Ins & Outs of St. Vincent and the Grenadines - 2023

19 ALSTONBECKETCYRUS Party Tune awards at the first ever Caribbean Music Awards, held at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. In 1994 ‘Ella Me Vacila’ (the Spanish version of ‘Teaser’) earned him a BMI Latin Award and a Billboard/Univision Award for the Salsa/Tropical Song of the Year. Cover versions of this song have been done in several other languages. During Trinidad’s Carnival 2000, smash hits ‘Small Pin’ and ‘Doh Eat and Lie Down’ took over the Caribbean airwaves. Becket not only composed party songs, he also wrote several songs themed around world events and Caribbean and Carnival politics – ‘Love Is The Answer’ was also remade around 9/11, ‘Carnival History’ which earned him the Calypso King of St. Vincent & the Grenadines in 1975 and a host of others: ‘Human Rights’, ‘I Am An African’, ‘Hezekiah’, ‘Mama’, ‘Oppression’, ‘Say No To Drugs’, ‘Laramania’, ‘Rights’, ‘Bring Back Moses Law’ and ‘Don’t Look Down On Ah Man’. In 2009, Becket’s ‘President Obama’ tribute song attracted the attention of Obama himself. Becket’s many albums and numerous award-winning singles span almost 50 years and he is still creating new works. He has also created one movie soundtrack - ‘Calypso Disco’ in “The Deep”, had five compositions featured in four American TV programmes, and has been awarded with eight Carnival Road March titles. Becket has become one of the elders of Calypso and is respected all over the world. He has performed throughout the Caribbean, Canada, Spain, England, Colombia and the United States in large and small venues, festivals and concerts alike. In 2000 Becket made history by becoming the first Caribbean artiste invited to perform at the US Open. He says that that occasion along with his appearances at the inaugural Caribbean Music Awards, Apollo Theatre in New York in 1991 and another performance he did in Colombia were the most memorable highlights of his career. He was listed as one of the 17 Outstanding Caribbean Personalities of the 20th Century’. In 2001, he was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for St. Vincent & the Grenadines. This prolific composer and Caribbean music icon continues to be a source of inspiration for all, especially future calypso/soca singers and musicians. His CD, ‘Pussy Cat Party’, was added to iTunes music store, making Becket the first calypso/ soca artiste to be featured on Apple computer’s world-famous iPod and the iTunes music jukebox software. He humbly acknowledges that there are many people, past and present, without whom he could not have achieved any of this. No musical mention of Becket is complete without calling the name Frankie McIntosh, who was Becket’s musical arranger almost from the beginning. To tell the musical story of Becket requires telling the story of Frankie – their stories and success are intertwined. In 2000, Frankie was the first Vincentian musician to be awarded an Honourary Doctorate by the University of the West Indies. Two years later Becket received his own nomination when UWI conferred on him a Doctorate of Letters. Together this likeminded and spirited dynamic duo form a magical combination that lifts Vincy music to super special heights. Music and songs are an integral part of a people’s intangible cultural heritage. The songs of Alston BECKET Cyrus do a wonderful job of capturing many of the sayings, practices, traditions and other intangible Vincy cultural identity markers; as well as immortalising people who are part of Vincentian history. His music also serves as a record of Vincentian rhythms. Becket’s work is, and continues to be, a valuable resource in the preservation and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Prepared By: NATIONAL TREASURES® OF ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES