teenager, his family moved to Toronto, where his older brother had migrated. Initially he wasn’t directly involved in the calypso community, as he grew up and focused on other interests, like seeing as much of the world as possible.

But that changed when, about 25 years ago, he went with a friend to the annual Canadian calypso competition, caught the bug and soon became a regular performer.

While he was preparing to perform for the first time, decades ago, he was asked what his sobriquet was and quickly said “The Crooner,” because he had a long-time love of revered crooners like Nat “King” Cole and Johnny Mathis. Indeed, while the Crooner has issued four calypso CDs, he has also released a CD of love songs, Love Unconditional. In fact, his most popular song on streaming services is not a calypso, but a song called Barcelona from that album of love songs.

Over the years, he became best known for humorous calypsos. His most requested ones are The Purse, about all the things his wife has in her rather large purse, and her obsession with Talk Shows. But that may change after his latest composition. With The 51st State, he is getting calls to perform at various events in the Toronto area, has already done some, and hopes there will be more.

The 51st State is available online on You Tube and other streaming services.